The Hindu : Punjab's nowhere brides

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 13, 2003

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Punjab's nowhere brides

By Sarabjit Pandher

CHANDIGARH June 12. The tragedies of Punjab's agrarian crisis have been written in many forms, from terrorism to suicides by farmers and agricultural labourers to the vicious grip of drug addiction among the youth and the disintegrating social fabric. Looking for better opportunities, Punjabis have always attempted to venture into foreign lands, but recently only to be duped and exploited by unscrupulous travel agents.

The quest for greener pastures has provided ink to another heart-wrenching tragedy, which has directly involved women of all ages. Because it was always accepted that they were married to satiate the greed of their parental families, these women have seldom received public sympathy or political attention. Their cause is not seen as a major vote-catcher, nor have people learnt from the mistakes of the others. Hardly has any women's organisation ever held a demonstration, nor have the human rights groups or academicians deliberated in seminars nor has any legislator or Parliamentarian staged a walkout to redeem them from the pathetic situation.

Several women were victims of violence let loose by the gun-toting militants and the security forces during the era of terrorism. An equal number may now be suffering quietly in the remote areas, after they were exploited and dumped by deceitful grooms, who came from foreign lands or those who had spent many years here but changed their attitudes after reaching foreign soil.

The lone voice in their favour is the former Union Minister, Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, who heads the Lok Bhalai Party (LBP) and cites estimates that about 10,000 women had been abandoned by their NRI husbands. He and his handful of supporters have made an attempt at creating some public awareness about the issue. At a recent press conference, he presented some of these brides. So pathetic were the accounts that while Mr. Ramoowalia had tears rolling down his cheeks, the toughest of scribes could not pose any questions.

Jaspal Kaur from a village in Kapurthala narrated her suffering without any expression on her face. In January last year, a youth from the U.S. saw her in college. He approached her family and in January 2002, Amarjit Singh married her. On January 21, he flew back to the U.S. All she knows is that he worked somewhere in Virginia.

Nothing could have been more shocking, when in August Jaspal received a copy of agreement for divorce filed by Amarjit Singh on February 22, 2002 hardly a month after their marriage. All through, he maintained his contact over phone giving no indications about his plans. Through an advocate in Jalandhar, her family procured the original copy of the agreement.

On March 18, 2002, she approached the U.S. embassy in Delhi for a visa, as she had to attend court on March 27, 2002. She was denied travel documents and since then her petition is before the Supreme Court.

Carrying her four-year-old son, Jagir Kaur from Nawanshahr district, does not know what to do and where to start. In 1999, she was married to Hardip Singh, who was a professional driver. Life was normal till she visited her parental home almost two years ago.

On returning, she found that her husband was not at home and after many days she was told that he had gone abroad. Till date, she has no information about his whereabouts, while her husband's family has grown hostile.

When the misfortunes of Ravinder Kaur of Jagraon in Ludhiana district and Veerpal Kaur Bathinda found space in newspapers and time in television channels, it provoked a backlash from the families of their husbands, who produced definite evidence to launch a campaign of character assassination.

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Punjab's nowhere brides