Re: PRIMITIVE ISLAM - HORRORS OF THE WOMEN IN ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN

In article <255b5a27-f1f1-424a-9c37-b4bd790e6701@s37g2000prg.googlegroups.com>,

cyberhinwa <CYBERHINWA1@gmail.com> posted:

>

> HORRORS OF THE WOMEN IN ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN - !!!!!!!!!!

>

> Women in Pakistan face all kinds of gross violence and abuse at the

> hands of the male perpetrators family members and state agents.

> Multiple form of violence includes rape; domestic abuse as spousal

> murder, mutilation, burning and disfiguring faces by acid, beatings;

> ritual honour killings and custodial abuse and torture.

>

> Every year in Pakistan hundreds of women, of all ages and in all parts

> of the country, are reported killed in the name of honour. Many more

> cases go unreported. Almost all go unpunished. The lives of millions

> of women in Pakistan are circumscribed by traditions, which enforce

> extreme seclusion and submission to men many of whom impose their

> virtually proprietorial control over women with violence. For the most

> part, women bear the traditional male control over every aspect of

> their bodies, speech and behaviour with stoicism, as part of their

> kismat (fate), but exposure to media, the work of women's rights

> groups and the greater degree of mobility have seen the beginnings of

> women's rights awareness seep into the secluded world of women. But if

> women begin to exert these rights, however tentatively, they often

> face more repression and punishment: the curve of honour killings has

> increased parallel to the rise in the awareness in rights. State

> indifference, discriminatory laws and the gender bias of much of the

> country's police force and judiciary have ensured virtual impunity for

> perpetuators of honour killings.

>

> In the international human rights arena, honour crimes against women

> are understood as a form of domestic violence, i.e. violence against

> women in the family or community. Based on the dichotomy of private

> and public spheres and perception that the former was somehow less

> significant, domestic violence was earlier perceived as private acts

> within the family and not as an issue of civil and political rights.

> The United Nations has explicitly recognized violence against women as

> human rights issue involving state responsibility. The UN Special

> Rapporteur on violence against women has defined domestic violence as

> " violence perpetrated in the domestic sphere which targets women

> because of their role within that sphere or as violence which is

> intended to impact, directly and negatively, on women within the

> domestic sphere. Such a violence may be carried out by both private

> and public actors and agents. This conceptual framework intentionally

> departs from traditional definitions of domestic violence, which

> address violence perpetrated by inmates against inmates..."( UN Doc. E/

> CN.4).

>

> Concept of Honour:

>

> The time has come to put an end to such violence against women. It is

> paradoxical that women who enjoy such a poor status in society and

> have no standing in family should become a focal point of a false and

> primitive concept of family honour, which they are accepted to uphold

> at the expense of their inclinations and preference in the matters of

> marriage.

>

> According to Advocate Asma Jehangir:

> "Honour is only a pretax to murder women for property and in many

> cases, for getting lighter punishment for heinous crimes". In Another

> statement she said, "I asked them so many times when people talk about

> honour and our religion talks about honour: When do they ever raise

> their voices when women are openly sold in the market? Is this an

> honourable thing to do?

>

> The logic of tribal tradition turns conceptions of victim and

> perpetrator, right or wrong on their own head: women who are killed or

> flee a killing are not victims but are considered guilty in the tribal

> setting. The man to whom a woman belongs, whether a wife, sister or

> daughter, has to kill her to restore his honour. He is the victim as

> he has suffered loss first to his honour and then of the woman he has

> to kill. Consequently he is the aggrieved person with whom the

> sympathies with the tribal setting lie, not the possibly innocent

> woman he killed. A man whose honour has been damaged must publicly

> demonstrate his power to safeguard it by killing those that damaged it

> and therefore restore it. In the tribal setting an honour killing is

> not a crime but a legitimate action, seen as the appropriate

> punishment for those who contravene the honour code.

