03/08/11

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Suicide Bombing And Its Impact On Pakistan


Going to the mosque for the eid prayers, my mind was occupied with the fear of losing my life to a suicide attack. I know that the previous generations did not have to face this fear. Mosque is holy place for all the muslims. Yet, we find muslims blowing themselves to kill other muslims while they are offering their prayers. Today, lack of security has become a reality and no place inside Pakistan is safe. Children going to school, women going for shopping, families going out for dinner and people gathering in a crowd, seems like a myth these days. Now, who am I? I am a common man in Pakistan. What have I done that I am being targeted? I think I am innocent and I don’t deserve this fear. Why these people are trying to kill innocent people? What compels them to do so? What are the conditions urging them to do so? These are some questions that need some answers. First, we need to know the motivation behind these kinds of attacks? What was the purpose of suicide bombing when it started? What is the purpose of suicide bombing now?


                           The advent of suicide attack in modern history can be traced by to World War 2. Japanese were the first to use suicide bombers but their mode was different. Japan was losing the battle so they started to sand planes full of explosives and they use to hit American military. First attack done by Japan was on US carrier Bunker Hill and that was the best known attack that killed 372 American soldiers. It was done on May 11, 1945. This was a war tactic. Suicide bombing in guerilla warfare first started in Srilanka. These attacks were done by rebels named as Tamil Tigers. They used women in those attacks. One such attack killed a Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Another big incident was of Srilankan President Ranasonghe Premadosa, falling victim to a suicide bomber.



                            In 1983 suicide bombing was done in Bierut. This was done against the presence of American and French troops in Lebanon. This attack killed more than 300 American and French soldiers. Suicide attacks in Afghanistan started when former Soviet Union first attacked Afghanistan” Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Mehsud was killed in a suicide attack in 2001. Al-Qaeda was responsible for the attack. This was the first suicide attack inside afghan territory. The attack on world trade centre was the first major suicide attack inflicting heavy casualities.

                       According to a report in 2007 more than 700 suicide attackers were done in modern history and about 70% of those attacks were done after 9/11 incident(Hekmat Karger, Himal Magazine July 2007).

                             Suicide bombing increased in the world after American war on terror. American was using aerial power to hit Talibans. Taliban had no other choice but to go for guerilla war. America attacked them with fighter planes. Taliban used suicide bombing against American troops and their allies to great effect. Invasion of Iraq started a series of suicide bombing.

                                  Suicide bombing in Pakistan started after 9/11. Today Pakistan is the biggest victim of terrorism. After 9/11 incident, Pakistan supported the war on terror in Afghanistan. That war effected Pakistan very much. As border was not sealed so most of the Talibans ran away from Afghanistan to Pakistan. They were given shelter by the people of tribal areas of Pakistan because of their tradition of hospitality and clan bonding . As already Afghans were in refugee camps in Pakistan, so it was difficult to differentiate Talibans and Afghan refugees. Pakistan became a target as we found friends in Taliban’s enemy. Suicide bombing started in Pakistan. Initially, only the security forces were targeted but now even the common public is not spared. The war has spread to every nook and corner of Paksitan.

                                      First suicide attack in Pakistan was done in Islamabad in 1995. A truck full of explosives entered the Egyptian embassy and 14 people were killed. After investigation it was found out that bomber was Egyptian. Second suicide bombing was in Karachi. French engineers were attacked outside Sheraton Hotel in May 2002. In this attack 14 people were killed in which 11 were French engineers. Another attack in June 2002 was done outside American embassy.

                                In 2003 President General Musharraf was targeted. In 2004 there were five suicide attacks including one attack on Prime Minister. In 2005 only 2 suicide attacks occurred. In 2006 suicide bombing again started to increase as there were 6 suicide attacks in which American embassy and Pakistan security forces were also targeted. In2007 these attacks were increased and total suicide attacks were done. In these attacks was on Former Prime Minister on Benazir Bhutto. In 2008 59 suicide attacks were done. In year 2009 till November 19, 70 suicide attacks were done.

