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Sultan Shahin
The Hindustan Times
February 10, 2000
They face death by shooting, burning or killing with axes if they are deemed to have brought shame on the family. They are killed for supposed 'illicit' relationships, for marrying men of their choice, for divorcing husbands. They are even murdered by their kin if they are raped as they are thereby deemed to have brought shame on the family. The truth of the suspicion does not matter - merely the allegation is enough to bring dishonour on the family and therefore justifies the slaying.
As Amnesty International introduced its recent report on "honour-killing" in Pakistan with these lines, there were howls of protest in the Pakistani media, dubbing the International Human Rights Organisation as 'biased'. But now the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) itself has described a similar situation prevailing in the country. It reveals that 266 women were murdered, 82 by brothers and 52 by husbands, in "honour killings" in and around Lahore from Jan to Nov 1999. As many as 163 died in "stove-burst" incidents, reasons for which included dowry-related disputes. Fifteen per cent of those killed were young girls, mostly newly married, in the case of unexplained stove explosions the victims and their murderers were close family members. Out of the 675 women killed, 85 were minors, 241 were killed for illicit relations outside marriage and 480 murders involved close relatives.
As many as 150 cases were not registered.
During these 11 months, 713 women were raped, including 316 young girls and 40 were raped in police custody. The HRCP remarks: "Whenever the police get a chance, they engage in mass rape of women". Honour killings and stove explosion deaths aren't restricted to Lahore or Punjab alone. Between Oct 1998 and Sept 1999, 595 people in Sindh were killed in "honour killings" alone.
The year 1999 was by no means exceptionally cruel for women in Pakistan. The police take the man's side in "honour killings". When the men are convicted, the judiciary ensures that they receive a light sentence. Specific laws hamper redress as they discriminate against women. There are few women's shelters. For many women, suicide appears to be the only means of escape. Often, "honour killings" are carried out on the flimsiest of grounds. State institutions - the law enforcement apparatus and the judiciary - deal with these crimes against women with extraordinary leniency and the law provides many loopholes for murderers in the name of the honour to kill without punishment.
The methods of "honour killings" vary. In Sindh, a kari (literally a black woman) and a karo (a black man) are hacked to pieces often with the complicity of the community. In Punjab, the victims are shot. In most cases, close relatives of the woman commit the killings. In some cases, tribal councils decide that the woman should be killed and send men to carry out the deed.
Ironically, it is the Islamic laws, which confer a number of privileges on women, which is responsible for their killings. Ownership rights, for instance, are at stake when women are to be married. A major consideration is the property that the woman has the right to inherit. A woman is handed over to her spouse against a payment to her father. Sometimes this "bride price" includes another woman given to the father as a new wife.
Islam gives women the freedom to choose their spouse. But this privilege, itself, has become a noose around their neck in Pakistan. Marriages contracted by women against the wishes of their fathers are perceived by many courts to challenge the father's honour. Fathers bring charges of zina (unlawful sexual relations) against daughters who have married men of their choice. Another Islamic privilege conferred on the woman that has created problems for her is her right to divorce. Seeking divorce is seen as an act of public defiance which calls for punitive action to restore male honour within the traditional setting.
The so-called Islamisation of laws, too, has adversely affected the plight of women.
The 1990 law of Qisas and Diyat covers offences relating to physical injury, man-slaughter and murder. The law is now directed against the victim. It has sent the signal that murders of family members are a family affair.
"As other countries strive
to better their record on human rights," a recent editorial in The Dawn,
pointed out, "Pakistan seems to be moving backwards by condoning cold-blooded
murders in the name of honour and, at the same time, being overly sensitive
to international criticism of the inhuman practice." It would be best if
Islamists in Pakistan were to look within before embarking on their venture
to export their ideology.
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