Society

Poverty forces 70 Afghan couples to marry in mass wedding

By Salaam Times and AFP

Dozens of Afghan women concealed in thick green shawls were married off in an austere mass wedding in Kabul on June 13, in a ceremony attended by hundreds of guests. Marriage is a costly affair in deeply impoverished Afghanistan, traditionally involving huge dowries, expensive gifts and lavish parties. [Aref Karimi/AFPTV/ AFP]

KABUL -- Dozens of Afghan women concealed in thick green shawls were married off in an austere mass wedding in Kabul on Monday (June 13), in a ceremony attended by hundreds of guests.

Marriage is a costly affair in deeply impoverished Afghanistan, traditionally involving huge dowries, expensive gifts and lavish parties.

Historically, couples from families unable to foot the bill have sometimes opted to pool their resources in low-cost large scale marriages.

Monday's ceremony hitching 70 couples was one of the largest recently witnessed in Afghanistan, currently in economic freefall.

An Afghan couple walks outside the wedding hall after a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

An Afghan couple walks outside the wedding hall after a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

Brides stand inside a wedding hall as they wait for the start of a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

Brides stand inside a wedding hall as they wait for the start of a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

Grooms sit inside a wedding hall as they wait for the start of a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

Grooms sit inside a wedding hall as they wait for the start of a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

A groom in a wheelchair arrives inside a wedding hall during a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

A groom in a wheelchair arrives inside a wedding hall during a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

A bride (left) arrives in a car at the wedding hall for a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

A bride (left) arrives in a car at the wedding hall for a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

An Afghan couple leaves the wedding hall after a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

An Afghan couple leaves the wedding hall after a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

Decorated cars carrying Afghan couples leave the wedding hall after a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

Decorated cars carrying Afghan couples leave the wedding hall after a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

Grooms sit inside a wedding hall as they wait for the start of a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

Grooms sit inside a wedding hall as they wait for the start of a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

Grooms stand along with gifts outside a wedding hall during a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

Grooms stand along with gifts outside a wedding hall during a mass marriage ceremony in Kabul on June 13. [Sahel Arman/AFP]

Unemployment, especially among youth, has increased since last August, while wages have fallen "dramatically" for more than two-thirds of workers, according to a World Bank survey released March 15.

The survey of almost 5,000 Afghan households was conducted by telephone between October and December 2021.

Seventy-percent of households surveyed said they were unable to meet their basic needs for food and other essentials, the report found -- twice as many as in a survey conducted in May 2021.

Meanwhile, more than half of Afghanistan's 38 million people are facing hunger, according to the United Nations (UN) and other global aid agencies.

Glimmer of happiness

With rising poverty and uncertainty about the future, Monday's mass wedding offered a glimmer of happiness to the betrothed.

"Today, no young man wants to bear the burden of an expensive wedding," said groom Ebadullah Niazai, who had waited eight years to be married.

"The situation of Afghanistan is evident to everyone," he said. "About 98% of people are living below the poverty line. It's very tough to manage these expenses."

"I have no job. We were short of money, and so we decided to marry at a mass wedding ceremony," said 22-year-old groom Esmatullah Bashardost, who hails from the minority Shia Hazara community.

Bashardost, sporting a traditional Afghan cap, said his wedding would likely be the "happiest day" of his life.

However, celebrations were dramatically dampened by frigid restrictions on social life.

Weddings in Afghanistan used to be riotously colourful affairs marked with singing, dancing and some degree of mingling between men and women.

Strict segregation

On Monday, the brides and grooms were kept separate throughout the ceremony.

Guests of opposite sexes were separated by about a dozen security personnel patrolling with weapons, and the only entertainment was poetry recitations and speeches by charity organisers of the event.

Journalists were not allowed to speak to the brides, who wore crisp white gowns under their concealing shawls, but were permitted to photograph and film them.

A red and white wedding cake was produced for each couple but was placed in front of the men only, who wore traditional white shalwar kameez.

The event ended as grooms -- each sporting a plastic name badge -- collected their brides and left the venue in cars decorated with flowers and ribbons.

A single day booking at a Kabul wedding hall costs between $10,000 and $20,000, and organiser Sayed Ahmad Selab of the Selab Welfare Organisation said some betrothed couples were "waiting for years" because of the expense.

"They can't afford to have individual wedding parties given the bad customs (lavish parties, dowries, huge number of guests), high expenses and stiff demands," he said.

All of them "waited for years to earn money and have some savings so they can marry", he said. "That's why we arranged this mass wedding."

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Unfortunately, some social values so-called shame and zeal have caused various problems in the society. Many young Afghans, on one hand, are under pressure due to the cost of weddings and on the other hand, they don’t want to get married in mass wedding ceremonies because of shame and zeal. Holding mass wedding ceremonies has become popular in Afghanistan in the recent years. In the past, such marriages were not common, and for many, marriage with support from the charities was considered a shame. Shame is one of the most important issues in Afghan culture which in many cases causes social and personal problems; however, recently the support of charities and their attention to the poor has led many citizens to embrace this type of marriage in some big cities of Afghanistan. As an Afghan girl, I admire this deed of the Sayyid Ahmad Silab Charity Foundation, may God grant them more success. Thanks. Shireen Alizai

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Bad traditions and practices really cause depravity and sedition in the society. I know many people who have been traveling to Arab countries for several years in order to earn their dowries, and they spend their youth in other countries, the time they had to spend with their spouses. When they get the dowries, half of their lives are gone and they get married in old age. This situation has to be changed because it causes sedition and depravity in the society. Our people should know that their daughters' marriage is their religious responsibility, and they should not sell their daughters as their physical goods. Religious scholars, especially Imams of mosques, play a vital role in resolving this problem. Unfortunately, they have not done anything in this field so far, and even if they did, due to the extension and depth of this problem in Afghan society it would not have had a significant impact.

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I am delighted to see that 70 young men and 70 girls from our country are married. I am very happy with it. Thank you for bringing us such good news. Live long.

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