or decades, women in Pakistan have suffered due to a denial of their rightful share of inheritance in ancestral property. Women’s rightto inheritance is guaranteed both under the constitution of Pakistan and the Shariah law. However, a majority of women have been unable to exercise the right. Because of unenforced laws and religious injunctions, many women face severe exploitation and discrimination when they strive to attain their legal rights.

The discourse around economic uplift and financial empowerment of women has some merit, especially if the goal is to provide greater social safety to all of the country’s population. Granting women their rightin inheritance and conferring equal social status will eventually eliminate social deprivations leading towards broader economic development and progress. It will be a gigantic step towardssecuring women’s emancipation and gender equality in the society.

Cultural norms and customs to keep women shackled in patriarchal setups often discourage woman from fight against them. Many are unable to take such disputes to courts of law. While dividing the legacy of their parents, daughters and sisters are systematically deprived of their share. Sisters are often not given a choice and are expected to surrender their shares to brothers and nephews. Many of them amicably sign off their right.Many who do not are reprimanded and cut off when they try to stand up against the wrongdoings of close family members.

A hefty dowry is often referred to as an alternative to dividing immovable property. In some communities daughters are taught that they have been compensated in this way and sons are brought up in a manner that they deem themselves the only legitimate heir to their father’s property.Division of property with sisters getting their due is seen as bringing shame to the family.

Hameeda Khatoon, 72, says she battled for four decades to get her share from the property of her deceased father. She started her fight a few years after of her marriage.She says her brothers kept her deprived of her share in their father’s legacy and fought a long legal battle. She struggled to prove that she had never willingly given up her share in the form of a gift in favour of her two elder brothers that had been in their possession all those years. She learnt that they had fraudulently got her share transferred in their names in connivance with revenue field staff when she was a minor. Years later, on raising the matter within the family, she was threatened, intimidated and isolated. She was clearly told to stay quiet.

However, Hameeda’s resolve grew stronger in the face of many failures and adversities. Statements were forged against her and bribes exchanged hands but she rose to every occasion. Forty years later, she was finally able to prove forgery by revenue staff.

Fourteen centuries ago, Islam conferred on women the right to inherit from blood relations and the spouse. The right to inherit and own property has a close nexus with enjoying legal personality in a society that was not known in any other civilisation.

In Pakistan, the Muslim Personal Law (Shariah) Application Act, 1962, provides the edifice of inheritance laws. It defines legal heirs as blood relatives who are eligible to receive a share in a property after the owner’s death. The Land Revenue Act of 1967, amendments to the Succession Act, of 1925, issuance of Succession Certificates by NADRA and passing of the Prevention of Anti-Women Practices Act, 2011 provide that depriving women of their right to inheritproperty by deceitful means shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to ten years but shall not be less than five years. But have you ever seen aprecedent?Do you remember a verdict penalizing men for denying their sisters of their right of inheritance?

Economic independence and empowerment of women are still a far cry in our country. We have a long way to go to bring a change from within and to fight against the regressive approach. Despite attempts at better legislation, no change has precipitated. Deep-rooted norms, traditions, patriarchal practices and absence of an efficient system of transferring inheritance to women are some of the barriers in the way of equality. It is high time to accept women’s inheritance as a fundamental right. Families should be encouraged to give their daughters a share in property instead of dowry.

The writer is an assistant professor of English at FGEIs, Ministry of Defence, and has a

YouTube channel — Learn English with Fatima.

She can be reached at  learnenglishwithfatima@gmail.com