Ishtiaq Single Mother From Pakistan
Farheen, a 41-year-old Pakistani woman, has shocked the world by becoming a single mother to her kid. Her life has been filled with adversity. Ishtiaq, a Karachi resident, lives alone with her nine-year-old daughter. She is the sole caregiver for her child.
Ishtiaq shared her tale with Gulf News on how her decision to marry someone without her parents’ permission impacted her life.
Parents were against her love
Her parents were not pleased when she decided to marry someone who was not of her heritage in 2010. She wanted to build a house with the people she wanted, rather than with her family. She put her trust in her guy. That happiness, however, did not last long.
The man left her before the child”s birth
She became pregnant after a few days. That man abruptly left before the infant saw the light of day. He was her first choice for a life companion. The fight for survival begins.
Without the assistance of her relatives, she gave birth to a baby girl in a hospital. She needed surgery and told the doctors that if she died, they should give her daughter to her parents.
Fight against society started
Farheen’s daughter was delivered without incident. For her, though, a new battle began. She went from being a “single girl” to becoming a “single mother.” However, society is not easily defeated. Even though she chose to raise a child as a’single mother,’ it wasn’t an easy start. Farheen had left her daughter in Multan with a girlfriend. Because, “then it is important for her to earn. It was not possible to take care of the girl and earn money at the same time.
Struggle for bread and butter
Farhin began his career as a restaurant waiter. However, new issues arise once more. After a year and a half, her partner informed Farheen that she could no longer care for the child. Farheen then returned to her parents. Even if they couldn’t accept her as a female, she wanted to see their granddaughter for a time. She entrusted her four-year-old daughter to her parents’ care. She has done a lot of planning up to this point. She later discovered a girl’s hostel in Lahore where she could bring her daughter and work at the same time. Lahore has been her home since then.
In the new city, she is a “single mother.” “It was not easy for a woman to run a shop alone in a bustling place like Anarkali Bazaar,” Farheen noted at the time. Public harassment of women is frequent in patriarchal societies like Pakistan. “I’m afraid of being harassed, physically assaulted, and sexually harassed.”
“single mother” began dressing up as “father”
To get around this dilemma, the “single mother” began dressing up as “father” instead of her own persona. “I’ve always been a tomboy,” Farheen said. “It appeared to be a good method to start a business.”
Farheen has also adopted the alias ‘Ali’ in order to avoid the society’s ‘notoriety.’ Strangers are unaware that there is a’mother’ behind the name ‘Ali.’ Mother who is lonely. That is why Lahore’s Farheen Istihaq is posing as a’man’ and a ‘parent.’
Farheen runs a tiny shop in Lahore’s Anarkali Bazaar, despite how easy she assumed it would be to be a “single mother” in the new town. In the shop, she dresses in men’s clothes every day. She is referred to be a male by everyone. Farheen claims she chose that way in order to escape the question of people’s curiosity and hatred. Because society does not readily accept single mothers, she chooses to be both a’mother’ and a ‘father’ to her child.