No matter how sinful the offender might be; it is only the One who has given life possesses the right to take it back. And when He Himself is ever forgiving then who on this Earth are some stagnant primitive minds to claim others’ lives that too in the name of honour masked behind religious ethics.
Qandeel Baloch’s murder exposes the horror of honour killings in Pakistan. According to a leading daily of Pakistan, hundreds of women are killed each year in the country in the name of ‘honour’.
Indian media seems to be over-taken by the news coming from across the border, as if the horror of ‘honour killing’ is something alien to its own country. The situation is even worse here, only difference being, out there females get murdered in the name of religion and here due to caste-ism.
Recently, there has been a spate of honour killings in the country, mainly in the states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. It can be defined as a death that is awarded to a woman of the family for marrying against her parent’s wishes.
Another worse gender-based brutality commonly prevalent here in India is the ‘dowry deaths’, where the perpetrators claim that they have not been given enough material rewards for accepting the woman into the family. Due to which a lot of harassment is caused by in-laws to a point where the woman is left with no option but to commit suicide, thus saving themselves from being accused of murdering her.
We have had a tradition of honour killing. This tradition was viewed in its most horrible form during the partition of the country when many women were forcefully killed so that family honour could be preserved.
Reasons why family decides to kill the daughter in the name of preserving their family honour have been many. The most obvious reason being the fact that the caste system continues to be at its rigid best in India.
The mentality of people has to change. Parents should accept their children’s wishes regarding marriage, as it is they who have to lead a life with their partners. And if they are not satisfied with them then they will lead a horrible married life which might even end in suicide. Further, stricter laws must be laid out to tackle these kinds of gender-based killings as this is a crime which cannot be pardoned. Humans do not have the right to write down death sentences of innocent fellow humans.
Superficially, even if agreed over killing innocents in keen desire to keep the ‘so-called-honour’ intact for once, how could anyone escape from the hounding guilt one will have to live for the rest of the life for snatching away someone else’s right to breath!
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
