IT Pie in the Sky? i am pasting a article that is not directly related to the subject matter here...but i think you guys will enjoy this piece i got from dawn on the unforeseen effects of information technology on ``uncivil`` karachi types. the author seems to be realy young and comfortably upper middle class:



Cyber Cafes serve it hot

By Anila Weldon

WE have three television sets in our house. All three have plenty of local and foreign television channel broadcasts to choose from. The TV in our main lounge is one that gets used the most. Every member of the family uses this lounge to watch television here during the day - and when I say ``all``, I mean everyone including the family servants.

My mother is very concerned about our male servant, Abdul, an 18 years old boy, wanting to sit and watch television while my favourite show, Ally McBeal is on. Mommy surely disapproves of Abdul getting to watch Ally dressed in her knee-length skirts, tight jeans, body-hugging T-shirts, kissing and hugging men while talking to them in the show. So, there is an unsaid rule in the family: None of us can switch to any foreign TV channels when Abdul is in the same lounge either for entertainment or for work.

It seemed a bit odd to me. I used to think, ``how long can mom protect these young male servants from reaching emotional puberty?`` I thought my mother was utterly conservative and could never get along with her on those lines.

Nevertheless, what I discovered recently changed my thoughts on the issue completely. Being a computer buff, I decided to do a write-up on Cyber Cafes. I spoke to a few people about it, got some shocking views on the reason behind the ever-growing popularity of these cafes mushrooming all around the city, and decided to pay some a surprise visit. It turned out that the only element of surprise in those visits was my own reaction to the alarming discoveries I made there!

What I had expected to see in the first such internet cafe (located near Tariq Road) was a group of young, educated people surfing the internet for a seemingly important project while enjoying the cliched cup-of-coffee to go with that workaholic mood. I had also expected to find some people chatting away on IRC chat channels, visiting web sites, e-mailing to friends and relatives, and what not.

However, what I saw instead was a bunch of middle-aged men from our Northern Areas (each one reminded me of Abdul) drooling over a half-naked picture of some Hollywood movie celebrity with a come-get-me smile on her face. There were about four of these men gathered around one of the many computers in there. Only two of them seemed a little educated - literate enough to operate a computer, load a particular web site of their choice, and, perhaps, even copy image files on to floppy disks.

Oh, and by the way, there were way too many floppy disks scattered around those seemingly perverted men. The two men were playing ``guides`` for the other two. Everyone of them was having a time of his life, it seemed. My guess was further confirmed by a roar of laughter which this particular group of guys let out every now and then, followed by exciting whispers and a stooping action to cover the contents of their computer screen from being noticed by the passersby.

Well, that told me a lot. I then decided to get up and leave. Next, I visited another internet cafe (this one located in Gulshan-e-Iqbal). Here I saw a headphone-clad boy about 16 years old, enjoying an X-rated English movie running on the PC from a compact disk. The cafe itself was very well decorated. It had about 12 PCs on a huge table with wooden partitions for maximum individual privacy. Each computer was equipped with a pair of headphones, too. From the looks of it, it was pretty obvious how the owners of this cyber cafe knew about the exact requirements of their customers and were aiming at providing them just that. There was also a huge selection of movie titles on CDs available on a pay-per-view and rental basis here.

All this was a bit too much for me to absorb. I headed straight for home to sulk. ``Mom was right all along,`` I thought. There are people in our society (people like Abdul) who do not respond very well when exposed to the foreign culture where bare legs and deep necklines are social norms. Getting excited is one thing, but losing control and acting awkwardly frustrated in public is another.

Although what mom has yet to discover is how people are quick at finding alternative means of ``recreation``. It is not just about foreign magazines and TV channels anymore. Nowadays people are turning to the mighty internet to seek perverted amusement from. It is happening!

That night, I put two and two together. I recalled an article published in Dawn long ago. A lady was complaining about increased taxi fares. She had said, ``... the unconstitutional raise in taxi fares is an obvious conspiracy against the middle-class people. The rich are too rich to be seen riding a yellow cab, while for the have-nots a taxi ride is an unaffordable luxury. So it is the middle class that suffers the most. Yet, no one seems to notice ...``

The same could be said about cyber cafe users. It made real sense to me when I thought along the following lines: All serious computer users here don`t need a special restaurant equipped with computers, for they have a PC at home or workplace available to them at all times. While the non-users have no requirement for any such place at all.

This division creates a third category of computer users who like to explore what can and what cannot be done on the computers. They don`t wish to own a machine, but have no problems with paying anything between Rs 50 and Rs 80 an hour to be on the internet with friends and have a ``good time`` exploring it. This is the group that uses Cyber Cafes the most. And, as I discovered, they do it with great gusto!

Could it be that the many cyber cafes opening up in the city/country are offering its clientele what the local cinemas and national TV channel refuses to give to the masses? Could that be the cause of excitement and so much enthusiasm expressed by people about having an internet cafe opening up near their locality? Is pornography the hottest selling item contributing towards success of this relatively new venture in our country? And, above all, would it cause a woman absolute embarrassment if she was spotted sitting alone in a local cyber cafe taking down notes? Take a wild guess!

Pak-Millennium Conference 1999 so paki`s are also getting into the millinial action. maybe we should have dressed Karachi up like jerusalam and have a big parade, its too bad that disney beat us to it. perhaps next time.

heres the latest from karachi

www.dawn.com

10/7/99

Bomb Blast Kills one, injures 17 in Karachi

Updated at 19:45 PST (14:45 GMT)

KARACHI, Oct 7: One person was killed and at least 17 injured today when an explosive device went off in a bus, police said. A senior police officer told Reuters that the device went off just after the bus had crossed a bridge in the southern part of Karachi.

``The bomb disposal squad has arrived and will determine what caused the blast,`` said Farooq Jamali, a Deputy Superintendent Police. Police said it was too early to say if the blast was linked to the recent wave of sectarian violence in the country. (Reuters)

Senior TV Official Killed in Sectarian unrest

Updated at 13:25 PST (08:25 GMT)

ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: A senior official from Pakistan`s Television (PTV) was shot dead today following the death of three doctors overnight in the latest wave of sectarian violence, police said. Two motorcyclists in the nearby city of Rawalpindi attacked Aun Mohammad Rizvi, a Shiite Muslim and controller of programmes at the PTV headquarters in Islamabad, police said.

The unidentified attackers ambushed him near his home and fled, police sources said, suspecting the attack was religiously motivated. The killings raised the death toll in Pakistan sectarian unrest since last Friday to 36, majority of them Muslims from the Shiite community. Shiite political party, Tehrik-i-Jafria Pakistan (TJP), has blamed the Sunni extremist group Sipah Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) for the killing of Shiite Muslims. The SSP has denied involvement. (AFP)

--------

3 doctors among 6 killed in Karachi

By Arman Sabir

KARACHI, Oct 6: At least six people, including three doctors, were shot dead in Karachi on Wednesday. In what appeared to be a sectarian-motivated killing, Dr Aley Hasan, 85, and his son Dr Mohtashim, 40, were shot at and wounded by unidentified attackers outside their home in Block 7 of Gulistan-i-Jauhar

They were rushed to Nadeem Medical Centre in Gulshan-i-Iqbal where they died.

A senior police official also said a sectarian motive behind the killing could not be ruled out.

In another incident, 62-year-old Dr Nisar Ahmed, a Jamaat-i- Islami member, was shot dead by unknown assailants in Gulshan-i- Iqbal.

According to initial reports, the body of Dr Nisar Ahmed was found in his car that was parked near the Gulshan Chowrangi. He had suffered a bullet wound in his temple and died on the spot. Owner of the Nisar Medical Centre in Block-1 in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, he was returning to his home in Block-6 when attacked.

The body was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for an autopsy.

ENCOUNTER: Two young men were gunned down by the police in an alleged encounter in Defence on Wednesday.

Identifying the deceased as Ahmed Ali and Zia and describing them as bandits, the police said these two people, who were equipped with automatic weapons, had looted three contractors of Rs10,000 at an under-construction bungalow in Darakhshan area.

One of the victim contractors, Abdul Hameed, chased the bandits on his motorcycle soon after they had fled the scene.

He also informed a police mobile van, which was on patrol in the area, about the bandits. The police finally surrounded the bandits near Rahat Milk Corner, Phase-II Extension in the Defence Housing Authority, according to the police.

The police also claimed that the alleged bandits opened fire on them, and they returned the fire wounding the suspects.

The police recovered the looted cash, a stolen motorcycle and illegal weapons from the possession of the suspects and shifted them to a hospital where they succumbed to their injuries.

The police claimed that the suspects were killed in an encounter. However, neither any policeman suffered injuries nor the police van was damaged in the encounter as claimed by the police.

