Recently, I came across
an article about three girls who were buried alive by their tribal heads in
order to punish them because they wanted to choose their own husbands and not
marry the men whom their parents had chosen for them. The orders for their
brutal murder were given out by their tribe heads who made a point to murder
the girls themselves as they found their deed extremely dishonorable. According
to the United Nations Organization, these girls had absolute right to choose
their spouses and certainly were not supposed to be brutally murdered.
In rural areas of our
country, Pakistan, decisions regarding many matters are not taken to the
courts. They are solved by groups of people within the areas who are the heads
of the tribes. They are the respected lot of the community whose decisions are
taken to be the final ones. They are usually the powerful people who give the final
verdict to one’s punishment by deciding with each other and observing the
matters carefully.
As the news reached the
masses, politicians from their area defended the killings by calling it legal
in their area. They stressed over the rules of their tribal system that did not
allow women to choose their own husbands instead such decisions were taken by
the families or tribal heads. They highlighted the displeasing fact that such
was a tradition of their culture that has been carried forward and will be
continued. No arrests have been taken
place and the government itself is hesitant as the ministers from Baluchistan
favor the event themselves. For them speaking regarding the decisions that they
make is talking against their culture which for them is highly offending. They
are proud of the decisions that they make regarding the treatment of women in
such cases. For them it’s the matter of their respect and ‘honor’ which they
avenge by sentencing the ‘culprits’ to shameful and agonized deaths.
The girls were human
beings and had the right to all the human right articles set by the United
Nations. Though such traditions do exist in our society, it is the government
who needs to take action against such happenings. Burying humans just because
they willed to live a life of their own choice does not mean they should be
killed. And instead of condemning the event, the tribesmen and politicians from
the province were proud of the practice and were ready to fight for it. The
government here should have taken action in order to stop future such practices
but of course hesitated as the powerful ministers of Baluchistan found the
incident satisfactory.
Every
day we hear or read about many such practices in a country like ours and even
some remote areas of India. Women being shamefully stoned to death, black
polishes rubbed onto their faces in public, their hair being shaved off, burned
in front of everyone and so on are all common practices in such areas. They all
exist because the right to freely marry and choose one’s own spouse has still
not been accepted in such cultures and thus anyone who dares to go against the
rule is punished. The rule here is that no marriage decision shall be taken by
any individual and instead such matters will be handled by their families or
tribal heads who will decide for them.
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