HONOUR KILLINGS IN PAKISTAN

By: Aftab Ahmed Baloch

Background of the story… Like other Muslim countries, in Pakistan too honor killings enjoy larger public supports and killing of innocent girls & women in the name of honor or ‘ghairat’ is a widespread notion especially at peak tribal areas of interior Sindh, NWFP, Punjab & Balochistan. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported 636 honor killings in 2007. At least 61 victims were minors. Each & every year the figure is around 800-1000. Normally these murders are done by immediate blood relatives like fathers, brothers & husbands in various incidences like having an illicit relations, consuming love marriages without the will of a family, heir-ship / kinship property disputes and other domestic violence. According to official data presented in Pakistan’s Senate, more than 4,000 people were killed during the last six years in the name of ‘family honor’. In Pakistan, being an abode of rich cultural, tribal & Islamic impressions, temperament & psychology of different nationalities varies with regards to honor killings. Further while appreciating constructive cultural traits & practices; one cannot simply close his eyes to cruel traits & negativities like one as ‘honor killings’. In this man dominant society, these killings had been continued for long and may be from the time of stone-age. The difference is, before religious folding, these honor killings were done for punishment, revenge and just to save & reserve the alleged ‘respect’ in society, while later (after emancipation of religious dogmas), people also began to consider it as a source of thawab earning, pleasing God & implementation of Sharia Law as according to Islamic understanding, stoning to death, limbs decapitation, beheadings are ‘divinely’ inspired phenomena. Besides acid throwing in girls face is a mark of revenge & a favorite hobby for many nationalities in Pakistan. In case of any failure in romance, marriage refusal or for any other enmity, this barbaric act is done. Fundamentalists of many religions always expect their women (not men) to execute religious or cultural applications submissively but when they refuse to do so, Jews, Christians, and Buddhists simply opt for social boycott except some hard-lined Muslims, who choose killings to save the honor of family i.e. why this practice is quite alarming in Muslim countries especially in African / middle east regions, as compared to Muslim countries having higher literacy rates like Indonesia, Malaysia & Turkey. But one cannot always blame divine dogmas as the root cause for honor killings yet there are cultural / tribal elements too (as deeply rooted into various human civilizations) are by far the biggest motive. The example of Pakistan is worthy to mention in this case. For a better future, many Muslims migrate with their families to abroad in western countries or consume marriages with native women but in several cases, daughters, sisters & wives, were also killed, tortured or secluded in the name of honor by their fathers, brothers & husbands. There are several incidences like a Muslim father shot and killed his daughters (Amina and Sarah) in USA for honor. In UK, Norway and westernized Turkey, there are several incidents where immediate blood relatives killed their women & girls. The reason is that ‘free & immoral western life style’ are not acceptable for any immigrants specially for Muslims, or folks having deep religious, cultural, tribal understanding & background i.e. why even Red Indians, Australian aborigines still maintains their own identity. How different nationalities in Pakistan deals with this matter. What is the ratio of their tolerance, as allowed by their culture, their certain lifestyle. Here I categorized each & every nationality of Pakistan, according to their province (population-wise order):- 1) Punjabis 2) Sindhis 3) Pakhtoons 4) Balochs 5) Mohajirs 6) Other minorities 1) HONOR KILLINGS AMONG PUNJABIS: By nature Panjabis are very active & hardworking nation. Fun & entertainment, enjoying in a liberal manner is evident in their daily lives. They believe in strong family system. As a thumb rule, religion is not so much important for them, as compared to culture. Role of women as a mother, sister, and wife is very important and duly respected. Those who are living in cities are much liberal & open mind in contrast to village dwellers where women are dealt as an object. Example of world known Mukhtaran Mai is sufficient to support, where she was allegedly gang raped, with the approval of local un-official justice makers (jirga). Before coming into the fold of Islam, majority of Punjabis were Sikhs i.e. why they share the same cultural characters. During Indopak partition Sikhs had committed worst kind of Muslim genocide. According to their cultural symbol every Sikh carries a dagger & karpaan (a sharp needle like spear) with them. During slaughter, Sikhs invented new techniques of torture & murder, women were paraded naked & raped in mosques, Muslim’s holy book were tore in to pieces, man were slaughtered like goats, children/infants were thrown into the air and pierced with sharp