Witnesses said the police shot at two young men who suffered bullet wounds. They remained writhing in agony and the police delayed their shifting to the hospital, they added.

MURDER: A young man was shot dead and his friend wounded in an armed attack in Baldia Town on Wednesday.

Reports said five men armed with automatic weapons attacked Malik Sohail, aged 25, near his Rasheedabad residence. Sohail suffered bullet wounds. Dildar Khan, aged 40, a friend of Sohail, who was standing beside him, also came under attack and died on the spot. The assailants fled leaving them in a pool of blood. They were riding in a car.

The dead and injured were rushed to a hospital. The hospital sources said Sohails condition was serious.

Malik Mushtaq, Sohails father, has registered an FIR at Baldia Town police station. He has named attackers in the FIR. The police, however, kept the identity of those people secret.

The police said Sohail was the target of the assailants, but Dildar accidentally came under attack. Sohail is a Suzuki pickup driver. Dildar worked as a watchman at a factory, the police said

The police said they had started investigations and mounted a search for the alleged killers.

The deputy commissioner West has issued a press note on the incident.

Of Boylove and Boylovers first of all i want to make clear that i have gotten over what happened to me a long time ago, because it was never repeated and that man was never seen around my neighborhood after i told my parents what happened.

you wrote: re 134

[Maybe it`s because I have lived my life in lower-class neighbourhoods that I have reason to believe that Karachiiites (or the lower and middle-class ones, anyway), when it comes down to it, DON`T deny their sexuality and that of others...Maybe. Or maybe it`s because God made kids from Defence and Clifton different from those in Saddar and Korangi. I`ve have many friends (from the latter areas) who can relate how they were sexually touched by older neighbours, and boarding school wardens. Fact is, they are not any more harmed- certainly do not feel any more scarred - than by other, non-sexual abuse. Some even admit to enjoying the encounters. But then, those are kids from the other side of the bridge.]

well, i lived in Federal B. Area at that time. so there goes your assumption that kids from lower or middle classes dont mind getting molested.

i will rephrase my earlier reply very simply. in terms of consent laws, i started talking about the fact that there is a lot of hesitance to talk about childrens sexuality. children, especially children who are deemed sexually, or genderwise ``abnormal`` remain very vulnerable to dominant cultures assumptions about normalcy. this in despite of all the gains of the queer movement in the west.

i hinted that there definitely should be more flexibilty in evaluating consent laws, and young people`s rights over there own bodies. the boundary between mature self and protected subject should be re-evaluated, to secure more rights for young people who are otherwise forced into mental institutions, just because they like to act or dress like they are not ``suppose`` to. here i thought you brought up a good point.

however this does not mean that a 4 year old should be left to have sex (or more like be molested) by a 23 year old with a cherub fetish. you might cry outrage at this proposterous scenario, or that i am misconstruing what you are saying, that you are talking about 12 or 14 yr olds not 4 year olds. but by this distinction (if you choose to make one) you are drawing a boundary of what is acceptable. as subjective or relative as we like to be there is always a boundary drawn, if you want to be a college student than you can say that its all about the `discourse` or knowledge-power thing but in the end we all make crude and essenstial borderlines.

what scares me about your attitude about intergenerational love in Pakistan, is that a great majority of the children in Pakistan have little or no rights or protections against extreme kinds of exploitation. And there are people like you who believe that these kids dont mind being molested or touched.

one can only give consent as long as one feels that s/he has the right over her/his body, or that person understands what s/he is giving acceptance or approval to. some 12 years olds might be capable of this but i suspect most are not, esp when the situation involves a more mature and manipulative adult like you.

also: re 144

[Mubbashir`s contention about boys being in soul-mate substitutes for women is one that conservatives have traditionally used against the gay community that cite history. However, even in Plato`s scheme, WHERE WOMEN ARE TO BE RECOGNIZED AS INTELLECTUAL EQUALS, man-boy relationships have a special place. Read R.H Crossman`s Plato Today. Cossman is deemed a pre-eminent Platonist.]

i did not infer such a thing, i think your deluded self-rightousnous is in full swing and it is getting in the way of you fully reading people`s replies. i did not say that boys were looked as replacements for women but instead that they were thought to be the ideal love object choice because only they were thought to be capable of ascertaining honor. As far as Plato`s feminist credentials, how many of his discourses involved women.

Love in the Time of Kargil Congratulations:

i first heard about your marriage during the summer time when I was talking to a mutual friend of ours (J.Syed of NYC) about my bad luck in desi relationships and the difficulties of finding a partner who is smart, progressive and self-assured. He told me about your marriage and about the many different possibilities of finding other progressive people in the S.A. community. Hopefully, I can get my loved ones to a point where they will be more tolerant of perceived differences and judge people for who they are...

A footnote about the ties that irrevocably bind Indians and Pakistanis together and how easily these connections are overlooked in favor of sectarianism. A very close friend of mine (who comes from a Ahmedi family from Pakistan) recently played a Punjabi folk tape for her grandmother. The tape was recorded on the Indian side of the Punjab border and it featured mostly Hindu and Sikh village folk singers. Her nani started crying when she heard the epic stories of love and loss, Heer -Ranjha, Jugnu-Jugnee. she wept for the old times when people use to gather together to listen to folksingers tell familiar stories of love, loss and moral lessons in her village. The stories were the same even though the songs were accented with different Punjabi dialects.

The partition times unleashed a wave of violence in Dilmial and forced most non-muslim people of the village to leave for India. This happened despite the centuries of harmonious coexistence. Today it is the local Ahmedi population that is under attack. There have been several anti-Ahmedi riots in the village and now there are threats to take over the only standing Ahmedi Mosque. Most of these people have lived together all their lives, but still fail to overcome the vitriol of sectarian prejudice and hate that is preached by maulvis, religious parties and other talibanesque elements. Centuries of intermarriages have not helped either. The only solution to these problems is precisely the very thing that is so lacking in the subcontinent; i.e. humanistic respect for all. Pakistan`s problems are a good example of how a country can be so quickly devastated by just a handful of people looking to exploit differences for political advantage. India has been lucky so far, but then again look at the hindutva ruling party.

the personal is political after all…

best wishes you two.

Of Boylove and Boylovers walk away from Chowk for a week and you miss a fine hungama. my you have created some controversy. Congrats on the coveted hundred replies club, even though half of the replies are pbaly yours.

here are a few things to thin k about…

People who think seriously about these topics acknowledge that sexuality, gender identity and sex identity are not fixed entities. Instead, they range in a continuum of different desires, preferences, subjectivities etc. So the more liberally educated bunch likes to believe that they have a more fluid idea of sexuality, or that they look at these topics from a far more rational descriptive approach rather than taking a more arbitrary normative stance on such issues. However, as you demonstrate in your article, when it comes down to it there is always a foundational line that is (re-)drawn to separate the acceptable from the unacceptable, newer parameters for deviancy.

In this sense there is still a big a taboo against dealing with children’s sexuality. I am not talking about pederasty or your chosen terms like intergenerational love (more on that later). But the fact that anyone below the given age of consent is held by the state as a minor. Therefore that person is not regarded by the State to have full rights over his/her body. Of course this does not stop young people from experimenting with their bodies or engaging in sexual acts. But it does leave out a whole range formal (legal)/ informal (social) ways of dealing with such behavior. In most cases consentual experimentation is ignored as long as kids obey rules of gender identity. Gender transitive children and adolescents wind up in psychiatric treatment, or other forms of disciplining. In this sense queer kids still lack the same protections that have been obtained by the adult LBGT community. The justification for the different treatment of young people appears to be based on the supposition that between adulthood and childhood there lies a corresponding ideal boundary between mature self knowledge and a still forming identity that makes children ‘legitimate’ subjects to the disciplining powers of the school, psychiatrists office and the courts. This division between rights based liberalism is justified in the writings of classic Liberal theorists like Mill and Hegel who argued that the “common good” for society can only be served when those who are unfit to rule for themselves are ruled by those who are more adept, and civil. Historically this assumptions has been used to justify such egregious practices of colonial conquests, sterilization of minority women, and in general to impose the dominant culture’s assumptions of “appropriate” on others. In this sense I commend you for highlighting some of the inconsistencies that come with rhetoric of mainstreaming.