                                During Afghan jihad against Russia, America and Pakistan joined hands to fight it together. After the war, the U.S.A left the region in distress and civil war started in Afghanistan. The idea to use religion as a tool to convince people to fight this war and organizing private militias resulted in destruction of Afghanistan after the war. It did not stop there. Pakistan continued on using religion as a tool and helped Taliban to form a government in Afghanistan. The whole episode of Al-Qaeda taking refuge in Afghanistan and 9/11 attack gave rise to a new fear. Previously, the whole world had their eyes closed to this Frankenstein they themselves created. Suddenly there was a hue and cry everywhere. Islam was said to be the threat to the whole world. Muslim bashing started happening and things got from bad to worse. America got dragged into this war and Pakistan along with it. Now after fighting it for this long, there seems no going back. There is no victory in sight and it cannot last forever. So it is a confusion which has found no solution.

                                  This history of suicide bombing in Pakistan shows that Pakistan suffered after American war on terror in Afghanistan starting from 2002. Pakistan The war was imposed on Pakistan. Pakistan supported Americans in the war of terror resulting in all the anarchy today. George Bush policy of “With us or against us” has left no other option for Pakistan. Pakistan joined this war on terror and it has resulted in destabilization of the region. The main target Al-Qaeda is still not finished after so many years of war and destruction in this region. The spill over of the war from Afghanistan has resulted in Pakistan’s tribal areas becoming a region of conflict and a sanctuary for Taliban.

                              One reason of suicide bombing in Pakistan is a tradition of Pushtoons called” badal”(revenge). This is the tradition according to which if a person of its tribe is killed by the person from other tribe then revenge is being taken from the killer tribe and that revenge is called badal. So similar to this happened in Afghanistan and tribal areas of Pakistan. People of those tribes were killed by American and Pakistani army. So reply to that they started targeting the check posts pf army but later on they changed their target and now their target is innocent public of Pakistan. They considered it their right to kill the people in order to take revenge.

                             Another reason of suicide bombing is American involvement in Pakistan. Pashtoons have got a history that they do not allow the foreign forces to occupy their land. American involvement in Pakistan is also not liked by Pushtoons and Taliban of Afganistan and Tribal areas. Taliban has targeted Pakistan for their commitment to America. America’s drone attacks within Pakistan territory is one of the reasons for the increase in suicide attacks. Bajaur incident and Lal masjid operation has helped Taliban by providing them new recruits for suicide bombing. In both incidents innocent students were killed. In retaliation there have been a lot of suicide attacks in Paksitan for the last three years.

                     Inability of Taliban to fight conventional war against Pakistan army is one another reason of increase in suicide bombings in Pakistan. Pakistan army has a lot of resources compared to Taliban. Taliban are successful to an extent in their strategy and inflicting heavy casualties on the Army and public.

                      How are these people convinced to give up their life and kill others in the process of a suicide attack? Suicide bomber are normally young people from the age group of 16-25. Religious affiliation is a factor as it can be motivational. Money is also a factor so poor are prone to hiring. Then there is a factor of maturity as youngsters can easily be brainwashed compared to older people. These youngsters are mostly unmarried so their bonding with their families is relatively weak then the married ones. Hatred or revenge can also be a factor especially when there is a war going on.

                   American invasion of Islamic countries has contributed a lot to the common hatred in the Muslim world. Economic bondage was already there and then war was imposed on independent and sovereign countries. The feeling of resentment giving rise to Al-Qaeda and their extreme philosophies did not help the situation. Palestine, Iraq, Kashmir, Chechnya, Bosnia and Kosovo are all examples of Muslim occupied territories. Things were fine for the western world as long as there was no organized retaliation. It was bound to happen someday and it did happen. The result is that the world is very unsafe today and there is a lot of hatred which can result in a clash of civilizations.

.                The intensity and frequency of suicide bombing in Pakistan is as a result of bad governance and extreme religious ideas. Poverty is also a factor. Much of population in Pakistan is living below poverty line and the poor are susceptible to the radical ideas. Taliban have used the economic difference and the class structure in Pakistan as a tool to hire new recruits. The idea of rich becoming richer and poor becoming poorer is playing into the hands of Taliban. The ineffective governance, ramping corruption and our feudal structures have given fuel to this fire.

