Friday, November 15, 2024
Islamabad (News international. DW News. November 15, 2024) Shaghfata Rashid, a native of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, was married to her cousin, after which she moved to Britain in 1990, where she lived with her husband and five children. She was living a happy life with him.
Shaughta told DW that all her children were very intelligent and beautiful.
However, trouble began for his family when his daughter's eyesight began to deteriorate.
"We were preparing for her eighteenth birthday when she complained of poor eyesight," says Shaughta.
With the passage of time, her daughter's eyesight became weaker day by day and eventually she lost her sight.
Shaughta says that she was deeply disappointed by this. The doctors further warned her that her daughter was suffering from a disease, which usually occurs in the elderly, and could leave her permanently blind.
Insulting people
Shaughta's daughter underwent two major surgeries at the ages of 18 and 21 that saved her from blindness.
Shaughta said her daughter's eyesight has not fully recovered and she still finds it difficult to see without glasses. However, her condition is better than before and she is living a happy married life in Dubai.
However, when Shaughta's neighbors in Britain came to know about her daughter's illness, they started speculating that her daughter's illness was caused by Shaughta's marriage to her cousin and that her daughter's illness was also caused by her parents. It is a result of blood relationship.
Shaughta's sister Sabiha Hasan says that other members of her family also faced a similar situation and people criticized her by associating them with family weddings.
Sabiha's son is also married to her cousin and has an autistic child. Another member of his family, who married into the family, has two children who are also obese.
Even if the children lose a lot of weight, people say that it is because their parents are related by blood.
Risk of genetic defects
A study examining the health, development and well-being of children living in Bradford, Birmingham and the London Borough of Redbridge found that between 20 and 40 per cent of child deaths were likely due to marriages between cousins. Can be caused by genetic diseases.
Dr. Shabia Ahmed, attached to Birmingham City Hospital, has warned that there is a serious risk of genetic defects in children as a result of consanguineous marriages.
According to Dr. Shabia Ahmed, these problems are not only found among Pakistanis or Kashmiris living in the UK, but also among Arabs and other communities where family marriages are common.
Decline in the rate of family marriages in the UK
According to a study of 13,500 families between 2007 and 2011, 60 percent of married couples born in Pakistan were related by blood. However, if a spouse is born in the UK and their parents are from Pakistan, this ratio drops to 30%.
Another study conducted between 2016 and 2020 revealed that the rate of cousin marriage in the Pakistani community has decreased significantly from 60 percent to 40 percent.
Even so, this figure is significantly higher than the rate of cousin marriage among white British citizens. According to current data, less than one percent of people marry their cousins.
The role of social media is important
"Britain-born children are more informed about health issues because they use social media all the time and they discuss everything, not just health issues," says Shaughta.
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Shaughta believes that people are now avoiding cousin marriages because of the quarrels that often occur in the family after marriage.
Another Pakistani-born Briton living near Bradford, who hails from Pakistan's Punjab province, says young people should be allowed to choose their own life partners.
He added on the condition of anonymity, “My own son refused to marry his cousin despite all the family pressure but I supported him in this decision, unlike other family members.
We must recognize that such marriages can cause medical problems in people and should be discouraged.”
Religion, obedience to parents, are pushing the youth towards cousin marriage
Benish Faris, a Bradford-based activist, says the trend of cousin marriage is on the decline. However, religiously inclined youth are again turning to this type of marriage, albeit on a limited scale.
"Religion puts a lot of emphasis on respecting and obeying parents," Benish says. So I have seen some young people with religious inclinations who follow their parents' advice in marriage or in some cases even agree to marry cousins.
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