However, I cant help but to cringe at the fact that you are so carelessly romanticizing and idealizing “intergenerational love” in a country rife with sexual violence. Where there is so much denial of sexuality that the whole country seems ready to explode with frustration. How do you go about assessing consent for intergenerational love when there is so little information available to kids about sex, puberty, body changes. Maybe I cringe because I was violated by a tutor when I was eight years old, or how some of my closest friends can recall how they were susceptible to sexual advances by their Quran teachers, tutors, acquaintances, etc. I have tried to be reasonable in my response and not to launch into a long emotional diatribe, but I think you are presenting an overly rosy and inaccurate picture of what you call an ancient and universal desire for boys. As far as the romance and eros of pedagogical relations; i.e. the Symposium, Plato and the Greeks. You more than anyone else on this forum should understand that sexual identities are constituted by sets of social practices/conventions/discourses that are contingent to different times. To equivocate your behavior with that of the Turks or the Greeks is inaccurate. The Greeks believed that true love could only be obtained in a pedagogical relationship with young men because the prevailing idea at the time was that women were incapable of rational thought, or excellence. Hence, true partnership companionship could only be obtained by men. This belief was coalesced into pedagogical relations; proto-Foucauldian example of codifying an idea into a institutional practice. This brand of love was only open for an elite class. I seriously do hope that you take more responsibility in dealing with your students that you do in your writing.

The Bird of Crimson and Gold this was such a pleasure to read.

thank you

Honour! quick comment- one thing that struck me after reading many of the replies was how easy it is for people to dichotomize complex issues...in order to render a picture with a clear notion of the good and bad. this is in reference to how in some responses the horrendous practice of honour killings is being seen as another example of some kind of inherited sadistic nature of a large population Pakistani men.

It is easy to come to such a conclusion after hearing and reading about such horrific crimes, but Dis-`Honour Killings` are a symptom of extremely patriarchal idealogy that is as much perpetuated and practiced by men as much as it is by women. such an idealogy is based on strict rules of sharam, hayya and proper obedience to stricture of gender roles. traditionally it has been the mother`s role to implant these `traditional` values and father`s (or brothers) role to police against any noncompliance. hence women are equally involved in continuation of such practices.

such acts of brutality have to be understood in their own context if we are to have any success in rooting out such practices. high handed activism, preachiness fails to understand the idealogical underpinnings, hence disabling us from taking a less threatening that can be more fruitfull in refuting some of these practices in their own terms.

simple victimization of women and demonization of men fails to see the full spectrum of what happens here, like i stated b4 in some other article that we cant forget that Samia`s mother was also a active participant in her murder. throughout the struggle for human rights for women there has been opposition from other women who identify themselves with certain practices that are patriarchal or disadvantagous to womens rights; in Africa some of biggest advocates of FGM -female genital mutilation- are elder women who see such a practice as a integral part of their culture, and there are many other historical examples like the upper class society women of Boston who organized against women`s suffrage movement thinking of it as a threat to the sanctity of women`s position in society.



i am also attaching a very informative article that i got from the bol listserv.



Honour killings: code of dishonour

By Nafisa Shah

In Larkana, in the village of Gul Mohammad Brohi, a man Suleiman and a

woman Zarina had been killed in the month of August. Investigating the

honour killing issue, we went to the village head, Gul Mohammad Brohi,

who would not openly speak of the incident but after covering up the

killings he directed us to the families involved. We went to Zarina`s

family and spoke to them about the cause of the two killings.

``They saw them, and they killed

them,`` said Zarina`s mother whose sons Ali

Hasan, and others had killed

their sister and the alleged paramour. Zarina`s

husband was in Dubai. I asked

the

mother whether she felt grief and loss

over her daughter`s death who

had

been killed by her own sons to which

she answered: Ama Ghairat mein dukh kon thindo ahai,

with a stone-faced expression, a smile on her

lips. ``There is no grief in ghairat. It was haq, a

right. And so it was right to kill. They saw them

together, they killed them. Otherwise, who would do

this to one`s own flesh and blood.``

Three of her sons were in the lock-up and she was

terribly concerned about them. In fact, she along

with the other women in the family kept pointing at

the women and the children who were affected by

the sons` arrest. ``Tell them to release them. See

how

the poor children are suffering. Our riwaj is only

ghairat. We have no television and no radio.`` They

kept saying when asked if they would give their

views on film.

Similar language was expressed in a different

village

we went to in the tribal area of Warah. In the

village of the Gurget, sub-caste of Chandios,

18-year-old Aminat has been killed along with Azizullah

who was a year or two older, just a few days ago on

the 25th of September. Seeing us as possible

mediators, Aminat`s mother-in-law arrived

theatrically beating her chest, proudly showing us the spot

of death where Aminat had been hacked to death by

her

three sons and Aminat`s brothers-in-law:

``Look, it was here she was killed. We were all here.

We saw them together all the time. Now I saw

him scaling the wall, now I saw him entering the

house, where-ever I looked I saw him. I have been

robbed, my honour has been robbed, I have been

violated. This was a zulm against me. So I axed

her,`` says the mother-in-law of Aminat.

In the lock-up, Saifal who had been hit by an axe

while he killed Aminat`s paramour Azizullah also

expressed the logic of his killing in a similar

manner. ``Yes, I did it, father said he saw them, and I did it

for ghairat. It was my right.``

We heard different stories from the other side.

Pledges that Aminat was innocent, and that Zarina was

innocent. But the dialogue was on the assumption

that

had they been guilty of bringing dishonour, then

this killing would be justified. Now all the accused

are being released in the case of Aminat and

Azizullah by the police who got their money, and the

accused their honour.

These stories have now become a daily fare in the

local media. However, little is known about the

honour ethos which provides the rationale and the

context for such killings. Ghairat makes men kill

and die. Thousands of vendettas, killings, start

with

the issue of honour. Tribal feuds, revenge,

migrations, exile, are spurred by the fights for

honour. Tribes fight for decades over women, goats,

and land, all of which symbolize their honour. But

honour pervades the state too, as it explodes

nuclear bombs, wreaks destruction, spends massively

on stockpiling arms for it is a matter of honour

to be ahead of the enemy. And increasingly, even in

the urban areas seemingly following the rule of

law, the honour value of the tribal system is used

and abused to renew enemies, settle scores, and

slaughtering and battering of women continues under

this pretext.

Honour has been codified in the psyche that guides

the tribal societies. The Baloch and the Pushtoons

have honour codes, enforced since centuries. But

these honour values comprising other aspects

formed a holistic world-view. The present times,

however, have brought in distortions in the value

system as the market plays an extremely important

role in redefining honour. The code called riwaj,

mayar, or Pukhtoonwali is internalized by every part

of the tribal society unlike the state law - the

constitution - which very few of us know. This is an

oral constitution whose enforcers are the people

themselves. Every person would kill and die to

uphold

his own honour and that of his tribe.

So, what exactly is the honour code? Some of its

features to quote an officer who compiled the Sibi

Gazette, while writing on the Baloch are: to avenge

blood; to fight to death for a person who has

taken refuge with him. The refugee is always

maintained by his protector, so long as he remained

under the latter`s roof. An adulterer was, however,

generally refused protection; to defend to the last

the property entrusted to him; to be hospitable and

to provide for the safety of the person; to pardon

an offence on the intercession of a woman of the

offender`s family, a Syed or a mullah, an exception in

the case of adultery and murder; to refrain from

killing a man who had entered the shrine of a pir so

long as he remained within its precincts; and also a

man who, whilst fighting, put down his arms; to

cease fighting when a mullah, a Syed or a woman

bearing the Koran on his or her head intervened; to

punish an adulterer with death. Among the Pukhtoons

it is Pukhtoonwali whose characteristics are

much the same as above. They are based on four

concepts, malmastiya, obligation to show

hospitality, badal, revenge, nanawatay, asylum, nang

honour which is the thread that weaves them.

In the early twentieth century, people of the tribal

areas still remember Ajab Khan who kidnapped a

little white mem, daughter of a British officer he

was in a dispute with. When Ajab Khan`s brother

tried to molest the girl in their custody, Ajab Khan

shot his brother and killed him for he had violated

the basic tenet of the code, to provide for safety

of

the person in custody. But he still demanded his

ransom from the officer. Ajab Khan was a tribal

hero,

obeying the norms of Pushtoonwali!

Although secularists and liberals dismiss the honour

value system calling it hypocritical, as Sindhi

writer and ex-Sessions Judge Jamal Abro would say,

``This is all lies. What about their honour, when

they bribe the police, lie and cheat,`` honour is a

value which for most tribal societies contains in it a

whole system of life, which is stronger even than

religion for many tenets of the religion are violated in

the process. Stealth, lying, cheating, betrayal, are

justified in the fight for honour. Killing without

establishing the case as in karo kari and for

killings is a norm. Exchange of women as blood money

without considering the will of a woman is a norm as

well.

Now the next question to ask is, where does honour

reside? I have different definitions of honour by

local chiefs and here I will quote just one of them

from a local Larkana headman Sultan Ahmed

Mugheri who says that, ``Ghairat is izzat and this

comes with money and property. And if izzat is

violated - then it is justified to kill and die for

honour.``

Others call it a feeling, which expresses itself

when

it is violated. Honour, therefore, is an abstract

principle but resides in an object of value. A man`s

property, wealth, and all that is linked with these is

the sum total of his honour value. A woman is also

an

object of value and therefore is an integral part

of honour of a man, tribe etc. Therefore, when the

rights of a woman are transferred from her father

to the man she is marrying, the guardians of honour

shift as well. The value attached to a woman is

best illustrated in the custom of bride price (See

box) common in most tribal societies in the world.