>

> The man who kills for reasons of honour becomes ghairatman (possessing

> honour) and is morally and legally supported by his kinsmen. A man's

> ability to protect his honour is judged by his family and his

> neighbours and is taunted by tano ( institution bordering insult )

> that he is " socially impotent" and beghairat (without honour) if he

> fails to kill a woman of his household who has damaged his honour.

> Honour Killings are consequently not hidden away but openly performed,

> often ritually and with the maximum spilling blood. Further, the

> family of alleged karo never kill as they do not lose honour-on

> contrary by capturing other man's wife or daughter, they have

> increased their honour.

>

> The use of word honour for such a dishonourable act is a tragedy. The

> people who take honour pride in those killings should be ashamed and

> not proud. All over the world women are provided the right of freedom

> if independence to make decisions regarding their own life.

>

> Honour Of Man:

> The possession and control of desirabe commodities, especially zan,

> zar, zameen( women, gold and land) is closely linked with perception

> of man's honour. These objects are worthy of possession and need to be

> control on account of their inherent value. Ghairat (honour) is

> closely linked with izzat, respect or standing in society. Izzat bases

> itself on possession , wealth, and property. " A man's property ,

> wealth and all that is linked with these are the sum of total value

> and therefore it is an integral part of honour of man, tribe etc.

> Therefore when the rights of the women are transferred from her father

> to the man she is marrying, the guardianship of honour shifts as

> well".

>

> A key observation is that "although honour is located in material

> wealth, the language and expression of honour resides in the body.

> Women's bodies are considered to be the repository of family honour".

> Honour in the traditional settings is a male prerogative it is men who

> possess zan, zar and zamin that allows them to hold their heads up;

> women have no honour of their own.

>

> The Rationale of Honour Killings:

>

> Two main factors contribute against women in the name of honour:

> women's commodification and conceptions of honour. The concept of

> women as an object or commodity, not a human being endowed with

> dignity and rights equal to those of men, is deeply rooted in tribal

> culture. Dr. Tahira Shahid Khan of Shirkatgah, a woman's resource

> center, points out: "Women's are considered the property of the males

> in their family irrespective of their class, ethnic or religious

> groups. The owner of the property has the right to decide its fate.

> The concept of ownership has turned women into a commodity which can

> be exchanged, bought and sold." Similarly, a close observer of women's

> issues in Sindh, journalist Nafisa Shah says: " In the tribal society

> of Sindh and Baluchistan, a woman is equated with money.....But although

> she has monetary value, her worth is essentially that of a commodity

> and this view goes far towards creating a situation when she may be

> butchered if she transgresses the conditions under which she is bound

> to a man for life. She may also be freely traded or given away as part

> of a karo-kari settlement."

>

> Ownership rights are at stake when women are to be married, almost

> always in Pakistan by arrangement of their parents. A major

> consideration is the young woman's future inheritance rights over

> family property or assets. In Pakistan, feudal and tribal customs

> dictate that property be kept in the family. It is not uncommon for

> girls to be married to a paternal uncle or aunt's sons..... so that

> control over the estate (jagir) is not weakened which would happen if

> a daughter married an outsider. Feudals do not want their jagirs

> dismembered on any account. To keep daughters in the paternal family,

> they are sometimes married to paternal cousins 10-20 years younger

> than them (in some syed [descendent of the prophet] in families of

> Punjab and Sindh, parents wait until a son is born to a paternal).

>

> A girl 15-20 years old then raises her would-be husband. She has no

> choice. What if there is no paternal uncle available? Maternal cousins

> become acceptable in that situation. What if there is no maternal

> cousin? Then the woman has to undergo the ceremony of haq-baksh-wai

> (marriage with the Quran) [The practice of marrying a woman to the

> Quran, supposedly with her consent, is reportedly on the decline, but

> women activists believe that it is still found among syeds, descendant

> of the prophet, in upper Sindh. Syeds only marry within their

> community; on account of their high status, syed women observe strict

> seclusion to the extent that some may never leave the home in which

> they are born.]. This is more common in Sindh.