                     The immediate impact is loss of innocent lives to these terrorist activities. It has also resulted in lack of investment in Pakistan owing to the security situation. The economic situation in Pakistan is worsening. These terrorist attacks are also challenging the writ of the government. There is a gradual feeling developing in the general public about the failure of institutions in Pakistan. The government is not able to provide security to its public. How long can it continue? It is a ticking time bomb. Anti American feeling is there in the general public while the government is an ally of America. It is a contrast which is very visible and it does not help. There is gradually a public support developing for the war on terror in Pakistan. How many casualties can we take as a nation before the public opinion turns the tide and results in failure of this war? Anarchy is very visible and there is a sorry state of affairs all around. There is confusion in the government on the mode to fight this war and everyday suicide attacks do not help.

                       There is a talk about winning heart and minds of the people. There is a talk about political situation to this problem. There is a talk about three-prong strategy to talk terrorism. Military operations, rehabilitation and talks are the three steps to tackle this issue. Is this really being applied? Bad governance is a big hindrance to this process. Effectively, there is military being used for the solution.

The Pakistani public is getting tired of these extremist and liberals fighting each other for the ideals. The common man has a limited access to even the basic necessities of life. Suicide bombing is another nail in the coffin of this hopeless nation.

Khuda Kay Liye - Movie - Critique

    
                 On hearing the title of movie ‘Khuda Kay Liye’ the first thing that strikes one’s mind is that the movie might be about the cruelties faced by the subject and their appeal for mercy. But after watching the movie, one gives up the literal meaning of the name “Khuda Kay Liye” because it shows a different version of Islam and the Muslims and negates the western misperception about Islam and Muslims.


Khuda Kay Liye was released on July 20, 2007. It cast Shaan as Mansoor, Fawad Afzal Khan as Sarmad, Iman Ali as Maryam/Mary, Naseeruddin Shah as Maulana Wali, Austin Marie Sayre as Janie, Rasheed Naz as Maulana Tahiri, Simi Raheal as Mother of Mansoor & Sarmad, Hameed Sheikh as Sher Shah under the amazing direction of Shoaib Mansoor. It is the second highest grossing movie of Pakistan of all time with a gross of over $10 million. The movie’s success can be estimated by the fact that it won “Best film” awards in Lux Style Awards 2008, Roberto Rossellini Awards and Fukuoka Audience Awards (Khuda).


                             The nucleus of the movie is a message portraying a moderate and enlightened version of Islam which suits to the contemporary secularized and modernized world. Although this new version of Islam is a bit controversial especially if we see it through the lens of Pakistani traditional Islamic society but overall the movie appeals to a vast and diverse audience across the globe.



            The movie is a story of two brothers, Mansoor and Sarmad, both musicians, brought up in a well to do Pakistani family. Mansoor and Sarmad are torn apart by latter’s increased involvement with a certain Maulana Tahiri, who turns the soft spoken Sarmad into a Jihadi. Things become more complex when the brother’s cousin arrives from London to spend a few days with them, who is later forcefully married to Sarmad to avoid her marriage from a non-Muslim boyfriend by her hypocritical father. Meanwhile, Mansoor leaves for Chicago to enrol at the “School of Music”. Then there happens to be September 11 attacks and Mansoor is detained on the grounds of being Muslim by the US authorities who beat and torture him to elicit a confession of his role in terrorism. In an epic that switches from London to Lahore to Waziristan to Nangahar to Chicago, these ordinary people are traced with both internal and external conflicts (Hamdani).

The movie highlights the difficult situations faced by the Muslims in United States after the September 11 attacks. It shows how the innocent people were detained by the U.S. authorities and how they were physically and mentally tortured and forced to confess their involvement in the attacks (Patenik2).

              The movie also criticizes the fundamentalist version of Islam represented by the extremist Mullahs. These Mullahs present Islam as an orthodox religion that denies women with their rights and treat music and art as haram (Kazmi).

                  The movie has taken a negative approach towards the Pukhtoon culture and has shown their culture to be anti-women. The movie also highlights that most of the people involved in the terrorist activities comprise of the Pakhtoons (Karim).

