Balochistan Senator defends barbaric practice of burying girls alive

About six weeks back, three young Baloch women were reportedly kidnapped and killed in a remote part of Balochistan because they wanted to marry men of their choice, against the wishes of their families. Early reports suggested that they had been buried alive after being beaten or shot. Also killed along with them were two other female relations who had assisted them.

When the news finally reached Islamabad, an opposition senator Yasmeen Shah accused the government of ignoring the killings and then trying to cover them up. She was brusquely interrupted by fellow senator Israr Ullah Zehri, who brazenly defended honor killings as “our tribal custom” and said they should not be projected negatively.

According to the DAWN, the Senator’s statement was challenged by his colleagues, including Maulana Ghafoor Haideri, a leader of the religious party JUI-F, who said that there was no such tradition of killing women in Baloch society because it was against the teachings of Islam.

Leader of the House Mian Raza Rabbani condemned the heinous killings and assured the Senate that a complete report on the incident would be submitted on Monday.

In the debate on Monday September 1, the Senate condemned the honor killings of five women in Balochistan and demanded severe punishment of the culprits.

The government report presented by Adviser for Interior Rehman MalikRehman Malik was incomplete and mentioned that only three women, not five, had been shot (not buried alive) as the result of a land dispute, and not honor killings as had been reported. He assured the Senate that the killers would be dealt with in accordance with the law. Rehman Malik assured the Senate that he had ordered an inquiry that would be completed within a week, and that three people had already been arrested.

Religious scholars in Pakistan have stated categorically that such acts of violence against women are prohibited in Islam. In fact, one the earliest edicts of Islam was prohibition of the ancient tribal practice of burying alive newly born girls in Arabia.

Honor killings are based on ancient tribal customs or caste taboos prevailing in many traditional societies. They predate religion. Islam preaches compassion and forgiveness; not so the adherents of honor killings who believe women who stray from tribal marriage norms must be put to death. The grounds for honor killings are as varied as the circumstances of each case: they may be based on grounds of religious, ethnic, tribal or caste differences.

Worldwide, honor killings claim thousands of lives annually, and they are rightly the target of condemnation by civilized people. But the relatively unnoticed practice of female infanticide is responsible for millions of deaths and it regrettably persists to this day in parts of South Asia, especially in villages that are beyond the reach of the law. The main reason for the prejudice against raising girl children is abject poverty, especially the inability of the family to provided a dowry at the time of the girl's wedding. In countless cases female fetuses are also deliberately aborted by well-to-do parents who are desirous of having male children. In parts of India this has created a serious shortage of marriageable females.

In short, the peoples of South Asia and all other regions for that matter must banish the scourge of discrimination and violence against women, whether it is female infanticide, honor killings, or any such odious behavior