Not long ago, on 27 May 2014 a pregnant woman named Farzana Iqbal (née Parveen) was stoned to death by her family in front of Pakistani High Court for getting married to the man she loved, named Muhammad Iqbal. As reported by a Police investigator Mujahid, Farzana’s father felt no remorse and said that “I killed my daughter as she had insulted all of our family by marrying a man without our consent, and I have no regret over it.” It was not the first time that such a case was reported, there was a long line of many similar ones. Plus, this was not the first father who had no regret of killing his daughter, there were many others.
Cases such as these are not idiosyncratic in Pakistan as in 2011 alone; human rights groups reported 720 honor killings (605 women and 115 men) and these are just cases which got reported. There are several instances where such actions are concealed and never get into the notice of the authorities; even if they get reported to the so-called ‘authorities,’ what do they do!? In one word, NOTHING!
Unfortunately, this is a result of the weak judicial system in our country where certain laws both Islamic and Judicial are often misinterpreted. We obey some traditions and practices which in every context are inhumane and illogical. ‘Honor Killings’ also known as ‘Karo Kari’ is an example of this. This practice relates to the tradition where a man and a woman who is found to be involved in a relationship outside the contract of marriage or get married without the consent of their families, are killed to preserve the honor of the family.
Sadly, such cases barely get the justice they deserve and the reason being the fact that in Pakistan, the judicial courts are not the only supreme authority to convict or decide the fate of the case. There is another informal judicial system known as the tribal justice system or commonly called as Jirga which is followed in the tribal areas of Pakistan and runs parallel to the formal Judiciary. The decisions of Jirga are considered to be highly respected in rural areas of Pakistan especially in Sindh and thus are often unquestionable.
One of the worst decisions Jirgas have been giving is related to Karo Kari where it recommends soft punishments for the murderers. However, many exploit this act, by not killing women to preserve family honor, but in reality for their own monetary and personal reasons. According to research, around 95% of the cases reported in Sindh are false claims but come under the shelter of a Karo Kari case ultimately leading to maximum punishment relaxation for the murderer.
For a Country like Pakistan whose foundations were laid on the principles of Islam, the brutal practices such as Karokari are nothing but a curse. According to Aurat Foundation’s statistics, 432 women were reportedly killed in the name of honor in Pakistan in 2012 and previous trends showed: 705 in 2011, 557 in 2010, 604 in 2009 and 475 women killed in 2008. An important question arises here: is this the Pakistan we fought for? These statistics also question the claims of the creation of Pakistan based on Islam. If Pakistan was truly built on this basis, then it automatically questions the credibility of Islam as a religion giving maximum honor and rights to women. If Islam was the religion and the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was the person who stopped the practice of burying infant women alive in Arab then how does it allow the killings of women on the so-called basis of honor without any sufficient evidence? In which Ayat of Quran or in which Hadith did Allah convey the message of executing women this way? Karo Kari is completely Un-Islamic and above all unethical.
To curb the curse, the government of Pakistan did pass a bill against Karo Kari and equated it with murder punishable under section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which carries the sentence of maximum 25 and minimum 14 years of incarceration. The recent recommendation of the Council of Islamic Ideology to ban Karo Kari is also appreciated. However to overcome the problem, the actions taken just by the government are not enough. We must stand as a society against this practice. We must realize that the deeds we do are the reflection of our character and if we are not directly involved in this cheap act then keeping silence and bearing it do not solve the problem either. We must stand up for women like Farzana. We must voice our concerns and make sure that these cases never happen again. It is us as a society which allows such instances to carry out openly. If we firmly stand against it, trust me we will become a much better society as a whole! A lot has been written on Karo Kari, and this article may just prove to be a mere addition to it, but no matter how cliché the issue of Karo Kari is in Pakistan, the matter still stands, and we as a nation should make sure that its ceases to exist.