Honour is, therefore, a male value derived and

viewed

against the index of a woman`s body. A

woman is first killed by her relatives or her

husband,and the same people would then attempt to kill

her accomplice. One may argue that there is a social

pressure from within that is the driving force for

the act of killing. A man`s ability to protect

honour

is always judged. The triggering point of a man`s

passionate urge to kill would just be a comment he

would hear in the marketplace. This is called a

tano - a Sindhi word for insinuation and insult

mixed

together. It renders him `socially impotent.` The

tano would be very subtle but for any mard (man) it

would be enough for him to declare war on the

culprits. Violence to retrieve this honour may be a

means through which the illusion of wholeness is

reasserted. Although honour is located in material

wealth, the language and expression of honour

reside in the body.

Ghairat and izzat reside in the face, the nose, the

head - not to forget the beard in the male. The

beard is what the Baloch swear by, and use as oath.

``Haibat, son of Bibrak, made an oath before the

Rinds striking his beard thrice with his left hand,``

goes the text on one of the Balochi ballads. ``I swear

on my head and hair and turban,`` is another

recurring

phrase in the songs. Those who do not have

honour have no beards on their faces. ``All men carry

beards on their faces, but those who are no men

wear them below; they display them on their knees

and

heels, and some on the nape of their necks.``

The expression of not being able to show face to

anyone or similarly the nose being cut are both

expressions of `dishonour`.

Ghairat is about holding your head up with pride.

Shame makes you bow because you cannot show

your face to anybody anymore. In fact, honour and

shame are two parallel states, honour is

masculine, shame feminine. Just as men have honour,

women have shame. A woman`s shame

summarizes her public reputation and social position

in much the same manner as honour does for

men. By killing those who threaten honour, there is

a

revival, almost giving a new life. It is the way to

be able to ``hold your head up`` where once you were

bowing in shame. It is assumed that the man

whose honour is damaged is the aggrieved in the

Balochi honour code, and is the man to whom the

woman in question `belongs` - his mother, daughter,

aunt, niece or cousin. The only way the aggrieved

can whiten his honour is to kill - and publicly -

the

guilty woman and then go chase to get the man `she

lured`. Men would indeed first proclaim a woman kari

and then go for the kill. It must be both

announced and acted publicly for it is a

demonstration by the man of his ability and power to

safeguard his honour, and in this way to resurrect

it. In Kashmore, I was told about a man who

dragged a man he accused of being an adulterer into

the marketplace and slaughtered him there, in full

view of the crowd.

Beghairat is an abusive term and men use it for

those

men who do not kill, or rebuke their wives and

daughters. When I was in the desert of Khirthar in

the western frontiers of Sindh, I asked our host

Imam Bux Rind whether they, like Baloch in other

areas, had customary honour killings as punishment

for adultery. Imam Bux answered reflectively: ``We

are

a beigharat (dishonourable) people. That is

why we do not kill our women.`` But he told me how

three women had been axed in 24 hours on the

charge of siyahkari (adultery). This had happened in

Shoran where he had gone to see his chief,Yar

Mohammad Rind. One woman was axed the evening he

arrived, one that morning and one on the

previous night.

The battle for honour dissolves moral distinctions

between truth and lies, good and bad, the true and

the false and becomes the end to all values. All

that

may seem wrong, but commitment in the name of

honour is a right and all means are justified.

Killing and violence, therefore, are not crimes, but are

defences against dishonour. Those who kill are

courageous guardians of the ultimate value and those

who get killed are guilty of tarnishing the honour

of

the man, family, tribe and village.

Dishonour may be caused by lies, cheating, betrayal,

theft, killing and concerning honour codes.

Yet, the same means may be justified when they are

used to avenge honour. Adultery killings, too, are

not just sinister, they are based on deceit. In

fact,

deceit, creation of settings to corner the adulterers

shows the commitment to the honour ideal. Women have

been brought back from their hiding on

guarantees and killed, men who may have paid

compensation for their life would be killed ten years

later. Women are caught most of the time unaware, as

they are going about their daily routines. Hence

Khursheed, a Langha woman from Khairpur, was killed

during her sleep, so were Farida and her

young daughter Maujan; Hasina`s sister was killed

when her hands were upholding a load of fodder;

Janat`s aunt was killed when she was making dough,

18-year-old Waziran was watching a play on

television. 13-year-old Sarah was asked to make tea

for her brother who drank it, took a gun, killed

the two boys and came back to kill his sister while

she was chaffing wheat. Many times, situations are

engineered to increase the vulnerability of the one

who is about to be attacked. In Mali`s story, the

zamindar-landlord she was accused to be in an

adulterous relationship with, was invited for a dinner

and while he was eating he was killed. In another

case, the husband was taking his wife to her mother

after a long time, and killed her on the way.

In karo kari, death itself becomes submission and

confession of a crime. Those who get killed or

those who are able to escape are guilty. No one need

see further. Death of a woman by a man for

adultery is enough to shame the family of the woman.

In Kandiaro, the entire Gormani village, where a

young woman and her daughter had been killed by

Punno

Gormani in April 1997, was ashamed to

speak. Punno was in prison and women would wish that

the ``poor thing`` would be set free so that he

could come back and take charge of the children he

had just orphaned. Punno had acquired an image

of the aggrieved. The three persons killed had been

subdued to death for their `perversion.`

And yet the tribal justice system offers no relief

to

deceitful and unjust killings. On the contrary, in the

bid to uphold the honour value system, they must

defend them. Says Mustaq Marfani, a local chief`s

brother, himself a liberal and a leftist: ``Several

years ago, a man killed his old wife so he could fine the

accused and get another wife, my father decided a

case in which it was proven that the man and the

women were wrongfully accused and killed, but there

was community pressure, he was helpless and

could not declare otherwise. I myself once fined a

man accused of being an adulterer three lakhs,

one-and-half lakh for dishonour and one- and-a-half

lakh for the wife the man lost by killing her as

kari.``

So in the perspective of honour value system, karo

kari is legitimate action. And the victims are not

Aminat or Zarina or Azizullah or Suleiman. The

victims are the killers themselves, Saifal or whoever it

may be. Since they had been dishonoured they are

victims and they must avenge for their blackened

honour, otherwise their social prestige is at stake.

And it is here that the great contradiction lies. For

what we may think is a murder or a crime against the

state, in the honour value system isn`t a crime at

all. On the contrary, it is an act of punishing

those

who violate the honour code. So there are two

parallel world-views here. We have the police on the

one hand given the task to enforce the state`s

rule of law which says that this killing is, in

fact,

a murder and a crime against the state, and we have

the tribal mediators and Syeds acting as an

interface

between the tribe and the state upholding the

honour code and saying that they killed the accused

people, and so avenged for his lost honour.

More than just a punitive redressal of honour, karo

kari is a ritual that is carried unto death. But in

doing so it does not lose the ceremonial aspects of

a

ritual. Tribes, which do not kill for adultery,

would impose death in ritual and ceremony. Upper

Sindh Sindhi tribes like the Mehars of Larkana

and Ghotki just banish the women to faraway lands.

This could be a psychological death of the

woman. A woman sees death and a community from now

on

may consider her as dead. The

community may never hear again of the woman who is

seldom if ever allowed to come and visit her

folk back home. But in a market-driven world,

interestingly, the market can determine if the honour is

damaged or not. The ideal value of honour is

distorted and used selectively and politically. The

marketplace make men reverse their statements. In

Ghotki, I was narrated an incident of a woman

who was attacked by her brother-in-law, even though

the husband vouched for her purity. The

husband stood by her and took the injured lady all

the way to Karachi so that she might recover from

the injuries. But when it was sure that she would be

paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of her

life, he revised his earlier statement. He now said

she was, in fact, a kari and his honour had been

damaged and he acceded to the settlement and took

another wife from the man they accused with her

and who they had let go alive.

Increasingly honour can be redressed by taking money

even from the woman accused of being a kari.

In Tangwani area, in Jacobabad, the woman charged

with adultery would be banished outside and a

huge amount of money would be charged from the man

co-accused. The relation between the market

and the killings can be gauged from an interesting

amendment in the tribal justice by the Mahar tribe.

Ali Gohar Mahar, responsible for his tribe, says

that

they have made our own qanoon in which we

have reduced the fine for the karo to 30,000, so

that

there is little incentive for men to accuse their

wives, banish them, and get a fine in damages for

that.

