Unhappily ever after
.
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Choosing a spouse is a very
personal decision and should
definitely not be the business of
the state. However, in some
countries the government very
much has a say in who citizens can
or cannot marry. Saudi Arabia is
one of them.
.
In a report on Wednesday quoting a
Saudi newspaper, it was mentioned
that the authorities in the desert
kingdom have banned Saudi men
from marrying women from Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Chad and Myanmar. The
report says there are around 500,000
women from these countries
currently living in Saudi Arabia.
The rules have also been toughened
for Saudi men wanting to marry
women from other nationalities. As
outdated as such rules may seem to
an outsider, especially in the
modern age when inter-cultural
unions have grown increasingly
common, those familiar with Saudi
Arabia will not be surprised.
After all, despite its immense oil
wealth the kingdom remains at heart
a tribal society and such moves are
likely dictated by fears of being
‘overwhelmed’ by foreigners. For
example, any Saudi who marries a
foreign spouse without government
approval faces stiff monetary fines.
Also, children of Saudi mothers with
foreign partners may be denied
state benefits while only very
recently were foreign wives of Saudi
men given access to social services.
Every country has a right to frame
citizenship laws, but such
restrictions on marriage appear
exceedingly harsh. Saudi authorities
may justify the restrictions in order
to protect their culture and values,
but despite the strictures, reportedly
thousands of Saudi men and women
contract marriage with foreigners
every year.
It is very difficult for any country to
live in isolation anymore. The
relentless march of globalisation and
the communications revolution have
brought down many barriers dividing
people.
The Saudi government should
consider revising the marriage
restrictions as culture and values
cannot be protected through tough
laws, but may flourish in an
atmosphere of liberty and openness,
while preventing demographic
changes will be difficult for even the
most controlled of societies.
Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2014
Unhappily ever after - Pakistan - DAWN.COM
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Saudi Arabia: No country for
Pakistani brides
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By Asad Mustafa Kahlon
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The untoward behaviour from the
Saudi government of reportedly
laying off 30,000 illegal Pakistani
workers hit yet another ebb when
Saudi men were recently banned
from bringing brides from four
nationalities
including Pakistan that is amongst
the relegated list. Other countries
languishing in this ill-famed
category are Bangladesh, Burma
and Chad.
A cursory glance at the names of
aforementioned countries makes me
wonder how insignificant Pakistan
has become in the greater scheme of
things. It reduces Information
Minister Pervez Rasheed’s recent
claim , during a conference held to
discuss Gaza, about Pakistan being
the world’s sixth largest force to
reckon with to a mere farce.
Revisiting the historical context of
the phenomenon of (sham)
brotherhood between the two
Islamic states unravels the
indifference dished out by Saudis
towards Pakistanis in general.
During the petro-dollar era of the
70s, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto banked on
the Saudis
to pave the way to a new Islamic
block. His shenanigans of playing
the religion card to catapult himself
as the new leader of the Muslim
Ummah at the second OIC
conference in Lahore was hailed by
many myopic observers as a game
changing move by the hitherto
secular leader.
In the course of four decades,
Pakistan has witnessed chickens
coming home to roost; starting from
the Saudis backed jihad in
Afghanistan that engendered
militancy in the country to the
current discriminatory policies on
part of their government against
Pakistanis.
The jaw-dropping aid of $1.5 billion
must not be misconstrued as a mere
generosity of the oil rich state. In
fact, it is a bait to pitch Pakistan in
the epicentre of the conflict zone
considering the footprints of Saudi
Arabia in retailing the war in Syria
recently.
The new edict that bars Saudi
citizen to betroth a Pakistani lassie
seems like a belated Eid greeting
from the Saudi monarchy to Mian
Nawaz Sharif, who visited the
kingdom during the last 10 days of
Ramazan but did not mutter a word
on bilateral relationships or
confidence building measure
between the two Muslim countries.
I can vouch for it with full aplomb
that had the law been passed by
any non-Muslim country from the
Western world, the uproar against
the respective nation would have
been significant in terms of
maligning its laws, religion and
cultural norms. The possibility of
severing all ties with that particular
country wouldn’t have been written
off either; whereas big daddy went
unscathed.
Obsessed with unconditional love for
the Saudis, Pakistanis fail to realise
that the regressive regime in Saudi
Arabia has pigeon-holed women on
a number of accounts. The
prohibition of women drivers in
Saudi is a strong case of
discrimination against women by
making them dependant on the
male species.
Similarly, there was an uproar in the
Saudi media after a female TV
anchor became the first woman ever
to read the news without a veil ,
which was against the Islamic norms
of the country. In stark contrast, the
new rule imposed against women of
four nationalities is a glaring denial
of Islamic teachings as Islam doesn’t
restrict marriages within particular
regions, tribes or states.
In the light of changing political
kaleidoscope, Pakistanis shouldn’t
pin high hopes with the Saudi royal
family – they are busy grinding their
own axe and safeguarding their
personal interests ever since
assuming power in 1932, when they
changed the name of Hejaz and
associate dominions to eponymous
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia: No country for Pakistani brides – The Express Tribune Blog