Killed twice: Marrying the man who raped her
A young girl lay dead across the bedroom floor, and a small open bottle lay just mere inches from her hand with the words ‘rat poison’ printed across the label. She had just committed suicide - an act forbidden by the laws of God and nature. Her reason? She was ordered by a judge to marry the very man who had raped her. Amina Filali was just 16 when she ended her life. Only last year, Amina’s parents filed charges against their daughter’s rapist who was 10 years older than the teenager. The judge, in the Moroccan city of Tangier, concluded that rather than punishing him, the ...
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Javed Chaudhry’s misogynistic excuse for violence against women
In a column published on April 1 in the Urdu newspaper Daily Express, Javed Chaudhry expresses his disapproval for a man who had paid another Rs100,000 to attack his estranged wife by throwing acid on her face. Even in his attempted condemnation, the language he uses to describe her injuries is detailed, graphic and inappropriate. “Hadiyan nangi ho gain. Aankh ubal kar bahir aa gai” (Bones were bare. The eye was singed and protruding) But then, these descriptions become downright pornographic as his ultimate thesis becomes apparent; perhaps, women incite violence because of their own insubordination, give or take a few innocent victims. The narrative focuses ...
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Mob rule wins again
We are peaceful people and we act with the administration’s approval, were the words of one of the clerics leading the charge to shut down an Ahmadi religious centre in Rawalpindi. Surprise, surprise, they succeeded last week. So is it safe to assume that the administration approves of violence against minorities? Stupid me, that question was already answered a month back, when a police officer decided to side with the mob instead of the law. In true testament to the competence and dedication to duty of the Punjab police, he lied to innocent victims of a mob threatening violence and ...
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Know your rights: Ilmpossible
Distracted by the political instability of the country, Pakistanis have failed to draw their attention to the termites that have been incessantly devouring the well being of the country. The crippled education system of Pakistan has proved to be one of these destructive creatures. Nevertheless, the presidential assent given to the Constitution (18th Amendment) Bill in April 2010 was an occurrence of great magnitude in this matter. What were the outcomes of the 18th Amendment? It turned Pakistan into a parliamentary republic; it removed the powers of the president to dissolve Parliament unilaterally. What else did it do to the constitution? ...
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The corruption within
Irony appears to be wasted on many citizens of Karachi. I’ve had one conversation too many sitting in the passenger seat of a car, hearing an animated driver furiously lambast devious politicians of the country from behind the wheel, then promptly run a red light at a crowded intersection. Surely some parallels could be drawn between these two sets of people: the corrupt politicians and the negligent drivers. Politicians are entrusted, among other things, with the responsibility of being honest and fair during their tenure in office. They are expected to have concern for the welfare of the general populace. ...
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Honourably dead
We celebrated a year of violence in Pakistan by offering 675 girls at the altar of honour. Ismat Parveen (whose name means ‘dignity’ and ‘honour’) married a man she wanted to, and because she didn’t want to divorce him, she was shot to death – by her brother. A young woman by the name of Hajil Mai was axed by her husband earlier last month because he accused her of having an affair with the neighbour. He killed her with an axe in the name of honour. With an axe. She is just one victim amongst the many who die in the name ...
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One more step towards legal rights for women
Women Parliamentarians have proved that when it comes to higher priorities, politicians can go above party divides. The bill on anti women practices passed by the National Assembly, which prohibits forced marriage, marriage with Quran, restricting women to get their rightful share in inheritance and giving women in exchange for conflict resolution, is a proof of that. Donya Aziz and Attiya Inayatulla have been working hard on this bill and have been mobilizing support from all parties. Though the bill is signed by eight Parliamentarians of PML (Q) including Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, it is women Parliamentarians that have gone through the ...
Read Full PostQadri sentence: Justice served – for now
The verdict is in. The assassin will hang. Justice seems to have been served. Well, not quite yet. Almost ten months to the day when the former Punjab governor was gunned down, the lone gunman has seen his bubble burst. His ‘divinely inspired’ mission wasn’t so divine after all. He will die the way a real blasphemer would have been put to death. Except that in his case, thousands of righteously misguided individuals will take to the streets to push for his release from prison. After all, guilty or not, his followers have already made it quite clear that for them, ...
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Minority rights: A tale of two divorces
It is the middle of the year 2004; two young married ladies, Parveen Amanual and Asia Tabassam, who reside in the same locality of Rahim Yar Khan, come to the court. They are both hard done by their husbands, and want to get a divorce. Their divorce cases were, thus, duly filed against their husbands. By the end of 2004, within a period of four months, Asia Tabassam was able to get her divorce, and she is now re-married living with her second husband and three kids. Parveen Amanual, however, did not have the same luck. It is 2011, ...
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Overcoming our colonial legacy
On August 12, Pakistan finally came to grips with its colonial legacy. The Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), a draconian law framed by British to govern the ‘unruly tribal areas’ on the border with Afghanistan has finally been scrapped. The British viewed the frontier regions as a buffer zone for the empire, beyond which lay the territories of Afghanistan. The frontier tribes were never brought under complete suzerainty of Britain, although indirect rule was exercised through tribal chiefs and intermediaries. The Pashtuns, historically allergic to foreign occupation offered strong resistance to the British. Thus naturally, the brutes and savages had to be ...
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