Stand up for Qandeel Baloch

Letter July 23, 2016
Men such as Qandeel’s brother, use religion to justify hatred and misogyny

LAHORE: This is with reference to Tanuj Garg’s article, ‘Qandeel, the rockstar!’ (July 21). The coldblooded murder of Qandeel Baloch is unfortunately a reality that can’t be ignored. The fact is that people have a very demented view of honour, which is spreading like cancer in our country. Men such as Qandeel’s brother, use religion to justify hatred and misogyny. Qandeel being murdered on the pretext of shaming her family by her own brother indicates that such men are not mentally stable individuals. Yet, they continue to terrorise our nation, murdering innocent women in the name of our religion. Too many of us have been in denial for too long, writing off such men as aberrant and isolated individuals in our country who have absolutely nothing to do with our lives. We need to think again.

Retreating to ostrich-like behaviour is no longer a luxury we have. In one way or another, we are all Qandeel Baloch. Every woman who has ever been subjected to the scrutiny of a man’s gaze or has required his approval or validation is in Qandeel Baloch’s shoes. Every woman who has ever been dictated by a self-proclaimed guardian of faith or told to adopt others’ views on what modesty means knows what it is to be Qandeel Baloch. Anyone who is different, whose actions or appearance fail to satisfy these people can be turned into Qandeel Baloch and subjected to the same horror we witnessed recently. It is not the case of the murder of Qandeel Baloch but the abuse and humiliation of our collective spirit. It is us as a nation that these hateful men are trying to terrorise in the name of honour.

We must stand up for Qandeel Baloch because whether we realise it or not, we are all connected. It is this connection that makes a crime against a human a crime against God. One can delve into the specifics of religion to understand this better. Yet, it is these very sins that people continue to commit in the name of religion. It is the essence of the message of spiritual liberty, enshrined in the Holy Quran, that they continue to desecrate. To go back to Qandeel Baloch’s coldblooded murder, an act that is in blatant disregard of our religion, we must stand up for her. We must stand up for Qandeel Baloch as anti-Nazi theologian Martin Neemoller wrote, when they come for us, there will be nobody left to stand up for us.

Salma Tahir

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23rd, 2016.

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