A 91-year-old widow, Tahira Sultana, from Lahore has been fighting for her inheritance rights for over 50 years, but to no avail.
Tahira Sultan filed a case in the 1970s when her in-laws denied her and her children their right to her deceased husband’s property.
According to an application she has written to National Commission for Human Rights Pakistan Chairperson Rabiya Javeri, Tahira Sultana has spent 53 years in court and “to this day, she has not been granted her right”.
Ms. Tahira Sultana filed a case when she was 33, today she is 91 but couldn’t get justice. In the process she lost her strength, handicapped daughter, money and most importantly she lost her faith in the justice system. pic.twitter.com/GFty8omSRx
— Pak Lawyers Forum (@PLF_Officials) February 17, 2023
She said: “I started this journey in strength and youth at 33 believing that my battle for haqq (right) would eventually be victorious.”
She lamented that the state her husband served, who was a major in the army, “failed his widow and children”.
She added that her children have grown up and gotten married. However, she lost her daughter who had a disability since she could not take care of her due to financial constraints.
“I have lost the little money I had in litigation, and beyond everything, I have lost faith and pride in Pakistan’s ability to deliver justice,” she said.
“As I approach 92nd year of my life, confronted with rapidly declining health, it is my last wish to see the fruit of years of struggle, dedication, and belief in justice. Not for my being but for the sake of justice that widowed women and orphaned children are denied every day in Pakistan,” she added.
