V Read the article again, find the following words and word combinations in the text and learn their meaning. Make it a particular point to use these words in the further discussion of the problem.

For one thing, to exchange smth, compared with smth, to account for smth, a decline, to have children out of wedlock, to take advantage of smth, to make a fuss, to make sense

14. Read Article 2 and decide which of the statements given below fit in the numbered gaps in the text. There is one extra sentence that does not fit in.

A. An application is now pending there.

B. She says it is only a matter of time before the decision is changed.

C. In the past, most have given up after finding the legal process lengthy and harrowing.

D. Arshad spent four months in jail before securing bail.

E. This verdict proves that one can still have justice in Pakistan.

F. As the case dragged on, hard-line religious groups tried to rally support against the couple.

G. However, the dissenting judge, Ihsan-ul-Haq Chaudri, said: “Parents have a right to be obeyed by their children, and the obedience is judicially enforceable.”

Article 2 a Court in Pakistan Has Ruled …

In a dramatic judicial step both for Pakistan and for a young couple whose story has gripped the country, the High Court in Lahore yesterday ruled that a marriage based on love and contracted without parental permission is valid and in keeping with the teaching of Islam.

When Saima, aged 22, fell in love with Arshad, a college lecturer, who proposed to her, and decided to get married, she went to her father to ask for his permission. He refused, so she ran away from home and married anyway. She said that when she told her father about the wedding, he locked her in a room in the house.

The family divided into two camps. Saima says she escaped and went to the women’s refuge, fearing for her safety if she returned home.

Her father, a leading member of a fundamentalist Islamic group, not only took her to court, saying that under Islam the marriage was not legal because he had not given his consent, but also filed charges against the husband, alleging that he had forged the marriage papers. (1) … .

For 11 months Saima has lived apart from her husband in the shelter, after her father, Abdhul Waheed Ropri, filed a suit to have the marriage declared void. Yesterday the High Court ruled that the wedding had been valid and the couple could live together.

The court decided by a two to one majority that a Muslim woman can make her own choice about the man she marries without getting permission of a guardian. (2) … .

This has been a story of true love and a family ripped apart, which has also exposed the deep division in Pakistan about the rights of women under Islamic law. (3) … .

Hafiz Abdul Rahman, from a key Islamic group backing Saima’s father, the Islamic Human Rights Forum, said: “This matter has not been resolved.” Islamic groups have vowed to fight the decision. Lawyers from the opposing side agree that the issue cannot be finally settled until a case reaches the Supreme Court. (4) … .

Hundreds of women have filed cases in Pakistan’s courts trying to defend their right to choose a husband against the family’s wishes. (5) … .

Saima stayed the cause and won but still she does not feel safe. (6) … . For the time being she will stay at the refuge run by Asma Jehanghir, Pakistan’s leading campaigning lawyer, and the head of the country’s Human Rights Commission.

“My parents are rich and influential,” Saima says. “They will take me further in the courts, but I am ready. I have courage. It isn’t Arshad’s fault that he isn’t rich enough. As long as I have his love, I have everything.”

(From ‘The Guardian’)

Read the article again and find answers to the following questions.

1. On what grounds did Saima’s father take her to court?

2. Under what accusations did Arshad go to jail? Is he still there?

3. Are Saima’s family unanimous in their attitude to the issue?

4. Is there any contradiction in Islamic law on the right of women to marry without their parents’ consent?

5. Is the decision of the High Court on Saima’s case final?