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April 29, 2006
Pakistan: Muslim Council Will Kill Those Who Report Honor Killings
Dir is a region in North-West Frontier Province Pakistan, lying north of Peshawar and adjoining the border with Afghanistan. In 1996, Dir was split in half into two administrative regions, Upper Dir and Lower Dir.
Upper Dir is, socially, backwards beyond belief, and the roles of women are, as in other tribal regions, no better than chattels. It was recently reported that the literacy rate for women in the agency is only 6%. The overall literacy rate is only 21% in the region. Only some children attend school, and in 2001, a child was given the death sentence in Upper Dir. Ali Sher is now 15, and still in jail.
The local culture continues in spite of the national government, and often in defiance of its rulings. The most extreme example comes in a report from Pakistan's Daily Times. In Nihag-Dara district, Wari, as in many tribal areas of North-West Frontiier Province, the local law is upheld by elders of the Muslim village council, or jirga. 15 days ago, the jirga of Nihag-Dara, Upper Dir, announced a decision which said that honor-killing was a permissable act.
The Wari police state that 150 people attended this jirga, called by members of the Painda Dhel tribe. However, Malik Faiz Muhammad, one of the jirga members, claims 4,000 people, representing the entire region, were present. Some union council representatives also attended the jirga.
Nationally, honor-killing was outlawed officially a year ago, as we reported earlier, along with "compensation marriages" called vani in Punjab province, and swara in North-West Frontier province.
The Pakistan Human Rights Commission (HCRP) recently stated that about 1,000 women are killed every year in Pakistan in these honor-killings, but such cases rarely get reported.
The announcement of the fatwas made by jirgas, such as those concerning swara (vani) marriages, where girls are given away in forced marriages as a compensation for a crime committed by a male relative, has created a reaction of disgust in the more civilised parts of Pakistan. The decision to condone honor killings has taken national reactions into consideration, as it also allows the killing of anyone who reports on a jirga decision on honor-killing.
Yesterday, Malik Faiz Muhammad said: "We stick to our verdict that honour killing is permissible and those who commit it will not be liable to any punishment. We will also not allow the aggrieved party to report the case to the police or file the case before a court. We will kill those who will violate the jirga verdict."
Muhammad said that the jirga itself would do its investigation of cases which would merit homor-killing, and would carry out the punishments without outside interference. He claimed that members of the jirga were prepared to sacrifice themselves to uphold the verdict.
The federal government has asked the North-West Frontier provincial government to investigate the jirga's decision. The senior policeman for the Upper Dir district said the government would not accept the "illegal" verdict of the jirga, and saying all similar cases would be registered and dealt with under federal law.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at April 29, 2006 8:26 AM
Comments
I hope you don't mind, but I posted this over on my site, along with the report from Religion of Peace. I am adding both of you to my links. Your sites are valuable and keep us informed about the minutiae of this war on the West. Please keep up the good work. I believe the internet may be the impetus for another Reformation. I am aghast at the corruption of the press, and its willingness to collude with these enemies of humanity. Just as the printing press ushered in the Reformation and eventually lead to the American Revolution, the internet will be just as powerful.
Posted by: Jauhara Al-Kafirah ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.westernresistance.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at May 1, 2006 10:43 PM
Dear Jauhara
No - I do not mind at all if you post the article on your site, as long as we receive a credit. The aim of this site is to promote the truth about Islamism and its threat to our Western ways of life, as well as its threat to women within Islam, and to cultures in Africa and Southeast Asia where Islamic intolerance only seems to ruin lives.
Feel free to reproduce material, or provide links, as long as you acknowledge our authorship. The more people know, the less they can be fooled.
Best wishes
Giraldus Cambrensis
Posted by: Giraldus Cambrensis at May 1, 2006 11:02 PM
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