>

> In Punjab daughters are kept unmarried till the age of menopause when

> they take up the Quran and Tasbih [prayer beads] voluntarily. While

> women are usually forced to accept such martial decisions made by

> their fathers, men have the possibility to marry a second wife

> according to their liking and lead a life in the public sphere where

> they can find fulfillment. Women by contrast are in the vast majority

> of cases confined almost entirely to the char divari, the four walls

> of the home. The commodification of women is also evident in that

> every marriage in tribal society involves payment of the bride price

> (vulver in NWFP and Balochistan and verkro in Sindh). The girl or

> woman is exchanged for a price in the market. The price is paid by the

> groom to the father's to the groom's/husband's possession and custody.

> The bride price varies according to status, health, beauty and age of

> the woman and, like other possessions, the bride subsequently adds to

> the honour of the groom. To receive a bride in exchange for a daughter

> is honourable not only to the family but also to the woman concerned

> whose worth is therby acknowledged.

>

> Sometimes a bride price is taken in the form of another woman. Men

> exchange their daughters, even granddaughters, for new wives for

> themselves. While demanding a low bride price for their daughters,

> some men ask in addition that the as yet unborn grand-daughters be

> handed to them to be married off for another bride price.

>

> The commodification of women is also the basis of the practise of

> khoon baha [literally: blood money], i.e. the compensation negotiated

> to end a dispute which besides money may involve a woman to be given

> to a adversary. For instance, a woman may be handed over to compensate

> a man whose honour has been damaged or to settle a conflict between

> two tribes or families. The standard price to settle a conflict is one

> girl above seven years of age or two girls under seven and it is also

> seen that the girls' milk teeth have been broken to create the sense

> that they were above seven years of age so, that a family would only

> have to give one girl.

>

> The Pashtoon have codified the honour system in the Pashtoonwali, it

> revolves around four concepts: 'malmastya', the obligation to show

> hospitality; 'badal', revenge; 'nanawaty', asylum; and 'nang', honour.

> A man's property, wealth and all that is linked with these is a sum

> total of his honour value. A woman is also an object of value and

> therefore is an integral part of the honour of a man, tribe etc.

> Therefore when the rights of a woman are transferred from a father to

> the man she is marrying, the guardianship of honour shifts as well.

> Perceived as the embodiment of the honour of their family, women must

> guard their virginity and chastity. By entering an adulterous

> relationship a woman subverts the order of things, undermines the

> ownership rights of others to her body and indirectly challenges the

> social order as a whole. She becomes black, kari (Sindhi) or siahkari

> (Baluch). Womens' bodies must not be given or taken away except in a

> regulated exchange, effected by men. Women's physical chastity is of

> upper most importance and by the merest hint of 'illicit' sexual

> interest a woman loses her inherent value as an object worthy of

> possession and therefore her right to life. In most tribes, there is

> no other punishment for a woman accused of 'illicit' sex but death.

>

> Kari's remain dishonoured even after death. Their dead bodies are

> thrown in rivers or buried in special hidden kari graveyards. Nobody

> mourns for them or honours their memory by performing their relevant

> rights. Karo's by contrast are reportedly buried in the communal

> graveyard. There are different modes of honour killings. In Kand Kot

> and its suburbs, the kari woman is dressed in red. Henna is applied to

> her hands, then she is taken to the bank of the river where she is

> shot or slaughtered with an axe. Sometimes the girl is taken to a

> mountain and her neck is broken. It has been witnessed that the kari

> woman is most severely tortured before being killed." The professor

> has studied and analysed numerous Karo kari cases. An old man was a

> witness to such an incident. He saw that a blood thirsty man with the

> razor, arrogantly walked onto the right side of his victim, held her

> right ear tightly and sliced it off as her chocking voice repeated " I

> am innocent." Wiping the blood from the razor on the dirty palm of his

> left hand, the man turned to the left ear and slashed it off amid

> screams beseeching him to pardon her. The nose and ears were then

> placed atop her the victim's head and the man holding her hair slowly

> loosened his grip, walked away from the scene while the other two

> stretched her arms as if they would detach the limbs from her body.

