Rats of Shah Dola

Rats of Shah Dola or 'rat-children', are children or adults suffering

from microcephaly or their heads have been deformed by applying mechanical
force, exploited as beggars at the shrine of Shah Dola situated in Gujrat
City, Punjab and elsewhere in Pakistan. They have sloping foreheads, narrow
faces which have a rodent quality and mental disabilities.
Shah Dola , who is credited with various buildings, charitable work,
teaching and counselling was a well known saint. There are different stories
associated with the origin of rats of Shah Dola. In all of them, one thing is common
that is he was a man who could make infertile women capable through his prayers.
His ability of curing infertile women provides base for three different stories about
rats of Shah Dola.
According to first version, women seeking cure for infertility would come to
Gujrat, hoping that the holy man would pray for them. In exchange they would
promise an offering, or even promise to dedicate their first born to the shrine. These
kids were then transformed into rats by putting iron or clay helmets on their heads.
These helmets would stop the natural growth of their heads. As a result, a rat was
produced. This act is supported by the custom that was recorded in the Punjab in
1929, with the clay cup being "bound tightly to the head and not removed for three
or four years". Another act of putting clay helmets on children heads to shape them
also supports this practice.
According to second version, all the first-born of people cured by holy man
were rats. These disabled kids were then dedicated to the shrine.These disabled
children begged there and through their begging the system of shrine was run.
According to the third version, normal first-born kids would later become mentally
disabled and find their way to the shrine.
Different European doctors and ethnographers also observed the rats of Shah
Dola.Their studies also provide us with different versions about the origin of rats of
Shah Dola. Johnston, the Civil-Assistant Surgeon at Ludhiana observed the rats of
Shah Dola. According to his studies, abnormalities of cranial development can be
produced by using “mechanical agency”.Harry Rivett also confirmed it.
In 1884, Superintendent Gray of the Lahore Lunatic Asylum and
his successor William Center followed this case .They found no evidence to prove
that the heads of rats had been forcibly moulded or compressed. In their view they
were exactly similar to the microcephaly patients in Europe.The physical and
mental conditions of rats were studied in more detail by Captain Ewens,
Superintendent of the Punjab Lunatic Asylum at Lahore. Ewens also dismissed the
idea of artificial cranial deformation, as "utterly without foundation". According to
him, children with microcephaly were associated with this shrine probably because
Shah Dola had a known interest in the helpless and needy.
After Partition of the sub-Continent in 1947, the shrine of Shah Dola, now in
Pakistan's Punjab, continued to attract some credulous or critical scrutiny.The
Government's Auqaf Department, with responsibility for the administration of
religious institutions, found this kind of story gave sufficient grounds for action,
whether or not it was officially believed. In 1969, the Auqaf Department took the
shrine into its custody and prohibited this inhuman custom which had been
practised for the past 300 years. Yet in 1984 the allegation returned, that "metal
caps" were being clamped on infant heads. This custom of child abuse has been
producing disabled kids for centuries and still there is no end to this practise. Some
people introduce abnormalities into kids just for earning a living. As in Pakistan,
they are used as showpiece to get money from people in the name of religion.

No matter how we look at the origin of rats, there are always different stories
about it. In reality, there is no scientific evidence that supports the notion that
microcephaly can be produced by deliberate cranial deformation. It is still not clear
that how rats who are produced by putting iron vessels on their heads have same
behaviors and disabilities as microcephaly patients. It seems like apart from putting
iron vessel on heads of kids there is a possibility that first a fatal damage is done to
their brain.
 GLOSSARY

Microcephaly : is a feature that may be associated with various medical

conditions. It usually indicates a size of human head that is visibly small for the age
of the person concerned, and does not seem an appropriate size for that person's
body.