spears, hot boiled eggs were also pushed into women’s vulva. Among Punjabis mass family slaughter, over trifling matters like property / family disputes are much common than any other province in Pakistan. After every 2-3 months, horrible news of serial killings breakout from many areas of Punjab, especially Gujrat is quite notorious for such kind of incidents where even infants are not spared in cradles. Basic disputes or bone of contentions in most cases are just piece of land, property, water sharing disputes & family matters, etc. In various cases these revenges run after generations to generations. The suicide rate is also high among Punjabis. Main motives of honor killings are as follows: 1) Getting married without the will of family or love marriages 2) Extra marital or Illicit relations 3) Bringing little dowry i.e. Jahaiz at the time of marriage 4) Chronic revenge over property sharing etc. 5) Poverty 6) Non-delivery of male child by a woman Most common method to kill an innocent woman in Punjab is to burn her alive (giving the impression as if the stove was blew out accidentally), for not bringing enough dowry or jahaiz at the marriage time, non delivery of male child and sometimes extra marital relations with other males becomes the source of murder. In 1998 and 1999, the commission reported more than 560 cases of women burned at home in Punjab, Serial killings of whole family are very common in Punjab. There appeared several horrific news of slaughtering or even chopping of body parts after killing and performing a bangra (a kind of victory dance) on dead bodies! Poverty is yet another reason for group suicides, where family guardians commit suicides through poison consumption, firing or jumping into the river, canal or well. However, killing of women in the name of ‘family honour; among Punjabis is ‘less’ in line of other nationalities like Pathans (the champions) or Sindhis (second in row), where this practice is a solemn belief or a ‘routine matter’. The mysterious psycho serial killer & pedophile of the century, Javed Iqbal, also belonged from Punjab, as according to his given statement he had molested, killed & diluted 100 boys children in acid drums! During his jail custody he was also killed or committed suicide. He was appeared in media in a most dramatic situation, first he wrote a letter to higher authorities & media for his crime details & proofs, which were also testified by the police, he then voluntarily presented himself to police but later, before any investigation begins, he committed suicide or killed in jail custody. Yet, no further investigation was done, after his death. Punjabis by nature are more liberal in case of women freedom, as their women observe less hijaab / pardaa. 2-3 decades earlier Punjabi villager’s women also used to wear dhoti i.e. a sheet of plain loose cloth which covers from naval to ankles. These people are festival lover and various festivals like Basant is equally popular in major cities of Punjab, especially at Lahore. Zinda Dilanay Lahore is a famous wording which is used for Lahoris. The city of Lahore has various theatres where dance & stage dramas are shown. Eateries, historical monuments like Shalimar Bagh, Shahi Mosque, Lal Qila are quite famous place in Lahore. Behind Laal Qila is an old prostitution centre, where one can find any girl of his choice. More importantly, prostitution is quite flourishing ‘trade’ among Punjabis, and in Pakistan they fulfil 90% ‘demand’ of the country. Among Punjabis female often get mixed up easily with other non blood relatives males & strangers. Punjabi girls like Urdu speaking Mohajirs freely opt for any job in every field, including places which are solely considered for males. Least to mention that Punjabis can be found all over world & in every nook & corner of Pakistan, than any other minority of country. If you find a milk-shop in each & major city of Pakistan, then it must be owned by a Punjabi, thanks to their population & ‘courage’. 2) HONOR KILLINGS AMONG PAKHTOONS: By nature Pakhtoons or Pashtoons are brave, polite, generous & painstaking nation. History revealed that no super power, be it Mughals, British, Russians or Americans could make them slaves. Mutual unity between them is very strong. Like Punjabi they also spread all over country, yet they are best known for their laborious type of jobs. As a mountain dweller, a typical Pathan is inflexible and ‘activist’ in every scope of his life be it religious extremism (as 99% suicide bombers are of Pashtoon or Afghan origin), friendship, sex (inter & cross both), revenge, honor killings etc. Role of a woman among them being as mother, sister & wife is important but in their weird culture, woman in any form whatever mother, sister or wife, are always subordinate to man. In case of any deviation, Pathans never forgive and are famous for their revenge. In case of honor killings, they are on the top of the list. Getting married without the will of a family or love marriages are equal to deaths. There are numerous cases, where such couples alongwith their children and infants were tracked down & finally brutally killed by immediate relatives.

