Disclaimer*: The articles shared under 'Your Voice' section are sent to us by contributors and we neither confirm nor deny the authenticity of any facts stated below. Parhlo News will not be liable for any false, inaccurate, inappropriate or incomplete information presented on the website. Read our disclaimer.
This post is also available in: العربية (Arabic) اردو (Urdu)
#WeDisownSharmeen was a trend started by the Twitter jihadis in 2016 against Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy. What was her crime? Winning an Oscar for making a documentary on the menace of honor killing. This is how Pakistanis choose to react when someone raises a voice against the act of honor killing. This shows how honor killing is deeply embedded in the society and the mentality of the Pakistan. This is the reason why the majority of honor killings go unreported and the exact number of people dying to regain the family’s “honor” remains unknown.
Reasons for Honor Killing:
Many people think that honor killing happens when a girl decides not to get married on the wishes of her family or runs away from home for love marriage. However, there are several other reasons:
1. Acting Legitimately
Since women are the honor of the family, they are required to act “legitimately”. This means dressing modestly, not conversing with men outside of family and not drawing too much attention to themselves.
2. Male Dominance
Male dominance is another reason why honor killing is rampant. Like it or not, women are still considered sub-humans and their dominant fathers can choose to do with their “property” whatsoever they desire. Burying infant daughters in Baluchistan was an issue which came to light several years ago, but who knows, it is still practiced today.
3. Homosexuality
Men and women with homosexual inclinations are commonly murdered by their families. Homosexuality is something that is scorned by the society and is also something that is forbidden in Islam.
4. Laws of Honour Killing
There is a major loophole when it comes to laws in an honor killing. According to Pakistani law, heirs of the victim have the right to forgive the murderer. In the case of honor killing, the heir is usually the mother and the murderer is usually her husband or son.
Despite changes in the law, where heir can only pardon the death penalty and the murderer has to spend at least twelve and a half years and the law seems to fail in deterring the culprits. Several horrific cases were reported in September and August in Peshawar and Karachi.
Solutions
The lawmakers and enforcers need to get serious if they really want to resolve the issue. The nonsensical pardon should be abolished altogether.
The other solution is changing the primitive mindset of the society. The religious scholars have to play an important role in this. “Honour” needs to be redefined in the minds of masses, only then will the issue be dealt with.
