Our Beloved Daughters

  I was listening to Mian Muhammad Baksh Punjabi Kalam’s poetry recently. One of his “shers” ( a small bit of poetry in Punjabi) struck a chord with me. Below is the sher in Punjabi:   تیاں واست پردس واے بابل تے    پتراں لی جاگراں             داکھ سکھ ساہن تے کھج نا کہن اے تیاں    دای تکدراں   The English translation of what he says in this sher is below:   “We give only distance to our daughters, and keep our wealth, properties and businesses for our sons. They bear happiness and sorrow without complaining and that is their luck” Mian Muhammad Baksh said these words almost 200 years ago. Unfortunately, not much has changed since then for girls in our societies. Girls are still discriminated against, and shockingly this discrimination starts at home. For example, some of us still believe that daughters will go away and all family assets belong to the son as he is expected to take charge of the...