Where is the honour in killing?

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has made his personal position in respect of honour killing crystal clear — it is devoid of honour and a despicable act. The occasion of the making of this robust position statement was a screening of the latest film by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, on February 22. Ms Obaid-Chinoy is one of Pakistan’s most distinguished filmmakers and her films rarely make comfortable viewing — indeed she is recently on-the-record as saying that it is her hope that her work generates discomfort wherever it is screened. The prime minister had made a personal invitation to Ms Obaid-Chinoy whose film is nominated for an Academy Award later this month.

Honour killing is not confined to Pakistan and is endemic to the subcontinent and not unknown in Western and European cultures either — but the problem is particularly bad in Pakistan and it has roots that reach deep into our culture. We welcome the commitment by the prime minister to the empowerment of women and an end to the violence against them, at the same time noting that the legislation which might be supposed to provide legal protection to the survivors is rarely enforced and prosecutions for honour killing anywhere in the country are vanishingly small. The law-enforcement agencies are tardy in their pursuit of those that have committed these murders, frequently viewing such cases as ‘family matters’ and no business of theirs. Communities are often protective of the guilty, and not only protective, some communities openly support the practice and defend it on cultural grounds. This canker is only going to be cut out by education, education and yet more education, and not only of children as they pass through the school system but their parents as well. Education as well for the law-enforcement agencies and education for a judiciary that can be inclined more to culture than justice in this matter. We now look to this government to proactively work towards a sea-change in culture. It may take a generation, two perhaps, but it is a battle worth fighting and winning.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2016.

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