[Reader-list] Getting away with murder by Mahir Ali (in Dawn)

[rashneek kher]

BACK in early September, amid the uproar over reports that five (the figure
has been disputed) women had been buried alive in Balochistan in accordance
with the decision of a tribal jirga, one of the protesters' demands was that
Senator Israrullah Zehri be expelled from parliament.

He had caused offence by condoning as a 'tribal tradition' the abominable
crime of so-called honour killings when the matter was raised on the Senate
floor, and was later quoted as saying: "These are centuries-old traditions
and I will continue to defend them. Only those who indulge in immoral acts
should be afraid."

That Zehri's confected outrage was not exactly an isolated instance of a
thoroughly warped sense of morality was demonstrated when the acting
chairman of the Senate, Jan Mohammad Jamali, berated Yasmin Shah, the
senator who had dared to raise the matter on the floor of the house, by
suggesting she should "go to our society and see for herself what the
situation is like there, and then come back to raise such questions". As if
any societal conditions whatsoever could conceivably serve as an excuse for
unspeakable atrocities.

A press report noted that Jamali "appeared perturbed" over what he called
"out of proportion" coverage of the incident and quoted him as saying: "It
is not a matter of mere sloganeering. It pertained to five women. The media
gave the matter such a colour as if the heavens have fallen." Well, the
heavens certainly did fall for the victims, but Jamali's bewilderment was
understandable at one level: a large proportion of such crimes receive
little or no media coverage, and the likes of him would prefer to keep it
that way. The same mindset makes it hard for them to comprehend why some of
their compatriots consider such practices completely unacceptable.

If closed minds and medieval mentalities were to be made an electoral
disqualification, Pakistan's parliamentary ranks at every level would be
sharply depleted. Needless to say, no action was taken against Zehri. None
of his critics is likely to have suspected, however, that this votary of
inhumane customs would actually be rewarded with additional perks and
privileges. Yet that is exactly what happened earlier this month, when he
was elevated to the position of minister for postal services. Granted, it's
just another superfluous slot — does any country really need a minister for
'mail' chauvinism? — in an unwieldy cabinet that is presumably intended to
help sustain a disparate coalition. But the fact that Zehri can probably not
do much harm in his new capacity offers little consolation.

Nor was his appointment the only one in blatant defiance of common sense.
Among the numerous pirs, mirs, sardars, mians and makhdooms sworn in by
President Asif Zardari as members of a now 61-member cabinet — a bizarre
extravagance for a country that claims to be on the verge of economic
bankruptcy — was Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani. Last year his arrest was ordered
by the Supreme Court, under Iftikhar Chaudhry, on the charge of presiding
over a jirga in Sindh that had 'resolved' a feud between two families by
decreeing that one of them must hand over five girls, aged between two and
six, to the other as 'compensation' for murder.

This level of injustice would be utterly mind-boggling even if one chanced
upon it in a history book discussing the social mores of several centuries
ago. Its occurrence in 21st-century Pakistan — and this was by no means an
isolated instance — ought to be a matter of profound shame for every
Pakistani. That, evidently, is not the case, else why would the alleged
perpetrator-in-chief of this deed, instead of being stripped of the right to
represent what still claims to be a progressive party, be promoted to the
cabinet. His portfolio? Education. Believe it or not.

If you think this is beyond satire, consider the following: within days of
the swearing-in ceremony, Zardari was once more treading familiar ground in
New York, regaling leaders from 66 countries with a diatribe against
Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry (with a by now
obligatory plea for cash thrown in for good measure). All very commendable,
no doubt, notwithstanding his rather rosy-hued description of his fief as "a
tolerant society which offered equal opportunities to people of all faiths
and to both men and women". But that's not all. Last Friday's report in Dawn
also noted: "The president said he believed there was nothing more
un-Islamic than discrimination and violence against women."

By that token, the political elevation of Zehri and Bijarani was not just an
insult to Pakistani women, but verily an act of defiance against the
nation's official faith. In the light of Pakistan's recent experiences,
however, the dissonance between the president's actions and utterances is no
longer considered remarkable.

Practices such as karo-kari and vani are, at one level, undoubtedly the
consequence of a lack of enlightenment, the product of a despicable attitude
whereby women, as soon as they are born, are practically regarded as
chattel. As often as not, the victims in honour killings are young women who
display a degree of independence in the sphere of romance and marriage.

The homicidal urge stems in some cases from no more than a determination to
deter challenges to male supremacy, but frequently it is related also to
property matters.

On a practical plane, however, one reason why this barbaric practice
persists across the nation, despite being outlawed, is because all too often
the perpetrators face no penalty.

A brutal reminder of this outrageous reality recently came in the shape of
information that a teenager in a branch of my family, the Hyats of Wah, had
been shot dead by her brothers, ostensibly for an unauthorised dalliance
with a young man. Inevitably, I wanted to know whether the mindless
murderers had been taken into custody and would face appropriate punishment.
That was extremely unlikely, I was informed, because under the Qisas and
Diyat laws — a particularly despicable legacy of the Zia years — a murder
victim's family can legally forgive the killers.

It is absurd in the extreme that such a law should be considered applicable
even in cases where the murderer and the victim belong to the same wretched
family. Back in 2005, in the era of enlightened moderation, an attempt by
Kashmala Tariq to close this ridiculous loophole was rejected by parliament
on the ground that it was un-Islamic. Over the years, Sherry Rehman, to her
credit, has been a vociferous proponent of women's rights. Let us hope she
is able to hold Zardari to his word and overrule the likes of Zehri and
Bijarani.

The writer is a journalist based in Sydney.

( I wonder is India any better)

-- 
Rashneek Kher
Wandhama Massacre-The Forgotten Human Tragedy
http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com
http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com