Urdu → English transcript

She was seven years old when she was brought to me to be seen

So I was very surprised that a seven-year-old girl was wearing a niqab

She was wearing a hijab, a burqa, so I thought, man, their

parents are the ones I should explain to: why have you

done this to a seven-year-old girl for no reason like this; just let her wear a dupatta and leave the rest

So I felt that, you know, the people in her family would be very strict

very religious, very conservative; anyway, I

didn’t say anything, because why interfere in someone’s private life

when there’s no need; I examined the child, whatever problems she had

I addressed all of them, so I hinted lightly, saying that

in a way they wouldn’t mind; then what her father said made me

realize that the person living in the village is actually very

liberal, and the liberal way of thinking is, I mean, like of some very big

They were even more liberal than the liberal mindset; they said that this

is our daughter; we have other daughters too; they don’t do this

The girl said that this is my choice, that Allah phainna

It is; I have; so flow employees

It seemed; our view is that

the girl says that, about this dress of mine, who is there who dares

to say anything about my dress? My body, my choice; I’ll dress as I please, and whoever

doesn’t do that, we say this one is conservative, and whoever

supports it is liberal. So isn’t this liberalism, that a girl

says that I—I will do exactly this; I will not do it for them

So I think her parents, you know, are much more

liberal, in that they are letting a seven-year-old girl act on her choice

and they did not force their own will on her, that a seven-year-old

girl—what need is there to go around in such clothing? So this is a

It was a completely new perspective, and some of my friends had come too.

So in the discussion with them, a new point came up, so I thought that

I should record it so that people can know that

the definition of liberalism, you know—let’s broaden it a little so that

whoever wants to live as they wish, we let them live that way; whoever wants to live in that clothing,

for them, being in that clothing is the very meaning of liberalism, kiddo.

Tell me—Saraiki or Urdu—what language should we speak? Why the burqa?

Why do you wear it? My mom wore it, so I wore it. Okay.

Your mom wore it, so you wore it. So you like it this

way? And if you take it off, it doesn’t feel good? Tell me—does it feel good?

All right, good. We had a long discussion with their parents, so

I felt I should share this with you as well. Thank you.