A national shame

Honour killings are done by family members in order to avenge supposed shame brought on by any number of incidents.

Honour killing is everything but that. It has its roots in a perversion of the moral code where right and wrong are reversed, and mindsets geared to an ancient primitivism that places women in the category of possessions and makes them the repository of the so-called ‘honour’ of the family — a curse they bear all their lives. Whilst it is incorrect to say that the phenomenon of honour killing is confined to Pakistan,  the country is among the world leaders when it comes to the number of women killed for ‘honour’ every year. Not for nothing is Pakistan described as one of the most dangerous countries for women with documented cases running at around 500 annually. And this, too,  is almost certainly an under-reporting according to a lecture delivered by Dr Muazzam Nasrullah at the University of Health Sciences in Lahore.

Honour killings are done by family members in order to avenge the supposed shame brought on them by any number of, in some cases, trivial incidents. Being seen singing and clapping can cost you your life. As can dancing on the roof in the rain. The murderers are usually brothers or fathers and they rarely get prosecuted. Indeed, it is more than likely that they will escape any punishment under the law as they will be supported by other family members, and a police force that turns a blind eye, preferring to categorise such murders as ‘family matters’. Dr Nasrullah made a statement of the blindingly obvious in that there is a need to provide a platform for oppressed women. Such a platform would create “an informed and supportive environment for advocacy for policies to eliminate violence against women”.

Unfortunately, those in positions of power and influence have not shown the slightest interest in making the commitments to change in sociocultural normative values that would be a precursor to any variation in the national paradigm. This must change and more importance should be given to this issue so the name of our country can get off this list of crimes.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23^rd, 2014.

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