Simran Khairnar on how she thinks the 'Pinjar' story would continue

Puro decided to stay on in Pakistan with Rashid. She accepted the fact that she was married to Rashid. She appreciated him as a person and had also started developing feelings for him.She wanted him in her life. He was a good man who had proved his commitment towards her when he helped Puro rescue and reunite Lajjo with her family. He had also protected Puro from the communal strife. She also realised that Rashid truly and genuinely loved her and had gone out of his way to help Puro and other women caught in the difficult times.

After helping her sister-in-law to get back to her family Puro decided to take a stand for every woman and girls being harassed in the society. Rashid was of course always ready to help his wife in every step that she took. It was his way of seeking penance for the sins he had committed including abduction of Puro. Rashid also started creating awareness about women empowerment and their security. Since 1947 both husband and wife committed themselves to the cause of rescuing women and girls from forced marriages, disowned by families and other ills of the time and reuniting them with their lost families where necessary and possible. Puro worked on just one thought that no woman or girl should be a ‘pinjar’. She wanted to change the outlook of people towards girls being ‘paraya dhan’.

Puro built a strong name for herself in the society with her work. She faced criticism and social alienation due to her work in the public. She took her cause further and started a school to educate women and girls to ensure their economic independence. She had seen her own plight and that of Lajjo in recent past and believed women had to look after themselves. Puro and Rashid, despite their own financial constraints, opened their home to young women who had no support and families. They faced severe opposition to the point where people tried to set their home on fire and made it difficult for them to move about in public.

Their cause spread undaunted and more people got associated with them thus reaching out to more villages and houses. While initially the newly formed government ignored them and their visits and petitions, it grudgingly appreciated the work they did.

Puro started writing a book on women empowerment and everything she went through in her life. It had her voice, fears, experiences, joys and tears and her resilience. She wrote how much she missed her family and why she decided to stay back in Pakistan with Rashid. She also penned her thoughts about how her circumstances made her strong in her own way. If she had not faced all those conditions, she would never know or understand the time they were in. She stated that phase made her stronger and gave her the strength to fight all the problems that would come her way. The book once published secured deep respect and support as much as it earned criticism. The book gave her a wholly different identity.

Puro and Rashid built a non-governmental organisation and furthered their cause of female education and empowerment. Their efforts gradually started bearing fruits. Puro became a role model for many. Rashid’s support to his wife and what she believed in is also no less commendable.