The movie has been successful in highlighting the cultural homogeneity that exists between the people of different countries. The people of different countries are shown to be valuing faith, love and peace rather than religion or nationality.

            The movie has also shown the building relation between Islam and the west. It shows that the social and cultural differences between Muslims and the west are decreasing day by day. It also shows that Muslims have a positive thinking towards the people of the U.S. but negative thinking towards their policies (Haseem).

Although, the movie ‘Khuda Kay Liye’ has drawn the attention of its audience towards many subjects of the Muslim world, yet the main emphasis of the movie has been on the clash of ideology between two strains of Islam, the fundamentalist version and the liberal version. The movie has very intelligently shown the real face of the fundamentalist Muslims and their role played to brainwash the innocent liberal Muslims to turn them into the Muslims of their own type. The movie cast Maulana Tahiri as a fundamentalist Muslim leader who interprets Islam as an orthodox religion that denies women their rights and treats music and art as ‘haram’. Maulana starts preaching Sarmad the rites of islam. Steadily, Sarmad begins to change - much to his family’s consternation. He leaves music, grows a beard, takes off pictures from the walls of his house and tries to persuade his mother to wear Hijab.(Maliha).Maulana after making Sarmad leave the music convinces him to marry her cousin, as an act of good by stopping his Muslim cousin to marry her Christian friend. Sarmad was even made to involve in the terrorist activities that was named as jihad by the fundamentalist Maulana. The movie sketches the true picture of hatred that lie in the heart of Muslims against the people and authorities of U.S. It cast a scene where the religious leader in a religious meeting urges his followers against the U.S authorities and instructs them to pull out the weapons to fight against the authorities for the betterment of Islam. This type of scene seems obvious in the real world especially after the September 11 attacks. The movie, on the other hand, casts Maulana Wali, a liberal Muslim who beats the fundamentalists at their own game. Quoting extensively from religious texts, Maulana Wali proves that Islam is neither anti-woman nor does it frown upon music, art and culture. More importantly, it espouses the concept of jihad as a war to overcome the failings within the fallible human self rather than as a synonym for terror. (Kazmi)


                            Khuda Kay Liye isn’t merely a powerful story; it’s a movie of fine performances, a great music score and sophisticated production values. It is the biggest block-buster of Pakistan film industry and no movie moved Pakistani people intellectually, politically, or religiously like this movie. The director Shoaib Mansoor deserves a standing ovation to firstly dare to make such a film being a resident of Pakistan and secondly for changing our perception about Pakistani cinema being low budget, mediocre quality flicks. It is no doubt that the movie addresses a controversial topic and is subjected to harsh criticism but it attempts to make Muslims aware of how Islam is misconstrued in order to validate a number of ugly, inhuman crimes and how the Muslims suffered post the September 11 attacks. The success of the movie is clear from the positive response from the audience all over the globe.

Written By Rao Shahbaz Hassan

Feral Children - Child Psychology - Informative


In spite of the development of modern day science like Sociology, the world is still unable to explore the mysteries about Feral Children. Feral children are the humans nurtured by wild animals instead of their human parents, some of them are deliberately confined in basements and cages or isolated from society due to some misadventures such as a conflict, War or mental abuse and some of them run away from their human parents and live on their own because of abuses. Though this is a vast topic, the article will cover its various mysteries and their importance towards child psychology and physiology.


                               Many myths, false stories and fictions have been written about feral children and many movies like Tarzan, Jungle Book, Shiver, and Feral have been released on this Topic. Ancient History has many myths about children raised by animals, but the first feral child was reported by Roman Historian Procopius .That boy was left by his parents in the wake of Gothic Wars in about 250 A.D .He was found living with a She-Goat when the survivors of the War returned to their homes .The boy was named Aegisthus. Carl Linnaeus, classified feral children as Homo-Ferens in 1758 a sub-specie of Homo-Sapien . People until 18th century believed that feral children are not reality. But many cases in the recent world came on scene such as in 1724 “Peter” or “The wild boy of Hamelin”, “Victor” was discovered in woods of Aveyron , France in 1799, “Kasper Hauser” was discovered in Nuremberg, Germany in 1828, In 1920, two young girls Kamala and Amala were discovered under the care of a She-Wolf in Godamuri, India, A girl named “Genie” who was brought to a welfare house in California on 4th November,1970 and Oxana Malaya ,who was discovered in 1991 in Ukraine . These cases suggest that feral children are not myths. 