Women are however, resisting this selective use of

the honour value. Their assertion of their rights is

evident in an increasing number of elopement cases,

which is both a resistance to their use as a

commodity to be exchanged in kind or cash, and on

the

other hand an exercise of their right under the

Muslim Personal Laws to marry of their own choice.

Although many Sardars and chiefs have

abolished the trend of khoon baha, some like Khadim

Hussain Jatoi, the blind chief of Jatois and

Shars, says that, ``If we don`t do that there is no

settlement, and we want to do sulh (make peace), for

that we must give women.``

Elopement seems to be an increasing trend in our

culture. Salma, Riffat and Sehjan, who are

survivors as those who act against the honour

system,

become symbols of this struggle, because by

eloping with men they wished to marry they threaten

the honour code that regulates this society and at

the same time, assert their right under the personal

law, to marry of their own choice. Most women in

shelter homes are there because of the kidnapping

cases filed by their parents when they chose to

marry of their own choice. Despite them getting

relief from the courts, the court of the honour system

did not forgive them. Hasina, who I had met in

Sukkur

Darulaman years ago, had said about her

predicament: ``I am free to go with my husband, but

what about the customs which never forgive.``

The response to the elopement is again determined by

the honour value, even if the act of subversion

is outside the domain of the tribe. Says Gul Khan

Afridi, an intellectual from the FATA area

rationalizing such behaviour: ``Honour is relative

and

comparative. If there is no society this very same

honour has no value. Tribal laws and usages have no

geographical boundaries, we still refer most

matters to the jirga and not to the courts. In the

city of Karachi, if there were no countrymen of our

tribe, maybe it would be easy for me to.``

While Riffat and Ahsan, who was injured in the

attempt to restore honour are stashed away in a

corner, as they wait for asylum, their violation of

honour is a crime that has still not been forgiven by

Riffat`s tribespeople. They have not been able to

restore their honour since the jirga had announced

death of both. We went to the community in Hussain

D`Silva colony, a couple of weeks back, where

we were told: ``Even if it takes hundred years, we

will take revenge from the children`s children,

whether they are in Germany or somewhere else,`` the

neighbours say. While the community, bowing

in shame, waits to kill, victims of their own

custom,

Riffat`s mother, who we also visits in her house on

the hilltop, weeps remembering a daughter who was

`stolen` from them.

The Afridis had come to Karachi decades ago, and the

community is actively involved in the civil

society issues, especially the trade unions when it

was only a little town. But the honour system is an

integral part of their state of being. Riffat`s

mother and sister say that the nikah is not valid because she

was betrothed to someone before. These values

ironically are real and persist even in the most liberal

of people. Says Gul Khan Afridi, ``As a human being I

will not condone killing of any life. But in a

society values are relative. Even the human rights

charter speaks of the dignity of man, people

interpret in their way, dignity and honour is the

same. We consider a woman, mother, wife as our

honour and if they dishonour us, the only way to

restore this honour is to kill, and by this method, it is

automatically restored. And such codes exist in

other

societies as well. In the case of Monica

(Lewinsky) and Clinton, the relationship was not

acceptable to the American public and people say

that Diana and Al Fayed were also killed because of

their relationship.``

The assertion of honour value system in the cities,

which ironically come under the rule of law and the

state, is seen by human rights activists as a

failure

of state institutions to redress issues. Says Moazzam

Ali: ``the jirga system is being used increasingly

because of the sorry state of the courts and judiciary.``

Until the issue of killing and revenge is not seen

in

the context of the overall honour system, attempts

at using our moral codes to condemn such practices

would be a lost cry. For those who kill, their

values give them a basis for it. And in the absence

of the strong,fair and neutral role of the state, these

values can only reassert themselves with a new

vigour, often sickened by poverty and greed.

(Modified from the author`s research paper on the Balochi Honour

System,

Green College, Oxford.)

19 Nov 98 Dawn, Pakistan

____________________________________________________________________

Health and Human Rights Monitor for South Asia

Honour! quick comment- one thing that struck me after reading many of the replies was how easy it is for people to dichotomize complex issues...in order to render a picture with a clear notion of the good and bad. this is in reference to how in some responses the horrendous practice of honour killings is being seen as another example of some kind of inherited sadistic nature of a large population Pakistani men.

It is easy to come to such a conclusion after hearing and reading about such horrific crimes, but Dis-`Honour Killings` are a symptom of extremely patriarchal idealogy that is as much perpetuated and practiced by men as much as it is by women. such an idealogy is based on strict rules of sharam, hayya and proper obedience to stricture of gender roles. traditionally it has been the mother`s role to implant these `traditional` values and father`s (or brothers) role to police against any noncompliance. hence women are equally involved in continuation of such practices.

such acts of brutality have to be understood in their own context if we are to have any success in rooting out such practices. high handed activism, preachiness fails to understand the idealogical underpinnings, hence disabling us from taking a less threatening that can be more fruitfull in refuting some of these practices in their own terms.

simple victimization of women and demonization of men fails to see the full spectrum of what happens here, like i stated b4 in some other article that we cant forget that Samia`s mother was also a active participant in her murder. throughout the struggle for human rights for women there has been opposition from other women who identify themselves with certain practices that are patriarchal or disadvantagous to womens rights; in Africa some of biggest advocates of FGM -female genital mutilation- are elder women who see such a practice as a integral part of their culture, and there are many other historical examples like the upper class society women of Boston who organized against women`s suffrage movement thinking of it as a threat to the sanctity of women`s position in society.



i am also attaching a very informative article that i got from the bol listserv.



Honour killings: code of dishonour

By Nafisa Shah

In Larkana, in the village of Gul Mohammad Brohi, a man Suleiman and a

woman Zarina had been killed in the month of August. Investigating the

honour killing issue, we went to the village head, Gul Mohammad Brohi,

who would not openly speak of the incident but after covering up the

killings he directed us to the families involved. We went to Zarina`s

family and spoke to them about the cause of the two killings.

``They saw them, and they killed

them,`` said Zarina`s mother whose sons Ali

Hasan, and others had killed

their sister and the alleged paramour. Zarina`s

husband was in Dubai. I asked

the

mother whether she felt grief and loss

over her daughter`s death who

had

been killed by her own sons to which

she answered: Ama Ghairat mein dukh kon thindo ahai,

with a stone-faced expression, a smile on her

lips. ``There is no grief in ghairat. It was haq, a

right. And so it was right to kill. They saw them

together, they killed them. Otherwise, who would do

this to one`s own flesh and blood.``

Three of her sons were in the lock-up and she was

terribly concerned about them. In fact, she along

with the other women in the family kept pointing at

the women and the children who were affected by

the sons` arrest. ``Tell them to release them. See

how

the poor children are suffering. Our riwaj is only

ghairat. We have no television and no radio.`` They

kept saying when asked if they would give their

views on film.

Similar language was expressed in a different

village

we went to in the tribal area of Warah. In the

village of the Gurget, sub-caste of Chandios,

18-year-old Aminat has been killed along with Azizullah

who was a year or two older, just a few days ago on

the 25th of September. Seeing us as possible

mediators, Aminat`s mother-in-law arrived

theatrically beating her chest, proudly showing us the spot

of death where Aminat had been hacked to death by

her

three sons and Aminat`s brothers-in-law:

``Look, it was here she was killed. We were all here.

We saw them together all the time. Now I saw

him scaling the wall, now I saw him entering the

house, where-ever I looked I saw him. I have been

robbed, my honour has been robbed, I have been

violated. This was a zulm against me. So I axed

her,`` says the mother-in-law of Aminat.

In the lock-up, Saifal who had been hit by an axe

while he killed Aminat`s paramour Azizullah also

expressed the logic of his killing in a similar

manner. ``Yes, I did it, father said he saw them, and I did it

for ghairat. It was my right.``

We heard different stories from the other side.

Pledges that Aminat was innocent, and that Zarina was

innocent. But the dialogue was on the assumption

that

had they been guilty of bringing dishonour, then

this killing would be justified. Now all the accused

are being released in the case of Aminat and

Azizullah by the police who got their money, and the

accused their honour.

These stories have now become a daily fare in the

local media. However, little is known about the

honour ethos which provides the rationale and the

context for such killings. Ghairat makes men kill

and die. Thousands of vendettas, killings, start

with

the issue of honour. Tribal feuds, revenge,

migrations, exile, are spurred by the fights for

honour. Tribes fight for decades over women, goats,

and land, all of which symbolize their honour. But

honour pervades the state too, as it explodes

nuclear bombs, wreaks destruction, spends massively

on stockpiling arms for it is a matter of honour

to be ahead of the enemy. And increasingly, even in

the urban areas seemingly following the rule of

law, the honour value of the tribal system is used

and abused to renew enemies, settle scores, and

slaughtering and battering of women continues under

this pretext.

