Editorial

Another jirga-induced tragedy

A 16-year-old girl’s life was tragically cut short in Abbottabad, once again at the hands of a jirga

Editorial May 06, 2016

The government is considering penalising those salaried persons who don’t file their income tax returns. PHOTO: EXPRESS

A 16-year-old girl’s life was tragically cut short in Abbottabad, once again at the hands of a jirga, which ordered her murdered for the ‘crime’ of helping her friend elope with her boyfriend. She was drugged, strangled and immolated in a van before her charred body was found on April 29. The police have arrested 13 members of the jirga as well as the girl’s mother for the gruesome murder. Here we have yet another instance of a jirga acting as the judge, jury and executioner, flouting all manner of law and the state’s writ and perpetrating its evil influence. Time and again, countless innocent people have been victimised by these tribal councils, which often have the backing of members of the political class. The impunity with which jirgas operate across the country gives the impression that they have some kind of state-sanctioned authority — which they do not.

Adding to the teenager’s misfortune was that her family, including her mother, appeared to be aware of the jirga’s sentence and did little to help her avert her tragic end. While it goes without saying that the perpetrators of this crime must be punished and that the government get serious about clamping down on the jirga system, let this also be a case where the state establishes clear legislation for parents on treatment towards their children. The evil hands at play here have set a terrible example and will continue to do so until stopped dead in their tracks. It is all too typical in this patriarchal society to have jirgas taking control of such situations; essentially, jirgas are groups of men allowed to wield power, especially when it comes to women and free will. It is time to implement strictly laws that ban the existence of these bodies. Members of jirgas that act as quasi-courts across the country need to be classified as criminals and taken to task, even if they happen to be influential politicians, as is so often the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2016.

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COMMENTS (1)

Anon | 8 years ago | Reply You guys seriously infuriate me and make me laugh, in equal measure. Every single time such a tragedy happens, it's the same routine. Break the news. Share on social media. Be shocked. Write blogs/editorials condemning the act and suggesting changes. Go back to sleep until the next tragedy. Where's the actual change, I ask you? Where's the grassroots awareness campaigns, the education regarding this, the protests, the legislation and it's implementation against such things? I'll tell you where it is. Nowhere in sight. And I'll tell you why. It's because you Pakistanis, especially the men, are mentally diseased people. Brutally ending someone's life just for the heck of it is perfectly alright with you guys. Look at the tragedy where more than 30 people were poisoned in Layyah or the honor killing in Karachi a few days back or the honor killing in Lahore a couple of years back or the killing of those kids in Sialkot a few years back. The list goes on and on and on and nothing's been ever done to stop this. It's because you guys just don't care enough to do anything about it as long as it isn't you on the receiving end. Pakistani society is hollow and it's collapsing and imploding. Terrorism and extremism over the past decade has further turbo charged this process and the fact that it took you guys a decade and the death of 140 children just to recognize them as an enemy is very telling in and of itself. You guys need to do something to fix yourselves. Otherwise, Pakistan doesn't have a future worth looking forward to.

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