No one has the authority, whether it is any individual, parents or a jirga, to kill someone
RAWALPINDI: We are living in a time when our world is exploring freedoms of various kinds and there is more awareness about rights like never before. And we still come across news items like the one about the poor teenager who was strangled and immolated in Abbottabad for helping her friend marry of her free will.
This incident has shaken me up. No one has the authority, whether it is any individual, parents or a jirga, to kill someone. The right to life is a fundamental right according to the Constitution of Pakistan.
This is just one incident, but we can find many similar cases around us. We should all be reminded that we live in a country with laws, not in a jungle. We must understand that jirgas are not above the Constitution. When the Constitution confirms our rights, jirgas have no right to violate them under any immoral and unlawful customs. Killing someone for some twisted sense of honour, is a crime of the worst type. We need to understand that life is precious and we should protect it. Pope Francis once said, “The right to life is the first among human rights.”
Varsha Arora
Published in The Express Tribune, May 8th, 2016.
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