Last year, Pakistani parliament’s implementation of stricter punishments for honour killings was widely viewed as a historic move away from the patriarchal setup that facilitated this theatre of savagery. However, the legislation — no matter how progressive it seemed — has since failed to protect women, who continue to be murdered by the male members of their family in a vile and grotesque attempt to right their wrong of acting through their will. In Friday’s incident in Sanghar, Leela Chandio, a young mother of a minor, was gunned down by her husband and his cousin as punishment for a suspected liaison with another man. Over a thousand kilometre away, another 21-year-old, Saba Qaiser, is once again haunted by the fear of honour violence from soon to be freed relatives. Having survived two attacks from her father and uncle — shot in the head both times — in less than two months, Qaiser worries harm from the very men she had earlier brought to justice.
The glaring absence of enforcements of the existing laws can be strongly seen by the ever-intensifying misogyny that appears bent on sustaining the ever-intensifying control of men over women they deem as vessels of their family’s honour. In a story too often spun, this hyper-masculinity devoured yet another shining social worker, Hina Shahnawaz, in Kohat, last month as a punishment for her courage to defy the advances of her cousin. The ongoing year seems particularly brutal with as many as 23 crimes committed in the name of honour already in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone. Another nine were murdered in Swat district during the last two months. A report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan noted around 1096 women and 88 men as victims of honour crimes in 2016; a marked increase from 869 killings in 2014. While the actual numbers are believed to be even higher, even these statistics serve well to encapsulate the scale of the problem.
What still remains untapped, however, is an understanding of both the root causes governing the heinous phenomenon as well as the legal loopholes still obstructing the prosecution of honour violence. The trouble with this shallow approach sans any reasoning is that it emphasises upon the denunciation of the individual without taking into account the broader societal narrative, which continues to enforce its deadly norms. Disgust, even in the strongest terms, would not help establish a framework that teaches men to value human life and basic liberties more than family reputation and socially endorsed beliefs. Legislation might seem as the easiest step to undermine the growing evil albeit its half-hearted implementation has not, in any way, helped protect women against the arbitrary wishes of their self-professed guardian. It is high time that the authorities realise the urgency of addressing the reservations against the anti-honour killing law, particularly those related to the judicial discretion in commuting a death penalty into a life sentence.
We ourselves have also not yet done much to revolutionise the societal mindset that still propagates an active check on our anatomies and our abilities. By incessantly discoursing over the significance of honour, both our parliamentarians and media houses continue to displace the fundamental freedoms to favour moral sanctions. In lieu of confronting the chauvinistic craze head-on with an effective education that encourages a rational and well-informed take on life, many of us still feel the need to distance ourselves from anything considered controversial by the society at large. An informed public that recognises women as equal citizens on top of highly trained and unbiased law enforcement personnel, which strive for a widespread legal compliance, are two necessary prerequisites to ensure a lasting change. As long as Pakistan does not allow those who defy the typical ideas to prosper alongside the majority view holders, honour crimes would continue to endanger many lives; stripping their right to lead their lives in accordance with their wishes.
