Letter From Meena

Dear friend!

I am writing this letter because I am having some problems at home. My father keeps forcing us to do things we don’t want do. For instance he forced Sajid to get circumcised. He was in pain for several days and didn’t eat much. My father has been angry and unfair since Nazir left the ceremony on his wedding day. Father was crushed and refused Nazir’s existence. Now he is planning Abdul and Tariq’s wedding, and they found out about it just before the Shahs were coming to visit. It really crushed them and Tariq got really upset. He tore the dresses and smashed the watches that dad had bought for them. I think he got it coming, because he can’t make that decision on his own. It is a big decision which belongs to Tariq and Abdul. They are to decide who they want to marry. I am getting some complaints, too. Father doesn’t want me to wear my school uniform at home. He thinks it’s inappropriate and not what Pakistanis should wear, but what he doesn’t see is that I am English and not Pakistani. Sometimes I just want to run away like Nazir did, but I can’t leave my family. Especially my mum, she is the one who has to put up with all this. I really admire her.

I really hope he does understand how we feel. Forcing us to do things we don’t want to do will not solve anything. We should be the one to decide who we want to marry, how to dress and what we want to do with our lives.

My hopes are that father would be more understanding and let us live our lives as we want.