> Amid her shrieks, the gunman took out his gun and pulled the trigger

> while others repeated their earlier words, "This is the fate of the

> kari." The bullet killed the girl instantly. She collapsed and the two

> men simultaneously raised their legs, violently kicked the body away

> into the canal. In some areas, such women are sold. A rotten finger,

> should be amputated, says a proverb in Lal Garh of Dera Ghazi Khan. It

> is a common practice that a sold woman is abandoned by her family. A

> few tribes in upper Sindh like the Mehars do not physically kill a

> woman accused of being a kari, instead they banish them, marrying them

> to far away tribes. Their original community must never see a banished

> woman again and she must never visit her family. In a world where

> individual identity is closely linked to being part of a community

> such banishment maybe experienced as an extremely harsh punishment.

>

> The perception of what defiles honour appears to have been continually

> widened to the point where it is now loose. Male control does not only

> extend to a woman's body and her sexual behaviour but all of her

> behaviour, including her movements, her language and her actions. In

> any of these areas, defiance by women translates into undermining male

> honour and ultimately family and community honour. Severe punishments

> are reported for bringing food late, for answering back or for

> undertaking forbidden trips etc. A man's honour defiled by a woman's

> alleged or real sexual misdemeanour or other defiance is only partly

> restored by killing her. He also has to kill the man allegedly

> involved. Since a kari is murdered first, the karo often hears about

> it and flees, aided by the fact that unlike the woman, he is both

> familiar with the world outside the house and can move freely in it.

> But karos who escape will not be able to return to normal life. Nobody

> will give such a man shelter, he remains on the run until he and his

> family are ready to negotiate with the victim, the man whose honour

> the karo defiled and who has kill his wife, sister or daughter.

>

> If both sides agree, a faislo [agreement, meeting] or jirga [tribal

> council] is setup, attended by representatives of both sides and

> healed by the local respectable, the tribal sardar [leader], his

> subordinate or a local landlord, depending on the status of the

> parties involved. The traditional justice dispensed by the jirga or

> fasilo is about restoration of the balance disturbed by a woman's

> alleged misdemeanour. It is not intented to elicit truth and punish

> the culprit. The balance is restored by negotiating comensation for

> damages. The karo who gets away has to pay compensation for his life

> to be spared, for the loss of honour of the man to whom the kari

> belonged and for the woman the man killing her lost. The amount of

> compensation is fixed within each tribe, but jirgas also decide how

> the compensation amount is to be disbursed. Compensation can be either

> in the form of money or the transfer of a woman or both. Several

> sardars think that their decisions effectively settle disputes and

> provide lastinf peace; however this claim is not borne out by the

> evidence. Such settlements are often flouted, and women killed despite

> sardar's decisions. To break a faislo or jirga settlement is not

> dishonorable. Killing and violence as well as deceit and breaking of

> promises are not dishnourable in a context of intending to restore

> honour, they are not crimes. This partly explains why sardar's

> mediation efforts do not bring lasting peace. Karos who have paid

> heavy compensation are sometimes killed years later, karis who are

> returned to their families on promises of safety may be killed. It is

> also believed if injustice occurs or compensation is inadequate, karo-

> kari killings can lead to a series of further killings.