When Hathora Group (group of serial killers who used large skull breaking hammers to kill) was active in Karachi city around 85s to 90s. During this horrible course most of groups & people scored their enmities & Pakhtoons were again the champs. These mysterious serial killings were horrible & had been continued for whole year, where family member’s heads were smashed brutally with huge hammers during midnight, after making them unconscious. Hundreds of innocent people including children were killed but what were the motives behind, is still unknown. Some says these incidences including initiation of bomb blasts in Pakistan were reactions of Afghan War & mostly Afghans were involved. We read many shocking stories in newspapers about Pashtoons barbaric revenges, serial killings, including killing of ones own mother in the name of ‘honor’. For a Pakhtoon, a word ‘Jirga’ (a local council of Pakhtoons to resolve quarrels) is thousands times holier than any other law in the whole world including laws of Islam. I had a Pashtoon friend and visited his native village somewhere in lawless northern tribal areas of Pakistan (Elaiqa Ghair). His grandfather was a warlord & chief of a Jirga. The old man, showing his double barrel gun, proudly spoke, ‘I myself ordered & killed several women & men’ found guilty by JIRGA, he further said that such execution is performed just after Namaz-e-Fajr with the consent of accused parents! To them, the worst thing is a love marriage, as one cannot even imagine about it. There are many stories that boy & girl fled to marry but eventually were killed by the JIRGA. ‘They cannot hide anywhere in the world’, old man said. In case of fleeing a couple, we assign several persons in different directions to execute them both. Usually the hiding heaven for such love birds is always Karachi, thanks to it densely population, but sometimes it doesn’t make any use, and couples are finally chopped to death! During my stay, I was also advised by my Pakhtoon friend to ‘Do no gaze women & girls & just keep your eyes down. In one of incidents in Karachi, a Pathan bus driver murdered his own mother & aunty being suspect of ‘immoral behavior’. Similarly a Pashtoon, security guard of our office revealed that ‘I came Karachi for earning with my family and whenever, I step outside my house; I lock my wife inside because I cannot trust her. On the other hand a Pathan is always a boy-lover. A female English journalist, who once trapped with Taliban in Afghanistan, also revealed this fact in her book. Why a Pathan always yearns for a boy?? While digging into typical Pathan traits, one can easily find the answer. The reason is ‘women are something forbidden item in Pakhtoon culture to be watched isolated, they are always wrapped in shuttle cock type clothes, cross male dialogues are extinct in Pakhtoon culture, besides majority of Pathans used to work outside their native villages in cities like Karachi without their families. Here they live in ‘dairaas’ i.e. a place where male Pathan lives together in groups and in dairaas, it is not wondering to find a boy for ‘group sex’. Once a European lady cyclist was on the mission to travel around the globe on bicycle. Prior entering into Afghanistan (an abode of Pashtoon), she travelled safely, but do you believe what had happened when she was paddling in Afghan territory?? She was gang rapped & her cycle was also damaged by folks. Later, when she was interviewed, she said, ‘I’ve no excuse for being rapped but why they broke my bicycle?? Besides above, it is also a famous joke that “when you are in Peshawar and some of your money (take it 100/=) mistakenly dropped, ‘Don’t bend to pick that’, or you will have to spend 1000/= more on yourself?” But now who dares to go Peshawar, which has become a suicide blasting place. 3) HONOR KILLINGS AMONG SINDHIS: By nature Sindhis are very loving, soft-spoken, polite & hospitable nation, they love their land, home & fields and don’t want to leave them in most cases. Role of women among them being a mother, sister & wife is very important. But here is a dark side too, while discussing honor killings they stand for no.2 after Pashtoons! and being a sister, wife or mother in their society is usually a ‘thankless task’. Killing sisters, wives & even mothers in the name of KARO-KARI is very common in Sindh. According to the KARO-KARI rules when a male and female whenever seen in suspicious, isolated condition or even talking to each other in physically alone would easily be identified as KARO-KARI and killed on the spot. The execution is mostly carried out through an axe or dagger; which always carried by typical Sindhis villagers according to their tradition. Sindhi word ‘KARO’ is used for male accused, and ‘KARI’ is used for female one. There is no age discrimination, be them 14-15 or 50-70, once declared as Karo Kari, not even God can save them. This barbaric law also comes under discussion in Pakistani Parliament, but no solution has been discovered, no judicial law in Pakistan is against this traditional law. It even supported by various politicians & tribal leaders in Sindh. In one year approximately hundred of murders are reported in Sindh and most of the victims were women, because male can easily escape from the scene. The Special Task Force for Sindh of H.R.C.P. (Human Resource Commission of Pakistan) received reports of 196 cases of karo-kari killings in Sindh in 1998, involving 255 deaths. However, most cases are never reported. A Sindhi male by nature is always suspicious & mistrustful to their sisters, wives & mothers. It is a saying in Balochi that WATI JENNEKKA SINDHIYA MADAY meaning never marry your daughter with a Sindhi. The male cannot allow that a stranger should talk to his sister or wife. To get rid of ones wife, it is very easy for a Sindhi to declare her as KARO KARI and a subsequent murder will take place. Apart from the fact, both Sindhis & Pakhtoon are famous for their x-ray visions for watching women & girls of other communities. Reach any public / picnic place in Karachi or interior Sindh, there you’ll find the proofs. Like Pathans, a Sindhi male is also often a boy-lover. “CHOKRO SUTTO AAHAI” is a quite famous Sindhi saying. It is sufficient to say that a 13-14 year old, good-looking boy cannot travel alone into interior Sindh, or he will be bleeding from…… It is also one of the traditions in Sindh to marry off one’s daughter to the Holy Quran or even with a Tree! Once this happened, she can never ever marry with any other male. While getting married a mature girl with little kids is another Sindhi custom. Cast & clan system among Sindhis is very strong i.e. why marrying outside the community is very rare. Personalized jails of Sindhi Wadayraas (Feudal Lords) are also common in Sindh, wherein poor peasants (harees) are kept in custody with their families and women are rapped. 4) HONOR KILLINGS AMONG BALOCHIS: The Balochs prior to two recent honor killings were enjoying good reputation, but after two incidents, it raised many eyebrows now. 1st incident was happened in Sui, when Dr. Shazia was gang raped & tortured in Sui, while she was posted there. After the misery, she finally decided to leave this country with her husband. Although, it was also rumored that some Punjabi army personnel were involved in this incident. The second incident is eye opener. When three teenage girls who planned to defy their families and marry men of their choice were buried alive in “honor killings” and even a Baloch senator defended this brutal practice. The girls were taken from their remote village, Baba Kot, in southwestern Balochistan, to a deserted area where they were badly tortured before being pushed into a ditch and covered with sand and stones. One was named as Fauzia Bibi, 18, but the other two – thought to be aged 14 and 16 – were not identified. When two older women – Jannat Bibi, 38, Fauzia’s aunt, and Fatima Bibi, 45, the mother of another girl – tried to protect the teenagers they were also buried alive. The assailants then fired into the air to deter anyone from approaching the scene. With these two exceptions, among Balochs as a general, there are minimal cases of Honor Killings. A role of woman in Baloch society is very important, especially role of a mother, as she plays an active and supervising role in her entire family life. However, the notorious Rehman Dacoit of Lyari was involved for killing his own mother for ‘honor’. Later he was also got killed alongwith with his fellows by Pakistani agencies. Now the guy is in the good book and his portraits can be seen on the wall. Besides, there exist history of killings & revenge in Baloch history too on minor disputes. A piece of land is often the prime reason. Like other tribal infested folks, a Baloch tribal leader (known as Waja) plays a key role for twisting the lives of ordinary people. Within strong cast & clan system, like Pashtoon & Sindhis, outside community marriages are rare & are not welcomed by Baloch community and forget about love marriages. But in city areas like Lyari, mushroom of love marriages within Baloch community (of lower cast) has begun to spread. With more incite with Balochs & Lyari, please refer to my Lyari based articles. 5) HONOR KILLINGS AMONG MOHAJIRS: Mohajirs or Urdu speaking nationality is those who had migrated from India to Pakistan after partition. From history, they don’t demonstrate such tribal or rich cultural background like other nationality in Pakistan e.g., Punjabis, Balochis, Sindhis or Pashtoon etc, as a result they don’t have certain hard & fast tribal rules to follow as most of them are well educated and on the key-posts in all-over country, specifically in mega metropolitan city, Karachi. For them, role of a woman is very important, yet in most cases they don’t follow joint family system and usually couples prefer to live as a different family after marriage. A wife or a mother is always performs a respectable key-role in their family, yet wives played their dominance over husbands. The reason is, among them dowry (jahaiz) is the sole property of wives. During marriage parents of groom demands their choice of dowry in form of gold, property, cars, cash & what not jobs or business set-up. Panic of parents grew when daughters are born in family, because after the birth the second immediate thing which comes in their mind is to collect as much dowry for her. So, among Mohajirs, a groom will always be subjugated by brides. The same trend goes for all nationality in Pakistan, except Sindhis & Balochs, where bringing dowry is the sole responsibility of grooms & not brides. Even there is a reverse cycle in Balochs & Sindhis i.e. brides parents demands gold (haq-e-meher) before Nikah ceremony, conditional amounts (duly mentioned in Nikah deed & payable in case of a divorce), dozens of stitched clothes, meal expenses etc. are also there. Honor Killings among Mohajir are quite rare and hardly found, because of awareness, education above all disappearance of tribal thinking. At Karachi, in every single house of Mohajirs, we can hardly find any illiterate person whatever male or female, education