A deep-seated disease has been plaguing Pakistan for many years, and only now has acquired a temporary but pertinent spot in the limelight. This disease goes around by the name of “honor” killing, a much ugly version of a more prevalent misogyny that’s already infected the whole country. It has gained significant awareness over the course of the recent decade because of works like ‘License to Kill’, An award winning BBC documentary about the honor killing of Samia Sarwar and ‘A Girl in the River: The Price Of Forgiveness‘, an Oscar-winning documentary about the attempted-honor-killing of Saba. But all this awareness has yet to bear any reform.
In 2011 alone there have said to been 720 cases of reported honor killings (This number varies from the sources that provide it.) As of 2015, this figure has peaked to a 1000 women slain in the name of “honor” which is just a sugar-coated term for misguided ego issues of men who have nothing better to do. The majority of these cases sprout in Punjab followed by a close runner-up Sindh. Appreciate the use of the term “reported” being repeatedly used here. It’s no shot in the dark that there might yet be many more cases that have not been reported. After all, who’s to notice if there’s a girl or two missing in an abundantly large family in an even larger rural community. The dead don’t give testimonies.
Ironically, the most shocking part of these incidents isn’t the savage murder of innocent women but the lack of regret on the perpetrator’s behalf and the lack of sympathy on the communities’ behalf. On 27th of May 2014, a woman named Farzana Iqbal was stoned to death by her father with her unborn child still inside her for marrying the man of her choice. All this happened right outside a Pakistani High Court with numerous bystanders spectating. Afterwards, when questioned by the police the father had said, “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.” No regret? This person’s moral compass had gone so askew that his ego was incapable of generating even a sliver of regret over stoning his own flesh and blood to death. Oh, but let’s not put all the blame on the sick homicidal father because in the eyes of God, in Whose name these people carry out such ungodly acts, bystanders who turn a blind eye to such events unfolding before their very eyes are to be blamed equally.
So what form of justice do these murderers receive from the saints ruling our judicial system? Freedom. Yes, freedom. Unfortunately, honor killers exploit a certain loophole in our interpretation of the Sharia Law. As per the interpretation, the punishment for murder, infliction of injury, etc. can be in the form of Qisas (equal punishment for the crime committed) or Diyat (monetary compensation payable to the victims or their legal heirs). In our society, the right to waive Qisas (The only genuine punishment the killer can receive) lies with the members of the family of the victim. So when it is the family member him- or herself who perpetrates the crime, then he or she could essentially forgive themselves by asking their family member to plead for them. This happens almost 95 percent of the time. A deranged father, uncle or any other male member of the household mercilessly kills a woman for “dishonoring their family”, and if the case makes it to court the killer is usually let off Scott-free through the apology of the family members who had no partake in the pain of the victim what so ever.
A terrifying aspect of this whole ordeal is that this isn’t just a problem revolving around an asinine man or two. The thinking that leads to these atrocious acts is prevalent over most Pakistani’s, even the educated ones. A screening of the movie ‘A Girl in the River’ at Islamia College University yielded an applause for the father who tries to kill his daughter in the name of honor. This history of misfortune events begs for some serious questions. For how long will we sit around as helpless onlookers while innocent women get butchered, abused and repressed? For how long will women have to live as second-class citizens in a country that’s as entitled to them as it is to men? Long enough for women to fear even the thought of expressing their opinion in a matter as personal as marriage? Long enough to not be able to fetch an education in the fear of someone’s “honor” getting hurt? Long enough to no be able to work, speak, live through their own free will that God Himself has blessed them with?
Let’s all do whatever we can not to wait that long. For, in this case, ignorance is not bliss.
