While Kiran wins custody for her son in dastak, Shani, his father, Saif has won visitation rights, twice a month, to be decided at a place and time of Shani’s mother’s choosing. Althouhg Kiran is relieved at gaining custody, her troubles are far from over. With Saif trying to misguide Shani into lying about Kiran’s husband, with allegations of mistreatment, one wonders, what kind of a father figure will he make for Shani. And should mothers like Kiran be concerned? What can they do to mitigate this negative influene if any?
The UN Charter of Human Rights in Article 24 states on the Rights of a Child:
- In all actions relating to children, whether taken by public authorities or private institutions, the child’s best interests must be a primary consideration.
- Every child shall have the right to maintain on a regular basis a personal relationship and direct contact with both his or her parents, unless that is contrary to his or her interests.
Is it in Shani’s ‘best interests’ to be exposed to a negative influence such as Saif? Is it ‘contrary to his interests’ to remain in direct contact with his father?
This is the same father who handed him a mobile phone without his mother’s knowledge, asked him to hide it from her, and also purchased toy guns for him without his mother’s knowledge. Not the best example of fatherhood so far?
Kiran’s motherhood journey has resonated with many women – single mothers, women who have had to be strong, financially independent, emotionally resilient, to not only responsibly raise a young adult, but also to deal with a generation of societal conditioning that makes it hard for a women to live independently and raise a child without a father.
When that woman decides to part ways with her husband, despite all the challenges that come with thsi decision, she often does it to provide a better, more emotionally secure future for ehrself and her child. In Kiran’s case, she was handed over custody of Shani at divorce and subsequently, she brought him up as a single parent, away from any negative influences. often, we even see women seeking a separate home for tehmselves and their child, so that they can bring up their child they way they would like to, minus any negative influences. They forsake the financial stability of their parents home for emotional wellbeing.
In such cases, when the courts decide that a child should have visitation rights to their estranged parent, a few years after never really meeting him, one wonders whose rights is the law protecting/ The child’s or the parent’s. In Kiran’s case, although Saif might have judicial rights to being a part of his son’s life, is he really a positive influence in his life? A father who tried to teach his son to lie, passed him a samrt phone secretively (which could have been used for inapproptiate online conetnt vieweing by a minor), and not in his mother’s knowledge, has proved he is not the best example of responsible fathering.
So while we applaud the court’s decision to keep Shani’s custody with his mother, we also feel for all teh mothers, including Kiran, who must face this perpetual torment of exposing their son to a negative influence, just because he is the biological father. Is it really fair for the mother, and more importantly, does it safeguard the rights of the child and his ‘best interests’ as menitoned in the charter of human rights?
Should Kiran’s lawyer have objected to the judgement for visitation rights? Can Kiran choose to ensure that Saif only visits Shani within the confines of her own home, or where she is present? For a woman who has suffered many years of emotional and perhaps physical abuse from a man from whom she is finally free, is it fair that now her child must be exposed to teh same influence?
How can the courts judge what does and what does not lie within the bounds of responsible parenting?
Saif is planning to kidnap Shani and take him to Canada. If Kiran loses her son, wuill it be because of teh court decision, or, should she and her lawyer have instantly appealed the judgement on visitation rights?
Give us your thoughts in comments below!
Catch Up On The Latest Drama Gup Here
Dastak airs on ARY Digital every Friday and Saturday and is written by Sarwat Nazir and directed by Marina Khan. It is a project of Six Sigma Plus Production. The cast features Ali Raza, Sohai Ali Abro, Feroz Kadri, Syed Tanveer Hussain, Asma Abbas, Sohail Sameer, Perveen Akbar, and more.