                        The discovery of Kasper Hauser was very mysterious as Bjerg reported that Kasper was having a letter which was addressed to the captain of the 4th squadron of the 6th cavalry regiment:
“Honored Captain,
I send you a lad who wishes to serve his king in the Army. He was brought to me on October 7th, 1812. I am but a poor laborer with children of my own to rear. His mother asked me to bring up the boy, and so I thought I would rear him as my own son. Since then, I have never let him go one step outside the house, so no one knows where he was reared. You may question him, Honored Captain, but he will not be able to tell you where I live. He cannot find his way back. If you do not keep him, you must strike him dead or hang him.”


                     Feral children adapt more or less all the characteristics of their nurturing parents, this shows that children mimic all those features which they see in their parents .Their younger brains learn everything in front of them . Most of the instants Feral children show almost exactly the same features of their animal parents like whining, granting, biting, walking naked and screaming or barking in the night. The mysterious characteristic of feral children is their sense of smell and touch which is extremely sharp and is more important than sight; they also have excellent night vision like their parents. They are indifferent to sex and money, love music and eat raw food with great pleasure. They don’t have common sense of normal human beings therefore “Once when Kasper Hauser was given a mirror in his hand he looked behind it to find the person looking towards him in the mirror and burned his hand while touching a candle’s flame in curiosity”( Bjerg ). “Kamala and Amala used to sleep all the day and walked on all fours and ran after moon in the night time.”( Sieveking ). Most of them behave like small young children and cannot distinguish between right and wrong, hot and cold. They are scared of people and always want to escape from humans and use to attack and bite the people if they are threatened.


               One of the greatest problems of feral children is of language acquisition, which is because of “The critical period hypothesis” that states that “the ability to learn a language is limited to the years before adolescence after which, as a result of neurological changes in the brain, the ability is lost.” (the critical period hypothesis).According to this concept if children are not given the required nurture they are unable to adapt to humans in future, that is why feral children are always unable to speak because of his isolation from society . The study of feral children has led to the discovery of alternate language and communication skills for people with disabilities for example “Braille”. This research has helped scientists to know about the evolution of language and to know that which features of us are natural and which are learned. Sociology is failed to describe this phenomena research is still in progress to expose its truth.


                           The cases of feral children exemplifies that the malformation of their body and psyche is because of the social disorder that led to the negligence of their parents in the critical period. Their foreign behavior is still behind the curtains of darkness. Feral children’s study leads us to differ between “nature” and “nurture”. Although they resemble with humans in appearance only, their bodily genetic functions are like humans but their behavior is characterized by the nurture of their wild parents. These cases conveys an important message that we should not deprive children of their right of communication and language skills in the critical period because once this period is passed they are unable to learn any language or communicate with either of human beings in future.

Written By Asif Bahadur

Early Marriages - Research Essay


       Throughout the world, marriage is regarded as a moment of joy and celebration but the practice of early marriage gives no such cause for celebration. Early marriage refers to the marriage of the children aged below 18 years. Early marriage is often a forced marriage as it takes place without the consent of both the bride and bridegroom (Child marriage and Forced marriage). The imposition of a marriage partner upon a child means that a girl’s or boy’s childhood is cut short and their fundamental rights are compromised. Young girls are robbed of their youth and are required to take on roles for which they are not psychologically or physically prepared (UNICEF). Although early marriages affect both the sexes but girls have been a major victim. Its practise has inflicted harmful effects on the parties involved and also the overall society. Early marriage is everywhere considered a violation of the Human Rights and efforts are being made to beware people of its adverse effects. This research paper is intended to reveal the history of early marriages, its different causes and effects on the parties involved and in turn recommend ways to restrict, or rather eliminate, such practices. “read more”


Historically, early marriages can be traced back to the time of kings, when the size of armies determined the result of wars. The kings of the army motivated its army men to marry as soon as possible and also provided them with the young girls (prisoners of war) of age 15 to 19 to marry (Hassan). It was in these times that the concept of early marriages gained momentum as an attempt to provide as much offspring as possible to enlist in the kings’ armies that would help the king to retain the control of the area already captured and to further conquer other areas. Today, this notion remains the same in the rural areas where the strength of the family is determined by the number of male members of the family and is achieved by marrying the members of the family at an early age.



