Prime Minister, Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain, talking with a delegation of women parliamentarians, who called on him on 17.7.2004, has informed that a Bill would soon be tabled in parliament for bringing the offenders in cases of honour killings to justice.
Realising the gravity of the matter, a campaign has been launched by different political and Non-Governmental Organisations and Human Rights Activists through the electronic and print media against this menace of honour killing, with special reference to "Karo Kari."
However, the instances of such violence are still on the increase, reflecting on the fact that the people, who matter the most, are not convinced with the ongoing campaign.
It is, therefore, imperative that the entire situation is reviewed from a different angle and while analysing the causes of the problems, we should give due weightage to the ground realities.
CAUSES OF HONOUR KILLINGS: A thorough deliberation in the matter reveals that killings in the name of honour are committed in the following two situations:
(a) Where killings are committed by the people in fury and frustration, with the feelings that they have been disgraced.
(b) Where killings are duly schemed for certain personal interest, but to escape from the law, these are termed as Honour Killing.
As far as the killings committed in the first situation are concerned, the evil cannot be eliminated from society through the passage of bills or the promulgation of ordinances as it is a very complex situation, warranting an unbiased and rationale analysis to convince a society, where this tendency prevails.
On the contrary, the hue and cry made by the political and social organisations, against honour killings are not based on cogent reasons, sending a wrong message.
First and foremost, we must realise that in every society, be it in the East or the West, honour and dignity are considered to be a basic human rights and everybody deserves "Honour." When a man or woman is disgraced or insulted. she gets highly emotional and furious. However, the term "Honour" is hard to define exactly, as everyone has his or her own perception about honour and dignity.
In an upper class family, parents, having come to know that their daughter has selected a boy as her life partner, don't mind, if their prospective son-in-law belongs to their own class. But if their daughter's choice is from a lower class family (a driver, a clerk and so forth) they feel ashamed.
An Indian Minister felt extremely insulted, when he had to undergo 'naked checking' at an airports in the USA, (thank God, no such complaints have so far, been received from any Pakistani Minister) and decided that he would never go to America, while for thousands of Pakistani and Indian immigrants such a checking is a matter of routine and they don't take it seriously.
So there is no hard and fast definition of honour and everybody takes it his or her own way.
Similarly, different people when disgraced or feel than have been disgraced, reacts in different ways, according to their physical and mental disposition, mindset, level of education, prevailing tendency/custom in the society where they are living and the level of insult/disgrace they suffered.
A weak and coward by person, when insulted, though be feels it, does not retaliate strongly. Likewise, an educated person, when he comes across such a situation, responds in a sober and disciplined manner, looking at the repercussions of his passion if he turned to violence. But an illiterate man, of a peculiar stratum of society, goes beyond the limit in such a situation without care of the consequences of his aggressive reaction.
The nutshell of the above discussion is that merely passing bills and bringing amendments in the existing laws or any irrational hue and cry, cannot guarantee the eradication of the evil from society.
Ironically, our so called intellectuals and human right activists, in their zeal, to hate honour killings have ignored human psychology and forgotten the basic human right of the victim's parents, who have been disgraced by their own beloved, leaving no option for them but to pursue a violent way to save their face in a society where there is no place for disgraced people.
Imagine, what more punishment will the law inflict on a person, who appears before the police with the instrument of murder in his hands and confesses proudly that he has killed some one for the sake of his honour.
One should not misconstrue from the above that I am defending the killers, because no one has the right to impose punishment on other people, by taking the law in his or her hands. Infact, it is the court of law, which is empowered to put on trial an accused and to decide whether he or she is to be punished or exonerated from the charges levelled against him or her. But at the same time, we must not give the impression that honour has no value as it is contrary to the reality.
Why are people in Kashmir, Palestine and now Iraq resorting to suicide bombing, giving up their lives and taking others?
For economic prosperity, technological advancement or other material benefits? No, rather they have been forced to go to such extremes, where no appeal, advice and threats suppress them; only because they feel that they have been disgraced by foreign occupants.
So, if we are sincere in our cause we have to adopt a logical way to convince people to distinguish between right and the wrong. Besides cursing those involved in honour killings, we should concomitantly emphasise the value of honour and the dignity of the people and strive against indecency, promiscuous and vulgarity, which may ultimately lead to a situation where such unhappy incidents are inevitable.
We may urge upon the government to make resolute efforts for the alleviation of poverty and illiteracy from society, as it is the prime causes of all evil. Because of lack of education most of the population does not distinguish what is good from what is wrong as many evils have penetrated in our customs and tradition, in such a way that they have become symbols of dignity and honour.
Only an educated, disciplined, enlightened and decent society can stop honour killings for which we have to work together.
The killings, purportedly committed in the name of honour, are duly schemed for certain personal interest. They are because of the "feudal system" in the rural and tribal areas.
The feudal lords enjoys social, political and economical strength and maintain their position deciding the fate of those under their sway. In the majority of the cases, innocent people are murdered cold-bloodedly in the name of Karo Kari, on the behest of these vested interests to protect their properties, reputation and political standing.
As such, the root-cause of the evil is the feudal system, which should be bulldozed as soon as possible but "who will bell the cat"? Similarly, those involved in pretended honour killings succeed in dodging the law with the active connivance of the law enforcing agencies.
As such, to bring such influential offenders to justice, it is essential that the role of the police is to strengthened to ensure the proper implementation of law. Denial of access to justice is yet another factor, honour killing. All obstacles in the way of easy and cheap justice should be removed.