Woolas, who represents the ethnically mixed region of Oldham East and
Saddleworth, said, "If you talk to any primary care worker they will tell you
that levels of disability among the ... Pakistani population are higher than
the general population. And everybody knows it's caused by first-cousin
marriage. That's a cultural thing rather than a religious thing. It is not
illegal in this country."
"The problem is that many of the parents themselves and many of the public
spokespeople are themselves products of first-cousin marriages. It's very
difficult for people to say 'you can't do that' because it's a very sensitive,
human thing," Times Online reported.
The online blogosphere and other newspapers quickly followed the story, often
irresponsibly. Spero published a similar story titled, "UK minister warns of
'Muslim inbreeding", even though Woolas said no such thing. That does not seem
to matter any longer though as the "elephant in the room" has been uncaged.
Bloggers and readers commenting on the story quickly took sides and argued
about "anti-Muslim politicians" or how all Muslim men want to marry their
sister and then give her a beating for good measure. Sadly, these vicious, knee
-jerk and oft ill-informed debates shift attention from the real problem.
Interfamily marriages and the resulting inbreeding are found in many societies
and cultures all over the world. Several states in the US have passed laws
banning inter-family relations or marriage as time and science began to show
the resulting genetic problems that it causes. It is not a matter of religion,
but a matter of culture and being uninformed of the hazards.
British Pakistanis' inter-family marriages are a concern of public health, due
to disproportional representations of birth defects in their population. For
British society it puts an added strain on the National Health Service, but
short of introducing a law to forbid these marriages, there seems little can be
done. The continued attempts to educate people about this seem to have been
fruitless thus far.
Woolas is supported by Labour member of Parliament Ann Cryer, who first spoke
out on the issue two years ago after research showed British Pakistanis were 13
times more likely to have children with birth defects than the general
population. Cryer told the Sunday Times, "This is to do with a Medieval culture
where you keep wealth within the family."
"I have encountered cases of blindness and deafness. There was one poor girl
who had to have an oxygen tank on her back and breathe from a hole in the front
of her neck," she added. "The parents were warned they should not have any more
children. But when the husband returned from Pakistan, within months they had
another child with exactly the same condition."
A possible answer might lie in going to the source of the cultural problem, to
Pakistan. A study more than a decade ago found, "The prevalence of inter-family
marriages was studied in 940 families belonging to four different socio
-economic groups in and around Lahore, Pakistan. The overall prevalence of
interfamily marriages was 46%. The first-cousin marriages were most common at
67%, followed by marriages between second cousins, 19%."
Marriages between families are often meant to strengthen the bond of
kinsmanship. Indeed, women are often more warmly welcomed into the households,
less likely to face abuse and retain some status because they are well, family.
The Koran does not have any passages that forbid marrying within the family and
inter-family marriages are documented back to the times of the Prophet
Mohammad. Herein lays a possibly more effective solution that actually makes
Islam a positive force in this debate.
If Islamic scholars and influential mullahs could be presented with the
evidence of why this practice is bad for their culture, then maybe sharia law
could be amended. Or at the very least have some of Islam's most influential
mullahs in Pakistan offer guidance to Muslims.
Meanwhile, media and bloggers that make this a divisive topic based solely on
religion ignore the real victims that this problem creates. But perhaps
misinformation and religious banter simply make it easier for people to avoid
having to take a good hard look at themselves and their culture.
William Sparrow is the Editor in Chief of Asian Sex Gazette. He has been
an occasional contributor to Asia
Times Online and now joins them with a weekly column.
(Copyright 2008 Asia Times Online Ltd. Reprinted with Permission)