Honour has been codified in the psyche that guides

the tribal societies. The Baloch and the Pushtoons

have honour codes, enforced since centuries. But

these honour values comprising other aspects

formed a holistic world-view. The present times,

however, have brought in distortions in the value

system as the market plays an extremely important

role in redefining honour. The code called riwaj,

mayar, or Pukhtoonwali is internalized by every part

of the tribal society unlike the state law - the

constitution - which very few of us know. This is an

oral constitution whose enforcers are the people

themselves. Every person would kill and die to

uphold

his own honour and that of his tribe.

So, what exactly is the honour code? Some of its

features to quote an officer who compiled the Sibi

Gazette, while writing on the Baloch are: to avenge

blood; to fight to death for a person who has

taken refuge with him. The refugee is always

maintained by his protector, so long as he remained

under the latter`s roof. An adulterer was, however,

generally refused protection; to defend to the last

the property entrusted to him; to be hospitable and

to provide for the safety of the person; to pardon

an offence on the intercession of a woman of the

offender`s family, a Syed or a mullah, an exception in

the case of adultery and murder; to refrain from

killing a man who had entered the shrine of a pir so

long as he remained within its precincts; and also a

man who, whilst fighting, put down his arms; to

cease fighting when a mullah, a Syed or a woman

bearing the Koran on his or her head intervened; to

punish an adulterer with death. Among the Pukhtoons

it is Pukhtoonwali whose characteristics are

much the same as above. They are based on four

concepts, malmastiya, obligation to show

hospitality, badal, revenge, nanawatay, asylum, nang

honour which is the thread that weaves them.

In the early twentieth century, people of the tribal

areas still remember Ajab Khan who kidnapped a

little white mem, daughter of a British officer he

was in a dispute with. When Ajab Khan`s brother

tried to molest the girl in their custody, Ajab Khan

shot his brother and killed him for he had violated

the basic tenet of the code, to provide for safety

of

the person in custody. But he still demanded his

ransom from the officer. Ajab Khan was a tribal

hero,

obeying the norms of Pushtoonwali!

Although secularists and liberals dismiss the honour

value system calling it hypocritical, as Sindhi

writer and ex-Sessions Judge Jamal Abro would say,

``This is all lies. What about their honour, when

they bribe the police, lie and cheat,`` honour is a

value which for most tribal societies contains in it a

whole system of life, which is stronger even than

religion for many tenets of the religion are violated in

the process. Stealth, lying, cheating, betrayal, are

justified in the fight for honour. Killing without

establishing the case as in karo kari and for

killings is a norm. Exchange of women as blood money

without considering the will of a woman is a norm as

well.

Now the next question to ask is, where does honour

reside? I have different definitions of honour by

local chiefs and here I will quote just one of them

from a local Larkana headman Sultan Ahmed

Mugheri who says that, ``Ghairat is izzat and this

comes with money and property. And if izzat is

violated - then it is justified to kill and die for

honour.``

Others call it a feeling, which expresses itself

when

it is violated. Honour, therefore, is an abstract

principle but resides in an object of value. A man`s

property, wealth, and all that is linked with these is

the sum total of his honour value. A woman is also

an

object of value and therefore is an integral part

of honour of a man, tribe etc. Therefore, when the

rights of a woman are transferred from her father

to the man she is marrying, the guardians of honour

shift as well. The value attached to a woman is

best illustrated in the custom of bride price (See

box) common in most tribal societies in the world.

Honour is, therefore, a male value derived and

viewed

against the index of a woman`s body. A

woman is first killed by her relatives or her

husband,and the same people would then attempt to kill

her accomplice. One may argue that there is a social

pressure from within that is the driving force for

the act of killing. A man`s ability to protect

honour

is always judged. The triggering point of a man`s

passionate urge to kill would just be a comment he

would hear in the marketplace. This is called a

tano - a Sindhi word for insinuation and insult

mixed

together. It renders him `socially impotent.` The

tano would be very subtle but for any mard (man) it

would be enough for him to declare war on the

culprits. Violence to retrieve this honour may be a

means through which the illusion of wholeness is

reasserted. Although honour is located in material

wealth, the language and expression of honour

reside in the body.

Ghairat and izzat reside in the face, the nose, the

head - not to forget the beard in the male. The

beard is what the Baloch swear by, and use as oath.

``Haibat, son of Bibrak, made an oath before the

Rinds striking his beard thrice with his left hand,``

goes the text on one of the Balochi ballads. ``I swear

on my head and hair and turban,`` is another

recurring

phrase in the songs. Those who do not have

honour have no beards on their faces. ``All men carry

beards on their faces, but those who are no men

wear them below; they display them on their knees

and

heels, and some on the nape of their necks.``

The expression of not being able to show face to

anyone or similarly the nose being cut are both

expressions of `dishonour`.

Ghairat is about holding your head up with pride.

Shame makes you bow because you cannot show

your face to anybody anymore. In fact, honour and

shame are two parallel states, honour is

masculine, shame feminine. Just as men have honour,

women have shame. A woman`s shame

summarizes her public reputation and social position

in much the same manner as honour does for

men. By killing those who threaten honour, there is

a

revival, almost giving a new life. It is the way to

be able to ``hold your head up`` where once you were

bowing in shame. It is assumed that the man

whose honour is damaged is the aggrieved in the

Balochi honour code, and is the man to whom the

woman in question `belongs` - his mother, daughter,

aunt, niece or cousin. The only way the aggrieved

can whiten his honour is to kill - and publicly -

the

guilty woman and then go chase to get the man `she

lured`. Men would indeed first proclaim a woman kari

and then go for the kill. It must be both

announced and acted publicly for it is a

demonstration by the man of his ability and power to

safeguard his honour, and in this way to resurrect

it. In Kashmore, I was told about a man who

dragged a man he accused of being an adulterer into

the marketplace and slaughtered him there, in full

view of the crowd.

Beghairat is an abusive term and men use it for

those

men who do not kill, or rebuke their wives and

daughters. When I was in the desert of Khirthar in

the western frontiers of Sindh, I asked our host

Imam Bux Rind whether they, like Baloch in other

areas, had customary honour killings as punishment

for adultery. Imam Bux answered reflectively: ``We

are

a beigharat (dishonourable) people. That is

why we do not kill our women.`` But he told me how

three women had been axed in 24 hours on the

charge of siyahkari (adultery). This had happened in

Shoran where he had gone to see his chief,Yar

Mohammad Rind. One woman was axed the evening he

arrived, one that morning and one on the

previous night.

The battle for honour dissolves moral distinctions

between truth and lies, good and bad, the true and

the false and becomes the end to all values. All

that

may seem wrong, but commitment in the name of

honour is a right and all means are justified.

Killing and violence, therefore, are not crimes, but are

defences against dishonour. Those who kill are

courageous guardians of the ultimate value and those

who get killed are guilty of tarnishing the honour

of

the man, family, tribe and village.

Dishonour may be caused by lies, cheating, betrayal,

theft, killing and concerning honour codes.

Yet, the same means may be justified when they are

used to avenge honour. Adultery killings, too, are

not just sinister, they are based on deceit. In

fact,

deceit, creation of settings to corner the adulterers

shows the commitment to the honour ideal. Women have

been brought back from their hiding on

guarantees and killed, men who may have paid

compensation for their life would be killed ten years

later. Women are caught most of the time unaware, as

they are going about their daily routines. Hence

Khursheed, a Langha woman from Khairpur, was killed

during her sleep, so were Farida and her

young daughter Maujan; Hasina`s sister was killed

when her hands were upholding a load of fodder;

Janat`s aunt was killed when she was making dough,

18-year-old Waziran was watching a play on

television. 13-year-old Sarah was asked to make tea

for her brother who drank it, took a gun, killed

the two boys and came back to kill his sister while

she was chaffing wheat. Many times, situations are

engineered to increase the vulnerability of the one

who is about to be attacked. In Mali`s story, the

zamindar-landlord she was accused to be in an

adulterous relationship with, was invited for a dinner

and while he was eating he was killed. In another

case, the husband was taking his wife to her mother

after a long time, and killed her on the way.

In karo kari, death itself becomes submission and

confession of a crime. Those who get killed or

those who are able to escape are guilty. No one need

see further. Death of a woman by a man for

adultery is enough to shame the family of the woman.

