This act of “honor killing” by men has murdered (statistics according to human rights group 943 women in 2011, another 869 in 2013, and 500 in 2014; courtesy BBC ) So why is it happening so frequently? Why is it being reported from all parts of the country? One reason being the courts being lenient where family matters are concerned. According to Aurat Foundation’s statistics, collected for its annual reports on violence against women, a total of 557 women were killed in the name of honor in Pakistan for the year 2010, whereas 604 women were killed in 2009, and 475 women were killed in 2008.
Lack of education is one major cause of such growing events. Unfortunately the masses in Pakistan are deprived of not only formal education but also the teachings of Islam that are not properly known to them. How the Prophet (SAW) behaved with his daughters, how he talked about the rights of women is totally unknown to the present day majority Pakistani households. They act and behave as people did in the pagan days before Islam came. When baby daughters were buried alive, since they brought dishonor to the family.
Another factor is society that envelopes around these people. Unfortunately; people make it a point to rub on the fact that “XYZ’s daughter ran away or used her freewill in marriage, she is a bad influence on the rest of the girls”… “Let’s set an example that no such act is followed by any girl in future.” For years down the line, even generations later, references are given of how “she” retaliated. No one has taught these people that the freewill to marriage is given by Allah, so who are they to stop Allah’s command?
Those who came to the courts that day for Farzana had pre-planned to kill her; they knew exactly what the consequences would be of such an act on Mall Road, Lahore. Their motives were clear; the fear of law or police was never on their mind. The only thing on their mind was that they will face the society with their heads held high that they took her out for becoming brave! Unfortunately; women are taken as commodities and not individuals or a person. Men feel they own a woman, like a prized possession. If she dares to have a different opinion, or disagrees with her men (be it her father, brother or husband) they have a right to crush her! The examples of acid attacks are in front of everyone, how young men disfigure young females on the notion that they own her, if she disagrees, disfigure her or simply kill her.
Pakistani society organized on patriarchal lines the history and the present, and one can have a comparative of how it all started. The era of the end 70’s and all of 80’s when General Zia was the President of Pakistan left impact and the effects of his discriminatory policies on women has been devastating. It is vital to understand as this was the time when discrimination against women was formalized by the State and legal impunity for men exploiting and violating women’s rights and freedoms began. The State legalized it through its actions, institutions and through the law.
More devastation for women came in the so called “Islamization” of General Zia, (one wishes proper Islam was enforced instead of bits & pieces that suited men only) which alerted women across the country into taking note of the rights and freedoms that were being taken away from them systematically, women had not questioned how many of their rights were achieved on paper and how many actually filtered down to the majority of women in Pakistan. One of the most disastrous outcomes of the Zia regime was making the women of Pakistan invisible. Zia-ul-Haq and his Government systematically worked towards the removal of women from the public sphere and the perpetuation of the image of the “modest and chaste woman.”
This process
consisted of successive policies at State level that in essence laid out the behavior
women should have and roles they were expected to play. By perpetuating
discrimination through administrative and legal means, the system worked
towards making the position of women insecure, subordinate and inferior to that
of men, thereby creating a social change within Pakistan, allowing the
underlying patriarchal elements to reign freely, making women extremely
vulnerable in society.
The campaign started when “chadder” was made compulsory for all female government employees and women and girls in educational institutions. This was followed by another campaign against obscenity and pornography, which in itself is not an issue, except that the Government equated women per se with obscenity, demanding that women should only be present in commercial advertisements that were relevant to women. The Government then proceeded to perpetuate a certain image of women through the media, defining her as a care-taker in the home and only associated with articles of housework; women could only appear in clothes that completely covered her, and that too only for 25 per cent of the commercial; women could not appear on television during Ramadan. Along with this, pictures of women film stars were banned from newspapers; newspapers held debates on modesty and obscenity; women were generally regarded as synonymous with obscenity, corruption and immorality.
If women were harassed, killed or raped in the streets, or at home, it was because women had provoked these attacks by their speech, action or just their very presence. Television programs started depicting women as the root of corruption; working women were depicted as the cause of lax morality and the disintegration of the family and social values. From official campaigns and government-controlled television, it appeared that the only manner in which the rapid deterioration of society could be checked was by eradicating the presence of women altogether
With 90% women facing domestic violence today, such murders are taken very lightly by the police, lawyers & courts. In most cases; the police (which mostly belong to the mindset of owning a woman rather than taking her as an individual) are often unwilling to implement the law due to the overwhelming social acceptance of the act and the influence of power holders. Often they are reluctant to take the case forward, as mostly the cases are compromised out of court. The police often try to bring about this negotiation themselves, as they feel that it is for the benefit of both parties to avoid the hassle of a court case and settle the matter before taking it to court. Had there been tougher laws and implementation of those laws majority of the deceased women would have been alive today. With the implicit consent of society, the murderers are given protection and impunity from within the community.
