Chitrali men losing status of being family head!

Prof Rahmat Karim Baig

The grading of the old society of Chitral was based on patriarchal lines with a few exceptions. Man was the head of the family and the tribal chief conducted all the socioeconomic issues of the tribe and worked as mediator in case of a clash of interests with other tribes.

Since all the tribes that now live inside the borders of Chitral have their own roots and identity the inter-tribal issues and use of natural resources was based on consultation and sponsored by the ruling prince. Man was the breadwinner of the family. He had to consider a number of factors to be able to collect enough resources to keep the wolf out of the door. The housewives also played their role in boosting the sources of income with the help of the children especially daughters. Thus the family economy worked subject to timely rains and good weather conditions. The head of the family was all in all in most of the matters.

Now the situation has completely changed and is running adversely. Now the wife has snatched the powers and minimized the role of her husband. What she wants is done at any cost and what she does not want cannot be done by the husband. The head of the family or say the husband has surrendered all the powers to his life partner or in other words has become a slave in the petticoat government. Her role is supreme.

What she wants is supreme and top priority and the man has to submit or a row is imminent in which case the wife uses threats and or tactics like getting support of the children as well as relatives and all that the rival group pressurizes the poor husband to surrender to the wishes of the lady of the house.

The man works, runs business or performs duties but the money goes to the hands of his wife who spend the whole by the middle of the month and starts demand for more cash which cannot be coined by the man but he either gets loans or has to pick pocket or create extra source of income by taking bribe but the wife know nothing about the invalid means of her husband but enjoys the cash.

The head of the family has to bear the all the burden and his wife and children know nothing about it. They keep their mouths open to be fed or there will be daily quarrels in the house and long standing rows lead to serious consequences.

In this way, today’s husband is the most unfortunate and doomed and has lost his liberty and became a slave in the hands of his wife. Mother’s days are celebrated each and every year. Their rights are highlighted but when will YOU celebrate the FATHER’s day??? Comments will be welcomed!