In Kandiaro, the entire Gormani village, where a

young woman and her daughter had been killed by

Punno

Gormani in April 1997, was ashamed to

speak. Punno was in prison and women would wish that

the ``poor thing`` would be set free so that he

could come back and take charge of the children he

had just orphaned. Punno had acquired an image

of the aggrieved. The three persons killed had been

subdued to death for their `perversion.`

And yet the tribal justice system offers no relief

to

deceitful and unjust killings. On the contrary, in the

bid to uphold the honour value system, they must

defend them. Says Mustaq Marfani, a local chief`s

brother, himself a liberal and a leftist: ``Several

years ago, a man killed his old wife so he could fine the

accused and get another wife, my father decided a

case in which it was proven that the man and the

women were wrongfully accused and killed, but there

was community pressure, he was helpless and

could not declare otherwise. I myself once fined a

man accused of being an adulterer three lakhs,

one-and-half lakh for dishonour and one- and-a-half

lakh for the wife the man lost by killing her as

kari.``

So in the perspective of honour value system, karo

kari is legitimate action. And the victims are not

Aminat or Zarina or Azizullah or Suleiman. The

victims are the killers themselves, Saifal or whoever it

may be. Since they had been dishonoured they are

victims and they must avenge for their blackened

honour, otherwise their social prestige is at stake.

And it is here that the great contradiction lies. For

what we may think is a murder or a crime against the

state, in the honour value system isn`t a crime at

all. On the contrary, it is an act of punishing

those

who violate the honour code. So there are two

parallel world-views here. We have the police on the

one hand given the task to enforce the state`s

rule of law which says that this killing is, in

fact,

a murder and a crime against the state, and we have

the tribal mediators and Syeds acting as an

interface

between the tribe and the state upholding the

honour code and saying that they killed the accused

people, and so avenged for his lost honour.

More than just a punitive redressal of honour, karo

kari is a ritual that is carried unto death. But in

doing so it does not lose the ceremonial aspects of

a

ritual. Tribes, which do not kill for adultery,

would impose death in ritual and ceremony. Upper

Sindh Sindhi tribes like the Mehars of Larkana

and Ghotki just banish the women to faraway lands.

This could be a psychological death of the

woman. A woman sees death and a community from now

on

may consider her as dead. The

community may never hear again of the woman who is

seldom if ever allowed to come and visit her

folk back home. But in a market-driven world,

interestingly, the market can determine if the honour is

damaged or not. The ideal value of honour is

distorted and used selectively and politically. The

marketplace make men reverse their statements. In

Ghotki, I was narrated an incident of a woman

who was attacked by her brother-in-law, even though

the husband vouched for her purity. The

husband stood by her and took the injured lady all

the way to Karachi so that she might recover from

the injuries. But when it was sure that she would be

paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of her

life, he revised his earlier statement. He now said

she was, in fact, a kari and his honour had been

damaged and he acceded to the settlement and took

another wife from the man they accused with her

and who they had let go alive.

Increasingly honour can be redressed by taking money

even from the woman accused of being a kari.

In Tangwani area, in Jacobabad, the woman charged

with adultery would be banished outside and a

huge amount of money would be charged from the man

co-accused. The relation between the market

and the killings can be gauged from an interesting

amendment in the tribal justice by the Mahar tribe.

Ali Gohar Mahar, responsible for his tribe, says

that

they have made our own qanoon in which we

have reduced the fine for the karo to 30,000, so

that

there is little incentive for men to accuse their

wives, banish them, and get a fine in damages for

that.

Women are however, resisting this selective use of

the honour value. Their assertion of their rights is

evident in an increasing number of elopement cases,

which is both a resistance to their use as a

commodity to be exchanged in kind or cash, and on

the

other hand an exercise of their right under the

Muslim Personal Laws to marry of their own choice.

Although many Sardars and chiefs have

abolished the trend of khoon baha, some like Khadim

Hussain Jatoi, the blind chief of Jatois and

Shars, says that, ``If we don`t do that there is no

settlement, and we want to do sulh (make peace), for

that we must give women.``

Elopement seems to be an increasing trend in our

culture. Salma, Riffat and Sehjan, who are

survivors as those who act against the honour

system,

become symbols of this struggle, because by

eloping with men they wished to marry they threaten

the honour code that regulates this society and at

the same time, assert their right under the personal

law, to marry of their own choice. Most women in

shelter homes are there because of the kidnapping

cases filed by their parents when they chose to

marry of their own choice. Despite them getting

relief from the courts, the court of the honour system

did not forgive them. Hasina, who I had met in

Sukkur

Darulaman years ago, had said about her

predicament: ``I am free to go with my husband, but

what about the customs which never forgive.``

The response to the elopement is again determined by

the honour value, even if the act of subversion

is outside the domain of the tribe. Says Gul Khan

Afridi, an intellectual from the FATA area

rationalizing such behaviour: ``Honour is relative

and

comparative. If there is no society this very same

honour has no value. Tribal laws and usages have no

geographical boundaries, we still refer most

matters to the jirga and not to the courts. In the

city of Karachi, if there were no countrymen of our

tribe, maybe it would be easy for me to.``

While Riffat and Ahsan, who was injured in the

attempt to restore honour are stashed away in a

corner, as they wait for asylum, their violation of

honour is a crime that has still not been forgiven by

Riffat`s tribespeople. They have not been able to

restore their honour since the jirga had announced

death of both. We went to the community in Hussain

D`Silva colony, a couple of weeks back, where

we were told: ``Even if it takes hundred years, we

will take revenge from the children`s children,

whether they are in Germany or somewhere else,`` the

neighbours say. While the community, bowing

in shame, waits to kill, victims of their own

custom,

Riffat`s mother, who we also visits in her house on

the hilltop, weeps remembering a daughter who was

`stolen` from them.

The Afridis had come to Karachi decades ago, and the

community is actively involved in the civil

society issues, especially the trade unions when it

was only a little town. But the honour system is an

integral part of their state of being. Riffat`s

mother and sister say that the nikah is not valid because she

was betrothed to someone before. These values

ironically are real and persist even in the most liberal

of people. Says Gul Khan Afridi, ``As a human being I

will not condone killing of any life. But in a

society values are relative. Even the human rights

charter speaks of the dignity of man, people

interpret in their way, dignity and honour is the

same. We consider a woman, mother, wife as our

honour and if they dishonour us, the only way to

restore this honour is to kill, and by this method, it is

automatically restored. And such codes exist in

other

societies as well. In the case of Monica

(Lewinsky) and Clinton, the relationship was not

acceptable to the American public and people say

that Diana and Al Fayed were also killed because of

their relationship.``

The assertion of honour value system in the cities,

which ironically come under the rule of law and the

state, is seen by human rights activists as a

failure

of state institutions to redress issues. Says Moazzam

Ali: ``the jirga system is being used increasingly

because of the sorry state of the courts and judiciary.``

Until the issue of killing and revenge is not seen

in

the context of the overall honour system, attempts

at using our moral codes to condemn such practices

would be a lost cry. For those who kill, their

values give them a basis for it. And in the absence

of the strong,fair and neutral role of the state, these

values can only reassert themselves with a new

vigour, often sickened by poverty and greed.

(Modified from the author`s research paper on the Balochi Honour

System,

Green College, Oxford.)

19 Nov 98 Dawn, Pakistan

____________________________________________________________________

Health and Human Rights Monitor for South Asia

Honour! Dear Ms. Zeejah:

It has come to our attention that you have questioned our system of honor. We are not sure if you are aware but we have plenty of honor in Pakistan. It was only last year when we raised and pointed our warheads at those bullying Indians. We even exploded some just to show them that we can do it. Now our Naujawans are ready to defend our honor in Azad Kashmir -did you not hear about the latest Shahid to get the Nishan-E-Haider. It might be true that we have some poverty, that a great majority of our people are naive (or illiterate if you must) and our Women`s rights record is not exactly examplary. Education leads to suspicion and we cant afford that as long as we are spending 3/4 of our budget on national honor (military spending). How else can we maintain the honor of our great land. We have a sound development plan that will solve all of our problem in the next 3 years. First we will deregulate the Ruppee to make the World`s Bankers happy and immiserate the people. Next we will borrow a bazillion dollars from the IMF to experiment with trickle down economics by diverting all the funds to Sharrif Inc. In case of any dissent or unruly press we will invite the likes of Rupert Murdoch to make things complacent. Marshall Law is so passe and messy. Plus it wouldnt be Democratic

Zamindaron Kay Zamindar

Honourable and Enlightened Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharrif.

Deprivation re: Stateman

i agree that what i said might be a little dismissive and a bit too packed (esp w/ that death of god line which -note to Uncle M- was just a reference to how even religious people have to stucture there lives around the market rather than the wrath of God) but those are the things that came to me when i read this piece, so i blurted out loud.

what i said is not immature. skepticism is a sign of experience not immaturity. i haven`t given up on love...just have a healthier attitude about it ;)

Deprivation speaking of deprivation; Happy Independence Day to all.