More on how women are treated in Islam:

http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate

Jai Maharaj

http://tinyurl.com/24fq83

http://www.mantra.com/jai

http://www.mantra.com/jyotish

Om Shanti

On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 12:41:10 GMT, usenet@mantra.com and/or

http://www.mantra.com/jai (Dr. Jai Maharaj) wrote:

>More on how women are treated in Islam:

And now for some Hindui honor

"Victims of 'honour killings' recall horror"

http://www.hindu.com/2004/01/13/stories/2004011305091200.htm

"In Muzaffarnagar district in western Uttar Pradesh, at least 13

honour killings occurred within nine months in 2003. In 2002, while 10

such killings were reported, 35 couples were declared missing."

http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2103/stories/20040213001205000.htm

" Father held for `honour killing'"

http://www.thehindu.com/2005/08/20/stories/2005082013430100.htm

"The persistence of hunger and abject poverty in India and other parts

of the world is due in large measure to the subjugation,

marginalization and disempowerment of women."

http://www.thp.org/reports/indiawom.htm

Islamic countries outlaw honour killings.

Assallaamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barakaatuhu wrote:

"Respected Brothers/Sisters in Islam,

The Taliban and Women

"The treatment of women in Afghanistan is a subject that the Western

Media and Feminists have concentrated their ideological warfare

efforts on. They have based their 'reports' and analyses on a number

of interviews with Communist women, whose idea of 'freedom' is similar

to the freedom given to women in the West, i.e...."

"Women's Life Conditions Presently and Under Rabbani Regime The

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is fully committed to the social,

cultural and economic development of women. The government has been

able to protect the honor, life and property of Afghan women. Contrary

to the situation under the Rabbani regime, women can now be outside

their houses safely without the fear of being kidnapped, raped or

looted. They no longer fear conditions that were common during the

Rabbani regime. According to amnesty international reports of 1992-95,

women in Afghanistan bore the brunt of the atrocities by the Rabbani

regime and other armed factions. Irresponsible commanders and gunmen

not only violated the honor of women by raping them but mutilated

women's bodies and in many cases, cut their breasts etc. Similarly,

common was murder, torture and execution of our people by the armed

factions. Due to the intolerable atrocities, the Taleban Islamic

Movement emerged to deliver the defenseless Afghan people from the

cruel hands of the warlords. One should ask oneself, is women's

freedom to be raped with their breasts cut, or is it to freely live

their lives without fear of even comments being made at them. The

former regime that did not serve the country had employed women in a

number of sectors without any real need. Some of them were used just

for the sexual entertainment of the bureaucracy. Due to the

ineffective and immoral institutions, they have temporarily been

relieved of their duties. The government pays them their salaries

regularly. But women whose work is really needed, are still working in

the health, education and security sectors. As conditions in the

country improve, so will, doubtlessly, job opportunities for women.

Restoration of Women's Safety, Dignity and Freedom

Being highly concerned about the well-being of its female citizens,

the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, soon introduced measures to put a

stop to the miserable living conditions under which the women lived in

Kabul. After the communists took over in Kabul, they began to exploit

women for the purpose of advancing their political and social agendas.

In spite of war condition in the country and with no work in the

offices, the communist regime forced a large number of women to attend

government offices only for their amusement. The Islamic Emirate

decided to pay the salaries of these women at their homes, so that

they could stay home and take care of their families and children. The

purpose of this policy is to help revive the Afghan family and

household, as the foundation of the Afghan society, a foundation that

was intentionally destroyed by the communist regime... "

http://www.ihr.org/ http://www.natvan.com

http://www.thebirdman.org http://www.nsm88.com/

http://wsi.matriots.com/jews.html

On Sun, 30 Mar 2008 10:30:43 -0500, Topaz <mars1933@hotmail.com>

wrote:

> Islamic countries outlaw honour killings.

>

>

>Assallaamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barakaatuhu wrote:

>"Respected Brothers/Sisters in Islam,

>The Taliban and Women

>"The treatment of women in Afghanistan is a subject that the Western

>Media and Feminists have concentrated their ideological warfare

>efforts on. They have based their 'reports' and analyses on a number

>of interviews with Communist women, whose idea of 'freedom' is similar

>to the freedom given to women in the West,

There is no argument strict Islamiist nations are no angels. I'm just

balancing the discussion by including Jay's beloved Hindu states. He

is under the misunderstanding that Hinduism's followers are above the

sort of madness other faiths can foster.