Okay seriously? It is 2019.
So this post is about a woman calling out a company for what is possibly a stupid AF sexist policy but this does not mean it’s a comment on male population, overall, so calm your horses, men and just read through.
Even if it isn’t totally obvious, we have come a long way in regards to societal changes in Pakistan
Like we recently elected our first female justice of Balochistan High Court
First female Chief Justice of Balochistan takes oath, Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar was the first woman in Balochistan to be appointed as a BHC judge. pic.twitter.com/15GQUgr5jP
— Aniqa Nisar (@AniqaNisar) September 1, 2018
The Aurat March took place
And a global movement made its way into our lives.
All of this is helping women talk about things that they previously couldn’t. What’s progressive is that society actually is listening. It may not be with open ears and welcoming feelings but at least the fact that we’re able to have difficult conversations on subjects that were absolutely out of bounds previously is progress.
However, this recent bank encounter of a woman from Islamabad shows that we may still have a lot of work to do toward equality of genders
Sabina Ahmed went to a branch of Bank Alfalah to cancel a pay order. Instead, she was told that she needed two men in order to complete the action and without them, it couldn’t be done.
Went to Bank Alfalah for cancelling a Pay Order. Was told to produce two witnesses for cancellation. Asked my mother to sign for a witness only to be told that only male admissible as witnesses… beyond appalled.
— Sabina Ahmad (@sabina_ahmad) January 8, 2019
Yep. One step forward, two steps back. Or in this case, 100 years back.
The fact that Sabina’s own mother was not an admissible witness is absolutely absurd. If the bank teller said that the witnesses needed to be two relatives, it would have made sense. As is the case in most banks around the world.
This nature of ruling does exist in Pakistan, however only through Islamic Law. This law is implemented in Islamic Banks, such as Bank Islami. Even then, this practice only occurs in specific types of contract signings, not in something as small as cancelling a pay order.
This man clearly has no understanding of Islamic Law – the issue of witnesses only applies to loan contracts between two parties – where witnesses can later be called to court to testify in the event the obligation was not fulfilled between the two parties
— The Human Voice (@YaAbalFazl) January 8, 2019
Sabina’s tweet caught the notice of other Pakistanis and suffice to say, they were just as appalled as her.
Wonder if they asked the governor State Bank Shamshad akhtar to carry two make witnesses in tow when signing contracts…. Morons!
— afia salam (@afiasalam) January 8, 2019
I am not surprised!!!! You are living in a system which is pitrarchial to the core.
— Amjad Khan (@dramjad_khan) January 8, 2019
How pathetic!
— Kalim Khan (@Kallerz37) January 8, 2019
Sabina even tagged the Bank Alfalah account on Twitter, and subsequently, they responded to her qualm.
— Sabina Ahmad (@sabina_ahmad) January 8, 2019
Hi Sabina, i sm with Bank Alfalah, Customer Experience. Regret for the experience you had to go through, to investigate the matter further would require some details. Will appreciate if you can get in touch with me at suhail.siddiqui@bankalfalah.com and share your contact details
— Suhail (@Suhail_siddiqui) January 8, 2019
We spoke with Sabina for the banks’ response and she told us that the account wrote back to her, telling her that they registered her complaint but that it would take 5 days for someone to address it.
Nice. A five day turn around? Seriously? They publicly messaged her and asked her to contact them so that they could sort out the issue, not delay it by 5 business working days come ON.
We will remain in contact with Sabina so that we can see what the bank has to say and until then, we will be eagerly waiting for the response.
Have you ever had an experience like this? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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Cover photo source: @sabina_ahmed/Payoneer Community