Nowadays, the practice of early marriage is most common in the rural areas of Africa and Southern Asia. The top 10 “Hot Spot” countries for early marriage are as following:
Ranking Country Percent Married Younger than 18
1 Niger 76.6
2 Chad 71.5
3 Bangladesh 68.7
4 Mali 65.4
5 Guinea 64.5
6 Central African Republic 57.0
7 Nepal 56.1
8 Mozambique 55.9
9 Uganda 54.1
10 Burkina Faso 51.9

(Demographic Health Survey Data) These countries are economically and socially the most backward areas of the world and most of their population live below the poverty line.
In context to the data given above which comprises the poorest nations of the world, it is revealed that poverty is the main causes for the early marriages. In families with acute poverty, girls are thought to be an economic burden and their marriage to an old man is believed to benefit them and their family both financially and socially. In communities where child marriage is practiced, marriage is regarded as a transaction in which the parents of the girl receive money in return of their daughter. So, the poor people wish to marry off their daughters as soon as possible so that their personal financial needs are satisfied (Child marriage). In West Africa as a whole, a recent UNICEF study shows that economic hardship is encouraging a rise in early marriage of the girls, even among some population groups that do not normally practise it (Assani).

Secondly, the religious sentiments have also contributed towards the early marriages. The religious scholars often consider early marriage as an act to control the next generation from immodesty and indecency (Khan). In Islam there are many ahadith which direct followers towards the early marriages. For example, Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: `O young people! Whoever among you can support a wife should marry, for that is more modest for the gaze and safer for your private parts.' (Marriage quotes from Sahih Muslim, Sahih Bukhari). A study by UNICEF in Pakistan, conducted in 2001, found out that in Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa, 66.73 percent of the early marriages are practised by the people driven by the motives to follow the ahadith of the Holy Prophet (UNICEF).

Furthermore, the notion of honour and morality is an important factor for the early marriages. It is often considered a shame for the family if the daughter is not a virgin before the marriage. So in order to ensure that the virtue of the girl remains intact, girls are often married earlier, to ensure virginity. The parents often feel that their daughter will be better off and safe with a regular male guardian and so they marry them in an early age (Child marriage). In conflict-torn Northern Uganda, for example, some families marry their young daughters to militia members in order to defend family honour or secure ‘protection’ for themselves and the girl. The same thing had happened to girls in Somalia in the course of that country’s conflicts. (UNICEF)

The studies show that the early marriage has inflicted dangerous and devastating effects on young children who are compelled to tie the knot in most cases. According to survey, “One of the main reasons for child labour, unemployment, low literacy rate and poor health standards in Pakistan is the early marriage” (Early marriages in Pakistan). These dangerous effects of early marriages are not only in Pakistan but in all the areas of the world where early marriages are practised. Early marriage deprives the child of their basic education and learning. For example, in Karachi a girl named Sassi was forcefully married to a 70 year-old man by her father when she was just 11 and was a school student in the government school. After the marriage, she was forced to quit her school and was several times sexually abused by her husband. Luckily she escaped from the custody of her husband and is now working with an NGO (Latif). This is not the only case; there are thousands of cases where girls have to give up their studies for their households that leave them with little ability to earn their own living. Similarly married boys have to give up their education in order to earn for their families. (Bayisenge)

Moreover, one of the main effects of early marriage is the increase in the number of children. An early married couple is usually expected to have more children than a relatively late married couple (Early marriage).The study, by UNICEF, show that there is always a negative correlation between the time of marriage and the number of children, the early the marriage is larger will be the size of the family. This causes an increase in the size of the overall population which worsens the social life of the common people and increase unemployment, child labour and poverty in the society. In Pakistan, for example, early marriages are mostly practised in the rural areas where the average children per couple are 7.49 and these rural areas are economically and socially the most backward areas of the country. (Early marriages in Pakistan)