is compulsory for them, just like essentials of life. Ratio of education among female is also very high. Majority of lady job seekers in Karachi are Urdu speaking. Mix family get together, love & outside family marriages are also very common, yet like Indians women in lower class are always targeted & tortured for not bring enough dowry or Jahaiz. Domestic violence, divorce ratio among Mohajir couples are common as compared to other tribal nationalities. The concept of ‘Ghar Damad’ is also a popular term within Mohajirs, where daughters after marriages are not departed but accommodated & supported with their husbands too. Due to craze of higher education, yearning for higher standard of living, among Mohajirs marriages are done in overdue period. Usually marriages are consumed at the age of 30-40 & sometimes even late. Marriages are done when male individuals (grooms) must have a sufficient job, capability to own separate home / apartment with all fixtures / luxuries, minimum motorbike requirement, on the other hand Mohajir girls before her marriages earn money through jobs for collecting dowry but doing all these, finally the peak ideal age for marriage is passed away. That is why among them parents of ten year old child will be in their 40s or 50s, as compared to parents of other communities, who soon become grandpa or grandma in their middle where marriages are consumed at an early age of 17-20 year. In Baloch & Sindhi communities, usually boys & girls start their marital life at an early age & in many cases even fathers support them financially, before boys even begin to earn. During research & survey it is also revealed that adultery or extra marital sex are also the outcome of late marriages because nature doesn’t understand the ethical or divine codes. 6) HONOR KILLINGS AMONG OTHER MINORITIES: There are also other minorities / mixed nations, living in Pakistan, e.g. Saraiki, Hazaraywal, Katchi, Memon, Bohra, Agha Khani, Afghanis, Hindu, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Bengalis, Burmese etc. Among these many are mixed, like Saraiki are the outcome of Punjab/Sindh fusion, they have amalgamation of mixed culture of Punjab & Sindh, yet many of them are not permanent settlers but nomads. Many of Saraiki ladies sell different food items in various part of Karachi like in Gulshan & Saddar etc., mong them there are also beggars. In their family set-up, usually female have dominancy over men yet there are rare cases of Honor killings. Hazaraywal are some sorts of Pakhtoon, but slightly have different language & culture. Their males are too hard nuts but much clever as compared to Pakhtoon which are simple & honest people. For Hazaraywal women are conquered thing. There is also a famous quote for them that ‘Hazara mushkil guzara’ meaning it is hard to live with a Hazara individual. Memon, Katchi, Bohra, Agha Khani are dwellers in Karachi. Originally they belonged from India. Their forefathers were either Hindus or Parsis (in case of Agha Khani). These people are in minorities. Memons are known as a successful business community. They have their own stead & fast community rules. A marriage outside community is an impossible thing for them. In case of any rare violation, they simply opt for social boycotts instead of ‘honor killings’. However, in Karachi an incident of killing was occurred when a corrupt rich boy (Yasin Bawani) from Memon community rapped & burned to death a poor house-servant girl (Shaista). Later the accused was released from the Court of Law!! Like Makranis, Katchis were early fishermen in coastline of Sindh. Like their close native (Memons), they have too hard & fast community rules to follow. In Karachi, Katchi Memon communities jointly work together for their betterment. Yet unlike Memons they are a bit of violent and in case of rare violation, they opt for torture & even killing. Bohris by nature are religious, isolated, and shy community. Like Memons they have too strictly follow their culture. In case of any violation, they simply opt for social boycott & ejection from community. Agha Khanis are some sort of modernized, educated & wealthy business community. There are zero ‘Honor killings’ yet marriages or any kind of outside community relations are extinct. Afghanis are close cousins of Pakhtoons yet they are known for their cruelty & barbaric approach towards women. They are living as an illegal immigrant in Pakistan since Soviet Afghan War. The ratio of honor killings between them is widespread. Hindus, who are living as minor community in Pakistan, shares the same traits of Indian Hindus. Women are known to be objects for men which are evident from Hinduism culture like once as Satti, where a widows were burned alive alongwith their deceased husbands. They also don’t hesitate to kill, if any girl or women violates, the same goes for Sikhs which are much less numbers in Pakistan. Christian & Parsi minorities in Pakistan also reflects same notion and there are zero honor killings, except among lower cast Punjabi Christians where women’s torture are common. Karachi being an illegal immigrants paradise, there also live Bengali and Burmese which have occupied places like Bilal Colony, Korangi & Machar Colony. Most of men & women work as a labor force in the city. Honor killings are never reported but like other Asians, torture over domestic violence are much common. For more insights about these minorities please refer to my article: ‘Karachiwalay and their characteristics’ & ‘the New Lyari’ .

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