The Pakistan government has allied with Islamists to reject a bill which sought to strengthen the law against the practice of "honour killing". The parliament rejected the bill by a majority vote on Tuesday, declaring it to be un-Islamic.
Under the so-called Islamic legislation enacted by General Zia ul Haq, Pakistan's Islamist military ruler in the 1980s, proven killers could seek or buy pardon from the victim's family under the Islamic principles of compromise. The law has remained essentially unchanged since then.
Once such a pardon has been secured, the state has no further writ on the matter.
Human rights agencies in Pakistan have repeatedly emphasised that most women falling prey to karo-kari were usually those wanting to marry of their own will. In many cases, the victims held properties that the male members of their families did not wish to lose if the women chose to marry outside the family.
Government and independent researchers estimate that over 4,000 women have fallen victim to this practice in Pakistan over the last six years.
So all it takes are some agreements among like-minded male relatives and the government cannot even investigate or bring charges for the murder of thousands of women and girls.
I have Muslim friends who are horrified by these practices too. But for a variety of reasons their voices are either not raised up against them or not heard. I have less interest in why that is than in the fact that these women continue to be murdered and the government is unable or unwilling to prevent it. The cause is a complex nexus of religion, culture and tribal tradition but the results are clear -- and deadly for women and girls.
The same thing is happening in Jordan.
UPDATE: This, on the other hand, is progress.
Even in places like Britain, where there are enough laws to supposedly prevent these crimes:
[from the BBC]
In Muslim immigrant societies in the West, in many cases, honour killings go undetected and become disappearances, as the whole family and relatives provide cover for it.
Savages are savage. Hence the term.
Honor based on murder is not honor.
...Hence the al-Reuters quotes in the title.
Care to bet that the "news" service that puts quotes around words like "terrorist" writes honour killings with a straight face?
Not all people from savage places are savages. Not all savages come from savage places.
Robin
Even though the bill did not go through there is still hope that eventually change will come. The issue of "Karo-kari" is still on the burner. Unless I miss my guess Ms Kashmala Tariq will continue to make sure it remains there.
Changing the hearts and minds of people is not an easy task. Does the fact the bill was even considered and put to a vote have any merit? Certainly. Are the results less than we would have expected? In my opinion yes but then again I can only base my opinion on how a majority of .US citizens would react to such a bill.
We are still left with the issue of how we change a mindset. For whatever reasons the Pakistan Government has elected not to force the issue at this point. Will that change? Keep plugging away and lets hope it does.
Musharrif's government is in a delicate situation politically. I do understand that.
But I deeply deplore the price women are paying as a result.
What a message that sends! Treating women like human beings is un-Islamic. Same goes for infidels, of course.
If true, Islam is crap and should be flushed away and its adherents sterilized.
I understand the pragmatism of our post-9/11 relationship, but I sense diminishing returns on Pakistan's counter-terrorism efforts. As Rumsfeld might ask, how do we know that Pakistan is rounding up more islamic terrorists than it is producing? I would ask, how do we know that Pakistan is only rounding up the bare minimum to avoid calls from Washington for elections?
1) Does the U.S. still have trade sanctions on Pakistan textiles? If so (and if Musharraf is worth banking on), then the sanctions should be dropped. Not only would integrating Pakistan's economy help in the WOT, I don't think the treatment of women can improve much in a pre-industrial economy.
2) Can we be assured that women will be able to vote safely and fairly in national elections? With the help of occupying troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, we saw political parties courting women and placing them on the ballot. If women get to vote, can the outcome be that dire?
Patrick
This is the central part of the question of Islam. Will Islamic societies join modernity, or will they remain stuck in the mire of the 12th century?
Unless the rights of women to live as human beings are respected, Islamic societies will remain, bitter, nasty, poor, and powerless places filled with nothing but bandits and corruption.
Pakistan seems a total failure as a nation, just one with nukes. I am not optimistic overall about Pakistan's ability to reform itself. I think other nations will move ahead.
>>Honor based on murder is not honor.
Good. Someone is beginning to understand.
Apply this principle consistently and you'll come to some interesting conclusions.
It is precisely events of this nature that are convincing arguments why Musharraf is no solution:
1. In spite of authoritarian rule, and speeches about 'enlightened moderation', Musharraf has achieved nothing in terms of social reforms. The so-called Hudood laws have sufficient loopholes to keep the practice of karo-kari alive. Sherry Rehman, a legislator from Benazir Bhutto's party is fighting a lonely, losing battle in parliament. The ruling party (which takes its cue from Musharraf) ganged up with the Islamist 'opposition' to water down the bill.
2. In the case of another famous rape; that of Dr Shazia in Balochistan, the military first shielded the accused, one of whom was a military officer. It is speculated that he is related to a high-ranking military officer. After shielding the officer from investigation for almost two months, when he was finally being charged, Musharraf himself went on record saying that the officer was innocent.
3. The reform of the madrassa system is now not even mentioned. Nothing was reformed.
4. Even the non-madrassa schools are full of hate literature, and the syllabus remains full of invectives against non-Muslims and non-Sunnis.
5. Now there are calls to declare Shia followers of the Aga Khan (whose organisation is trying to reform the education system) as apostates.
Beyond lip service, there is little that Gen Musharraf has delivered. And he is about to go to Madrid to speak at a conference on the root causes of terrorism.
Robin: Musharrif's government is in a delicate situation politically.
Someday soon, most of Europe will be in a "delicate" political situation, and I doubt if they'll have as much spine as Musharrif does.
Glen
For all of Europe's faults, they did'nt create or support global terrorism. There is no comparison.
And what spine are you talking about?