In case of early marriage, the risks of early pregnancy and childbirth are well documented: increased risk of dying, increased risk of premature labour, complications during delivery, low birth-weight, and a higher chance that the newborn will not survive (UNICEF). Pregnancy-related deaths are the main reason for mortality in 15 to 19 year-old girls. According to the studies, mothers in this age group have 20 to 200 percent more chances of deaths during pregnancy than 20 to 24 year-old mothers. The health problems linked to early marriage not only affect the pregnant mother and the foetus, but also continue after childbirth. Evidence shows that infant mortality among the children of very young mothers is higher – sometimes two times higher – than among those of older peers (Early Marriage).

Early marriages also have great psychological effects on the life of the girls. Indian researchers on child marriage in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh state that girl spouses suffer more than boys: “Inadequate socialization, discontinuation of education, great physiological and emotional damage due to repeated pregnancies devastates these girls.”(Khan) It is a huge responsibility for the girl to become wife and mother and because young girls are often not prepared for these roles, this heavy burden leaves a serious impact on their psychological welfare, their perceptions of themselves and also their relationship. Also the mental and emotional stress in girl brides is high because they are not old enough to cope with maternal, marital or in law issues. Very often, the only option for girls and women in situations of extreme marital stress is to run away. In countries such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India and Kenya, many runaways end up in poor urban communities, including brothel communities. Some local NGOs working in this field have begun to assist such girls and women, but their efforts are generally confined to towns and cities (ICRW).

Also, the UK working group found that most of the victims of early marriage, although, suffer from prolonged violence, cannot leave the marriage because of the economic pressures, lack of family support and other social circumstances. A study in Jordan, published in 2000 found that 26 percent of reported cases of domestic violence were committed against wives under 18(Assani). India, with 67 percent, has one of the highest rates of early marriages and out of which 45 percent women suffer from domestic violence on a regular basis (Admin). Early marriage has also been linked to wife abandonment and increased level of divorce and separation. Child brides also face the risk of being widowed by their elderly husbands. While divorce plunges an early married woman into poverty, young brides who lose their husband face the high probability of not being taken in to marriage again, in these societies (Child marriage).

Finally, these harmful effects caused by the practice of early marriages calls for attention of the United Nations to come up with the laws discouraging the early marriages. Early marriages should be regarded as a violation of the Human Rights and the parties involved in this crime should be charged heavily. Furthermore, the government in each country should make efforts to eliminate poverty and provide education to its population which will result in the decrease in the child marriages (ICRW). The governments should also encourage NGOs which provide girls with a job to increase their economic standards and beware people of the dangerous effects of early marriages. The government must also negotiate with the religious scholars and should seek for their help in eliminating the early marriages (Admin). These actions, if implemented, will surely eliminate the practice of early marriages and will provide an end to its harmful effects.

This research paper has drawn attention towards a social evil of early marriage that has prevailed in the world for a very long time. The paper has revealed poverty, religious sentiments and notion of honour as the important causes for the early marriages and has discussed the negative consequences like maternal deaths, unemployment, increase in population, abandonment of wives caused by its practice. In the end, it has come up with recommendations for United Nations and government of the countries that will help them get rid of the practice of the early marriage.

3 Idiots - Movie - A critique

The movie 3 idiots in its true sense was a genuine Bollywood masterpiece drawing one’s attention to the most sensitive issue faced by the academic world today that is greater expectations and output demanded by parents and teachers from students. The movie mostly addresses the critical issues and flaws in the academic system of India and demands a remarkable and effective change in the educational structure of the country. Although there are no major flaws in the movie but my critical essay will mainly deal with the most controversial part of that movie that is the public message that the movie conveys and its impact on the youth.