Deprivation love is sordid and you capture its essence. it is the ultimate state of vulnerability. a feel-good delusion that we all want to believe in because it is one of the last remaining things that makes us feel organically connected. but that comes at the expense of doing away with doubt, reason, etc. especially now when we have internalized the death of god and everyone is on prozac (or self help books)...however, the specter of doubt is creeping in on love; the religion of Romanticism itself. new yorkers know what i mean. there are so many people. how can there be only one. cities are great that way...they give you density with anonymity, intimacy with fear, simulated hyper-reality. makes you want to cling on, but why settle.

For My Love babe its mu-2bba-1shir:

its such a great weekend; how are u?

i think you misunderstood what i said in my first reply to your first reply, which has been answered by your reply to which i am replying now....anyway the first time i was saying that (romantic) love is not realy definable (esp just by one concept). i am not sure the way we think of love existed a few centuries (or in our case decades) ago, because it is a cultural construct and evolves with times. certainly my parents love each other but their love is characterized by a whole range of values, that i dont necessarliy agree with. when i do fall in love it wont be the same way.

i think that i have been in love before, but sometimes i am not sure what was it that made me think i was in love? esp now when i dont feel that way. same thing goes for the idea of love and self fullfillment. many people stay in love when they in unhealthy situations; worst case scenarios of abusive relationships or people who are totally infatuated with others when its not reciprocated. it can be argued that these people are still getting something out of such situations, they might be in love with the idea of being in love, they might have low self esteem and need to feel wanted, or hurt themselves to feel like they are victims. whatever the case they think that they are getting something out of it.

i think (a major part of) falling in love involves two people tricking themselves into believing that there is no one else better for them, esp when you consider that there are billions of people including better suited partners, others who can offer something or other. so if you look at it this way love itself is kind of a delusion, a nice one. whether or not a person makes a good judgment depends upon how well s/he knows him/herself, likes him/herself, etc. i am beginning to sound like i know what i am talking about but i dont realy..... these are some thoughts that come to me right now... hmmm so you see the point (i think) i originally made was that love is ``not just a form of self-fullfillment`` it is also many other things like self delusion, etc. self-fullfillment is itself a complicated concept, drugs, sex, religion all are attempts at it but when is it achieved. it is something based on perception not something that is concrete. not sure if i addressed this the way you wanted it. i am tired and my wig is fried, i have to clean up all the gooey glue and get ready for tommorow.

:P (finally found out what this means:)

Straight From the Heart: Dushman Kaun? another execution of exremist tyranny:

June 30, 1999FYI(South Asia Citizens Web)

Rights-Bangladesh: Rural Women Suffer ``Fatwa`` Tyranny

DHAKA, Bangladesh - June 28, 1999 (IPS): Teenager Badoi Begum died in

her village home in Sylhet district, some 250-km east of the Bangladesh

capital, late last month after she was publicly caned on the order of

the ``fatwabaj`` or local morality minders.

Her fault was that she had become pregnant as a result of arelationship

with a young man from the same village, and the fatwabaj decreed that

her crime constituted adultery and she should be given 101 lashes inpublic.

The ``fatwa`` or edict issued was carried out immediately, and the

unfortunate girl died the next day from excessive bleeding and shock.

Police have arrested three people in this connection and an

investigation is underway, but the local people are certain thefatwabaj

will be set free because they are influential and have money.

All across this mainly Muslim country these religious upholders of

social morality increasingly wield considerable influence among the

largely illiterate and poor rural population.

Fatwabaj themselves are not conversant with the various aspects of the

``Shariah,`` the Islamic laws, because of their own poor education. Yet

their frequently aired fatwas are heeded by villagers.

More than two dozen cases of women being publicly lashed and thrown out

from villages were reported in the last two years. But the actualnumber

is probably much higher, since mullahs (clerics) are the law in the

remote rural areas.

Rural women are the main victims of the fatwa tyranny. The fatwabajhave

also got after the influential non-governmental organizations (NGOs) of

Bangladesh.Shamsul Huq, director of the Association of Development Agencies in

Bangladesh (ADAB), an apex body of NGOs, said the recent activities of

some fundamentalist political organizations and religious groups have

become a cause for worry.

Fatwabaj have identified NGOs as their principal target for trying to

make rural women educated and self-reliant, he said.

Attacks on women`s gatherings, NGO-run schools, NGO offices and eventhe

felling of trees planted at the initiative of voluntary groups havebeen

carried out, he said, in response to inflammatory proclamations by

mullahs and fatwabaj.

Their anti-people activities must be countered with public awareness

raising campaigns before it starts to damage the progress made in

Bangladesh, he said.

Bangladesh has suddenly been witness to a gradual emergence ofextremist

groups like Hirkatul Zihad al Islami and Kamaat-e-Tola led by leaders

who are working covertly and overtly to bring about a Taliban-style

Islamic revolution in the country.

The attempt on the life of the celebrated liberal poet, Shamsur Rahman,

by members of Hirkatul Zihad in January this year revealed the extentto

which these groups were prepared to go.

The group has a hit-list of some prominent Bangladeshis who are known

for their progressive views.

Police investigations into the assassination attempt are pointing to a

link between the members of the Hirkatul Zihad and Saudi-political

fugitive Osama bin Laden, now living incognito in Afghanistan.

It is also estimated that since the Hirkatul Zihad was set up in 1992,

it has trained some 25,000 recruits mainly students from ``madrashas``

(religious schools) who are indoctrinated in an ideology that glorifies

martyrdom. Most recruits have been boys who are either orphans or from

very poor families.

Intelligence agencies say the Hirkatul Zihad has links with ``terrorist``

groups in the Middle East, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and

Burma, and receive up to half a million dollars every year to carry out

their activities to make Bangladesh a fundamentalist Islamic state.

Leaders of the pro-Islamic political organizations have issued fatwas

denying women the right to be leaders, despite both Bangladesh`s most

important leaders being women.

Former president and chairman of the Jatiya Party, Hussain Mohamad

Ershad, has been quoted saying in public that only male leaders canmake

Bangladesh a great country. In his opinion, the ``days of woman

leadership is over.``

Syed Fazlul Karim, a religious leader and head of the Islamic

Constitution Movement, said ``Islam does not recognize woman leadership.

A country led by a woman can never make progress. A country with awoman

leader is the result of sins.``

And Mufti Fazlul Huq Amini, a top leader of the Islamic Unity Alliance,

who says he is a supporter of Osama bin Laden, has urged Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina Wajed to establish Islamic rule. Otherwise her government

would be toppled, he has warned.

Ordinary people however, have shown they are not swept away byreligious

dogma. At the last general election in 1996, only three members of the

right-wing Jamaat-e-Islamic won, compared to the party`s strength of 18

in the previous Bangladesh parliament.

Religious fundamentalism in Bangladesh has been losing ground, says

Abdur Rahman of the left-leaning Workers Party.

[Copyright 1999 - Inter Press Service]

For My Love well i was read:

Love is a form of self-fullfillment (imagine vocal authority, ala Hollywood `God` ). I never said it wasnt that is a major aspect of Love. all lovers fall in love because they get something out of it. for many of our parents the notion of love was more based on duty (hence sacrifice for duty), when our idea of love is more romantic (and jaded depending on how many times you have been in love).

however, love doesn`t complete a person. 0r give a person complete self-fullfillment. when it comes down to long term happiness, self satisfaction it goes back to the individual him-herself. so in this sense we both agree that we make our love-object:) choice when we think that we are getting something out of it; be that be happiness, sex, self-sullfillnment, etc. but that doesnt mean that a person`s problems are all gone and they will be happy and satisfied for the rest of their lives; i.e. self fullfilled. i think many people view love as a completely utopian ideal which washes away all problems and thats what i was respondng to.

some people look for love in order to solve there problems, misery, but this can be a self defeating cycle. people can only offer love to others when they are secure with themselves and dont look for love as a magic potion. they are seeking infatuation not love.

so in the case of sacrifice-compromise, i mentioned b4 that lovers give in only as long as they think it is ``worthwhile`` to do so. human beings rarely ever do anything unless they feel like they get something out of it. to sum it up love is a form of self-fullfillment, but not self-fullfillment itself. the distiction is important.

mubbashir

For My Love re: S

its fun to check out these long deserted pieces once in a while, esp when there r some new interesting things written back.

well you were speaking of love. `Love` is love because in some sense it stays undefined. thats why it can be such a damn headache...different people experience it differently and go on to change there minds about it as they go along. however, love is not love if its looked as just a form of self fullfillment. in many instances love requires a certain amount of sacrifice, compromise or something contrary to ones will, given the lover deems it worthwhile to do so. real self fullfillment/satisfaction or happiness can only realy come from inside not outside. one can only realy love others when one loves oneself. looking for self fullfillment by falling in love with someone only leads to eventual disappointment when you realize that nothing has changed inside. hmmm kinda like buying new cars that promise status, happiness, speed and sexual appeal, but they get old eventually.