A very well-known Balochi movie director, Shakir Shad’s latest film, named Balochabad shed light onto the current situation regarding women’s education, causes of early marriage in our society, as well as many other traditions and cultural norms by which women are affected brutally.

The film has become one of the best and most talked about films in Balochistan cinemas. It stars Allah Bakhsh Haleef, Anita Jalil, Sarfaraz Muhammad, Hassan Danish and many others.

The movie shows how women are deprived of their basic rights, while also discussing the issue of early marriages and its detrimental effects on young women.

The number of women who die during childbirth is the highest in Balochistan, as compared to Pakistan’s other provinces. Officials from a non-governmental organization stated that 785 of every 100,000 women in the country’s southwestern province died while giving birth to a child. 

There are two villages in the film, the first, Rasoolabad, where women and men have equal opportunities of living, and the second Balochabad, where women have no freedom to learn, study, play, walk, talk, or meet without permission.

The film comes armed with English subtitles and the power of speech and the media is shown wonderfully. Jan Bibi raises awareness through different media platforms such as the radio and is to an extent successful in doing so. I was surprised to see the movie available on YouTube and without a second’s hesitation, began watching it to enlighten myself on the issues which the film talks about.

I encourage the rest of you to watch the film, as it will impart knowledge which you may have not held before and raise awareness about the atrocities which our women face.

PARVEZ MOULA BAKHSH,

Karachi.