Many of us, instead of celebrating the Oscar, will criticise Sharmeen for exposing to the world that we still live in
LAHORE: Congratulations to Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, and congratulations to Pakistan. It is great news for every Pakistani that Ms Obaid-Chinoy secured the prestigious Oscar award for her documentary, A Girl in the River, at the 88th Academy Awards ceremony for the second time. She has shown great courage and guts by covering the sensitive topic of honour killings, which, sadly, still very much takes place in the 21st century. Ms Obaid-Chinoy has stirred the conscience of the Pakistani people and possibly those in the corridors of power. She selected a subject that results in the death of innocent girls, almost every day, but successive governments in Pakistan have failed to introduce a law for punishing culprits of this inhuman act.
We, as a nation, do not have the courage to face the cruel realities of life and condemn such barbaric acts. It is hoped this documentary will open the eyes of our lawmakers, who, instead of wasting time in parliament on petty matters, will introduce a law for exemplary punishment of perpetrators of this crime. Another sorry state of affairs in Pakistan is that many fellow Pakistanis, instead of celebrating this Oscar, will criticise Sharmeen for exposing to the world that we still live in a period when women are treated in an inferior manner as compared to men, and subjected to all forms of cruelty. We still murder our daughters, sisters and mothers in the name of ‘honour’, with the most recent case emerging out of Sahiwal on March 2.
Aamir Aqil
Published in The Express Tribune, March 4th, 2016.
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