ISLAMABAD, 14 August 2004 — In Pakistan the struggle against the barbaric custom of “honor killing” has gained a new momentum. The struggle has entered the mainstream politics. Although the practice of so-called “honor killing” has been earlier condemned by individual parliamentarians including the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, a bill against it was never moved in the assembly. Late July M.P. Bhandara, a parliamentarian from the ruling PML has tabled the bill. There is strong opposition to the bill within the ruling PML. While human rights and women’s organizations have long protested against “honor killing” it is the pressure from the presidency that has led to the tabling of the bill.
The roots of honor killing go back to pre-Islamic period. Women, physically weaker and vulnerable, were treated as mere objects of ownership. They enjoyed no rights, respect and justice in society. Burying newborn daughters was no rare occurrence in pre-Islamic Arabia. “Treat your women with kindness” was at the core of the message that Allah’s Messenger spread.
Yet hundreds of years later millions of women still struggle against the male brute force exercised in carrying out “honor killings.” So-called “honor killing” means a cold-blooded murder of women. These murders are carried out supposedly as punishment for extra-marital relations or refusal to abide by parents’ choice of husbands. Recent research shows that women killed due to land and money disputes are also being passed off as “honor killings.” “Honor killings” extends to non-Muslim countries including Brazil, India, and the Balkans and beyond. Writing for One World, Rahul Verma reports from New Delhi that women activists say, “honor killings” comprise ten percent of all killings in the northern Indian states of Haryana and Punjab.
In Pakistan, according to the Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid group at least 631 women and girls died in “honor killings” in 2003. Unreported deaths remain unaccounted for. The killers were mainly husbands, brothers and fathers.
Fighting a political battle against this may not be easy. In Jordan for example the struggle against it continues. In 2001 King Abdallah passed a temporary bill imposing harsher penalties for honor killing. Subsequently the Parliament voted to drop the bill. Some years ago Jordan’s Parliament also discussed the size of stick that could be used to beat up an errant wife. Currently people found guilty of honor killings often receive only six months imprisonment sentences.
Creating public awareness regarding the crime of honor killing, its roots and means to end it using logical and Qur’an-based arguments is necessary. In Pakistan since the early nineties women’s and human rights organizations and the media have consistently created public awareness and also attempted to exercise social pressure on the political and politico religious groups to oppose honor killings.
The Bhandara bill demands that honor killing be declared a punishable offense. While under Pakistani law any murder is treated as a crime, two factors call for special attention in treating the problem of “honor killing.” One, the recent reported increases in “honor killings.” Two the current legal context which does not serve as an effective deterrent against the crime of “honor killings.
Bhandara earlier presented a resolution in November 2003 in the Assembly. Only the women members of the ruling PML supported it. The male members, mostly the landed feudals vehemently opposed it. They continue to oppose it even now. Women members of the ruling party who are supporting the bill are under constant criticism.
The bill that was sent to the House Committee and to the Council of Islamic Ideology is likely to come up for voting soon. PPP and MMA will also support it. Yet a great number of ruling party parliamentarians are against the bill. Chaudary Shujaat supports the bill. He has requested the parliamentary committee examining the bill to send it to Parliament for voting. It may ultimately go through.
The extent and role of religion in state and political matters remains a key matter in most of South, West and Central Asia. Pakistan is no exception, especially when it comes to issues that relate to women. Often tribal customs based on brute power and control psyche are sustained in the name of religion.
There are legal dimensions to the crime of “honor killing” too. Now in the case of a murder the family can decide which law to invoke — Islamic or Common Law. Under Islamic law the victim’s family can opt for settlement under certain terms and conditions. However if crudely applied it can contribute to increase in honor killing. In the current law there are specific legal provisions that reduce punishment for actions supposedly caused by “grave and sudden provocation” and the Qisas and Diyat law, which allows the legal heirs of the victim to forgive the offender.
The question of provocation as justification for murder also has to be revisited. What is provocation? Who is allowed the “liberty” of murdering under provocation? Both men and women?
What message is being given by communicating to a section of society that “sudden provocation” as reason to murder is admissible in a court of law as a premise to ease the punishment for taking another’s life? Given that the family of the victim commits “honor killing” the provision of settlement without trial would ensure that the killer goes unpunished.
The struggle against the crime of honor killing will not end with the passage of a bill. But it would be a necessary step towards ending a custom that drains human behavior of all principles set by humanity and religion.
— Nasim Zehra is a fellow of the Harvard University Asia Center.