One wonders why our religious clerics do not raise their voice against this crime. Why the Government is totally mum on the rising in number of such incidents? Why are people’s representatives quiet on this? Even the women parliamentarians have no word to say in condemnation. Why don’t all the above understand that these crimes have brought our country in disrepute, a bad name, and there is evidence that our failure to contain and address this issue has resulted in a spillover of honor killings to a number of foreign countries in the west primarily through Pakistani immigrant families. Every time such an incident occurs in Pakistan (or elsewhere via Pakistani origin people) the foreign media has a field day on such news.
Hundreds of women in Pakistan continue to be killed every year across the length & breadth of the country with the murderers and perpetrators going scot free! Civil society, including media, legal fraternity, NGO personnel and even Islamic jurists must step forward and raise their voice/concerns over this ever increasing crime.
The campaign started when “chadder” was made compulsory for all female government employees and women and girls in educational institutions. This was followed by another campaign against obscenity and pornography, which in itself is not an issue, except that the Government equated women per se with obscenity, demanding that women should only be present in commercial advertisements that were relevant to women. The Government then proceeded to perpetuate a certain image of women through the media, defining her as a care-taker in the home and only associated with articles of housework; women could only appear in clothes that completely covered her, and that too only for 25 per cent of the commercial; women could not appear on television during Ramadan. Along with this, pictures of women film stars were banned from newspapers; newspapers held debates on modesty and obscenity; women were generally regarded as synonymous with obscenity, corruption and immorality.
If women were harassed, killed or raped in the streets, or at home, it was because women had provoked these attacks by their speech, action or just their very presence. Television programs started depicting women as the root of corruption; working women were depicted as the cause of lax morality and the disintegration of the family and social values. From official campaigns and government-controlled television, it appeared that the only manner in which the rapid deterioration of society could be checked was by eradicating the presence of women altogether
With 90% women facing domestic violence today, such murders are taken very lightly by the police, lawyers & courts. In most cases; the police (which mostly belong to the mindset of owning a woman rather than taking her as an individual) are often unwilling to implement the law due to the overwhelming social acceptance of the act and the influence of power holders. Often they are reluctant to take the case forward, as mostly the cases are compromised out of court. The police often try to bring about this negotiation themselves, as they feel that it is for the benefit of both parties to avoid the hassle of a court case and settle the matter before taking it to court. Had there been tougher laws and implementation of those laws majority of the deceased women would have been alive today. With the implicit consent of society, the murderers are given protection and impunity from within the community.
One wonders why our religious clerics do not raise their voice against this crime. Why the Government is totally mum on the rising in number of such incidents? Why are people’s representatives quiet on this? Even the women parliamentarians have no word to say in condemnation. Why don’t all the above understand that these crimes have brought our country in disrepute, a bad name, and there is evidence that our failure to contain and address this issue has resulted in a spillover of honor killings to a number of foreign countries in the west primarily through Pakistani immigrant families. Every time such an incident occurs in Pakistan (or elsewhere via Pakistani origin people) the foreign media has a field day on such news.
Hundreds of women in Pakistan continue to be killed every year across the length & breadth of the country with the murderers and perpetrators going scot free! Civil society, including media, legal fraternity, NGO personnel and even Islamic jurists must step forward and raise their voice/concerns over this ever increasing crime.
Our law-makers must
reform the existing law concerning these crimes as it is proved to be
ineffective and counter-productive; and it is earnestly expected that the
leaders and officials sitting at the helm of affairs in legislatures,
governments, law-enforcement agencies, as well as, those who hold authority in
courtrooms, will see wisdom in several landmark judgments pronounced by the
Supreme Court prohibiting honor killings and in addition listen to the last
cries for help and justice of those who were killed simply because their only crime
was that they were women.
The columnist is a Lahore based freelance writer, author & a poet.
The above article was published with Ausaf Daily::http://www.ausaf.pk/wp-content/uploads/2014-06-01/p15_03.jpg
And here::
http://epaper.pakobserver.net/201406/03/comments-1.php
Copyright ©2011-2050 Ayesha Zee Khan. Reproduction: Poetry/articles/stories strictly prohibited.. Awesome Inc. template. Powered by Blogger.
The columnist is a Lahore based freelance writer, author & a poet.
The above article was published with Ausaf Daily::http://www.ausaf.pk/wp-content/uploads/2014-06-01/p15_03.jpg
And here::
http://epaper.pakobserver.net/201406/03/comments-1.php
Copyright ©2011-2050 Ayesha Zee Khan. Reproduction: Poetry/articles/stories strictly prohibited.. Awesome Inc. template. Powered by Blogger.
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