Our obsession with honour

KARACHI: This is with reference to Pervez Hoodbhoy’s article “Let us become — proudly — bayghairat” (May 7). Our macho obsession with ghairat has destroyed our society. It is not just the rulers but the public as well, that uses ghairat or honour as an excuse and a motivation for all sorts of horrible crimes.

Our men have been obsessed with guarding their honour and it is often the poor women of the family who pay a heavy price for saving the ghairat of men. The concept of ghairat is an antiquated one and belongs to medieval times.

Wasim Irfan

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2012.