Those who kill their daughters or sisters don’t go to jail, so people believe honour killing is not a crime
KARACHI: The most outrageous act for mankind is when blood becomes as ordinary a commodity as water. The Pakistani nation witnessed this with the news of Qandeel Baloch’s murder by her brother for the sake of honour. The brother was oblivious to the fact that his sister was just another struggling woman in society. Instead of being there for her and helping her through her tough times, he chose to kill her. Whatever she did on social media was her way of coping with the circumstances, keeping in mind that she didn’t choose to commit suicide in the face of the difficult situations she was forced into and dragging the family name into mud. Nobody saw the big picture of women empowerment through her example, which could have helped many other girls faced with similar oppressive circumstances. She was forced into marriage with a man who had no idea about how to treat women and she had no basic knowledge of looking after a family, ending up with a child before exiting her teenage years.
Sadly, this happens to many girls in Pakistan but Ms Baloch was different: she was a dreamer and wanted a better life for herself and her family. Where was her brother when she was being bullied by goons on the streets and in show business? Was he working to provide her financial support so she wouldn’t have to go outside of the comfort of her own house to earn that position in society for herself? The moment she took charge of her life and got a little success out of her struggles and sacrifice of self-comfort rather than playing the helpless woman card, she was loathed.
The topic of legislation against this type of murder has been discussed before but like every other promise our government makes, it was discussed and forgotten before being implemented — as probably will Maryam Nawaz’s recent vow. On one hand, we appreciate female truck and rickshaw drivers for taking charge of their lives but when the same is done by a young girl, everyone turns to judge her because they believe a young girl needs to be controlled. This attitude is unsettling on so many levels. Those who kill their daughters or sisters don’t go to jail, so people believe honour killing is not a crime in Pakistan. Here, the law practically amounts to impunity for the killer.
Zohra Taiyeb
Published in The Express Tribune, July 25th, 2016.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
