Dear Raymond,
On all fronts whatsoever they are, 'existence' in itself is a very challenging ordeal, our life on this beautiful planet earth needs to be spent as productively as possible; from mono cellular existence to multiple complex formations of DNA we have seen progress as a sign of life and decadence as a sign of death, humankind is at a cross road everyone believes that his dreams can alleviate the problems that we face, in my opinion my angle is that there is nothing known as absolute truth everything is a relative truth so every conviction has its pros and cons, much as I sound passionate I do think that my mosaic is in continual need of refreshing new ideas, new dreams, and new realities, also may be I need to sharpen up my brush too it may be too broad that is something I would take up later, let the 100 flowers bloom, provocative approach breaks a lot of ice and that works on both side of the divide. Political issues are only one dimension of our existence sometime social challenges that are tearing our society apart form another, I present to you an editorial from Daily Times that also forms part of our daily struggle, politics is only a small side of it, mass killing, censorship and extrajudicial murders rampant in our part of the world need our attention too, on all these counts our very survival is challenged.. but living dangerously is what life is all about, making a change best we can and trying to open some blocked passages is our little aim, it will only be due to open dialogue that mankind can progress.
Thanks for your precious time Sir,….Ike
A burning issue..
Sometimes a benevolent dictatorship can achieve socially desired results more efficiently than a lumbering democracy of vested interests. A recent case of a classic ‘honour killing’ proves this point. According to press reports, a young woman by the name of Afshin, who ‘belonged’ to a landed Sahu family in district Khanewal of Punjab, was done to death by family patriarchs because she was alleged to have brought ‘dishonour’ to the clan by wanting to marry someone unacceptable to family elders. The death of the girl went un-remarked because there was no formal complainant — it was, said the family privately, an ‘internal’ matter. Hundreds of such cases go by default every year in this country for three main reasons: clever lawyers can frame the murder under the Hudood laws and get the murderers off lightly; our ‘culture’ is still shackled by many pre-Islamic and tribal notions of honour and there is no great societal abhorrence of such acts; powerful vested interests in the state are inclined to side with, rather than book, the culprits.
But this case is shaping up differently, at least so far. It is learnt that the matter was brought to the notice of General Pervez Musharraf and he promptly ordered the machinery of the state into action. The local big wigs of the area, including a federal minister, were ordered not to protect the influential family, the local administration and police were whipped into investigation, the grave of the victim was officially dug up and Afshin’s body was sent for a post mortem. Initial press reports say there are torture marks on the body and that she was probably strangulated to death or electrocuted. Family sources have until now claimed various things: that she had a heart attack; that she died of a mysterious illness, and so forth. While the results are awaited, the Sahu family is said to be running from pillar to post seeking legal and political protection. And then yesterday, we heard the good news that the girl’s father gave himself up to the police and confessed to the crime.
We see this as a case that will test General Musharraf’s resolve to bring ‘enlightened moderation’ to Pakistan. When the action was ordered by General Musharraf, international wire services and news agencies were quick to praise him. In fact, CNN had a ticker tape of General Musharraf’s order launching the inquiry running below its main stories of the day, which meant that tens of millions of people all over the world would have silently applauded Pakistan’s president for his humane and timely intervention. Indeed, by this gesture alone General Musharraf may have earned more international goodwill than all his statements against extremism so far. But this sort of thing cuts both ways. By the same token, if General Musharraf doesn’t personally make sure that the case is concluded on merit and becomes a powerful deterrent for all honour killings in the country, a great opportunity would have been lost to strike a blow for human rights and the cynics would be encouraged in accusing General Musharraf of political opportunism.
That is why it is important for General Pervez Musharraf to personally make sure, on a day to day basis if necessary, that the case is not waylaid or sabotaged midway through a combination of vested interests, police corruption, institutional lethargy and political sifarshis. Certainly, this lethal combination of social, political and legal practice has been responsible for subverting the course of justice in this country for decades. When will it end?
There are five centres of power in Punjab: the chief minister, the governor, the corps commanders, the IGP and the chief secretary. They must all singly and jointly be ordered to make sure that justice is not only done to the spirit of Afshin and the human rights struggle against honour killings but also seen by everyone at home and abroad to have been done.
Earlier this month, we had cause to be shamefaced and dismayed (Daily Times editorial, ‘National Assembly’s “honour”’). Mr M P Bhandara, MNA, tried to rustle up a resolution in our ‘great and democratic parliament’ against the uncivilised practice of honour killings that is totally alien to the enlightened and moderating vision of Islam. But he was faced with a stunning conspiracy of silence. First the Speaker of the Assembly tried to kill his resolution. When Mr Bhandara insisted, he was given the floor. But except for one woman member of parliament, he could not get any of our gallant defenders of justice and democracy in parliament to stand up and shout NO to honour killings. Finally, he was summoned by the Speaker to his chamber where some treasury MNAs told him to withdraw the resolution since it (resolution) went against their ‘code of honour’. It would be tragic if this great initiative by General Pervez Musharraf were to meet with the same fate. This is a classic case of what may be a small step for General Musharraf but could become a great leap for Pakistan. *
dailytimes.com.pk |