                                   The movie by virtue of its message and script can be called as a movie especially for youth or young generation. The user rating it got from IMDB site (which is considered as the most authentic unofficial site for user ratings) was mostly from the people below 25 years but this does not restrict it from attracting the adult or senior section of the society mostly parents and teachers. “read more”

                                                               The first message that the movie conveys to its audience is “All is well”. The approach or the philosophy to which the movie adheres to tries to oversimplify the meaning and purpose of life and suggests a pathetic and impractical path to face hardship and sufferings in life. Life is not a bed of roses or a simple puzzle that can be solved by applying a single formula. Like in the movie when the characters are stuck in any trouble they just say “All is well” and the trouble vanishes.



                                     The movie favors the concept that students should be allowed to choose their profession and whatever they want to become. Students should be allowed to follow their dreams and choose their own destiny. The movie challenges the narrow mindness of teachers and parents in forcing the children to choose the profession which they consider suitable, keeping in view the prevailing perception in society regarding that profession. Moreover, the movie asks for building interest and deriving fun from anything that a person do. The key to success in any field is developing interest in that particular field and a man should enjoy his work. It is wiser to let the children take their own decisions about choosing career.

                                                                          The most controversial part of the movie is the general message or the theme of the movie in which parents and teachers are continuously criticized and held responsible for failure of educational system and the increasing number of students suicide cases. In this regard the suicide approach of the students is justified by arguing that such cases occur because of the pressure which the students undergo. Instead of guiding the youth how to handle pressure situation which the student undergo frequently during his academic life the movie portrays a heroic figure of the student who choose the third path of suicide just for an emotional appeal or to gain sympathies. Like in the movie when Raju is threatened by the professor to become a witness against Aamir khan or else he will expel him. Now this is a situation that is faced by each and every student in his academic life but the path that Raju chooses is completely non sense. I agree that this is the climax and the most emotional scene of the movie but what about the image that it left behind on the raw and immature minds of youth. This movie was banned in Gujrat (India) after some weeks of its release because 11 students committed suicide after watching this movie.

                                            The movie has blamed parents and teachers for the problems of students. While students are shown innocent despite of their mischiefs and devilments like when they urinate on the door of principal, insulting a studios person (silencer) or fooling a teacher. The movie is shown in such a way that the viewers have all the sympathies with students and teachers are shown as they are against the students at every point. At the end of movie one holds parents and teachers responsible for the problems of students.

                                                                                  The movie tells us that every student should focus on learning and get rid of the cram. The movie is a great sarcasm on rote learning. It is shown that grades don’t matter at all. The knowledge that one gains is all that matters. Just getting degree without learning anything is of no worth. Learning based on cramming system among students is discouraged. One can’t get any success in life by just memorizing the words without getting the concept of it. Learning without understanding can be very harmful.

                                                  The ending of the movie spoils the whole interest that is created from the beginning of the movie. The movie has shown real university life but the birth scene is something that can’t happen in real life. The girl gave birth on a table in an office. Moreover, when the baby dies after birth, he is again revived from just a silly statement “All is well”. So the last part of the movie lacks reality.

                                                             Throughout the movie we see that there is no respect paid to the teachers. Amir Khan and his friends are portrayed as heroes when they humiliate and tease their teachers by their funny mischiefs. Also the scene in which “silencer” is asked to deliver a speech in respect of his teachers, is made funny by the addition of abusive language which shows the negative aspect of the movie.

                              Now coming over the goofs in this movie. In the first part of the movie we see the name of Kareena Kapoor’s sister is Poonam but after some scenes it changes to Mona. The story in the movie is supposed to have happened 10 years ago but the characters use such technologies which isn’t available during that time in India. Like in the childbirth scene, Kareena Kapoor is using You tube video during the video chat with Amir Khan when there was no You tube. In the same scene Amir Khan is shown inserting a USB dongle based on EVDO technology offered by Bharti Airtel in a laptop. He does it to connect to the Internet in a wireless mode. But this technology was not commercially available in the Indian market until 2007.

                                  Overall the movie 3 idiots is a wonderful mixture of human emotions, love, success, failure, ambition and struggle. The director has done a wonderful job in raising this sensitive issue in such a skillful manner just like a sugar coated pill. The viewers’ interest and excitement is maintained throughout the movie through funny jokes and the audience are not depressed and bored by sensitivity of the message, the movie is try
ing to give.