The Ultimate
Violation
By Beena Sarwar
"What happened to Shazia
should not happen to anybody. And those who want
to suppress the case, hid the reality, protect the
sinners who committed this act, have they ever thought
that this could happen in their own house too, to
their own daughter or wife... What will they do
then?
"My brother, who is the eldest son, the support
of our old father, today when he talks to me, he
starts crying. And I can do nothing, I cannot even
dry my dear brother's tears. Today my heart is weeping
tears of blood along with his tears. Dr Shazia was
the honor of our family, and Inshallah, always will
be. She is the daughter of our household, our daughter-in-law.
In our eyes, she is as pure and unsullied as she
has ever been. Her honor has not reduced, nor will
it ever be. But who knows why this educated society
with its educated people armed with big degrees
talk like illiterates, talk of Karo Kari. I ask
them who has given them the right to pronounce such
a sentence on an innocent, responsible doctor, that
she should be killed, that she has no right to live.
Under what law do they make these statement, where
is the Ayat in the Qur’an that decrees punishment
on the downtrodden?
"... Dr Shazia's condition is deteriorating
by the day. She can't sleep at night. My brother
sits up all night by her side with a light on, she
is afraid of the dark, she screams. What she has
gone through, it is very painful, the horror will
always stay with her deep in her heart. She can't
face anyone, she is unable to meet anyone. A talented
and responsible girl, a professional doctor, a savior
of human beings, is today fighting for her own life.
She just wants to live with the same respect she
had..."
This is a partial translation of the long, heartbreaking
email that Dr Shazia's sister-in-law Sameera Shah
wrote from Canada to the Anaa News list, in Roman
Urdu, posted out on January 31. Anaa is the American
Asian Network Against Abuse of Women, set up by
some concerned ex-pat Pakistani doctors based in
the USA. They run an active email list focusing
on violence against women, http://4anaa.org/, which
has taken up the Sui rape case with great enthusiasm,
including a signature campaign that they hope to
pressure the government into action with. They also
initially offered to try and get Dr Shazia and her
husband over to the USA, but appear to have realized
that such a move is beyond their scope. Now a Canadian
organization of Pakistani-origin professionals has
reportedly made such arrangements.
The Sui rape is probably Pakistan's most high profile
such case since the prominent politician Sardar
Shaukat Hayat went public with the rape of his daughter
Veena Hyat over a decade ago. Then too, there was
a lot of public outrage, demonstrations, petitions
and what not. In the end, those arrested were released
for 'lack of evidence', and Veena Hayat eventually
moved abroad. It is not just women who are raped
who find no hope in this society. Those who marry
without their family's permission also often find
themselves unable to live here, particularly if
their case hits the headlines -- Shaista Almani,
and earlier, Riffat Afridi and Saima Waheed Ropri,
have all had to leave the country with their husbands,
for fear of being killed if they remained in Pakistan.
Obviously, sending threatened women away is no solution
to the problem, but it has become a form of political
asylum. The main reason for this, and for the increase
in violence against women, as has been pointed out
again and again, is the lack of rule of law, the
fact that culprits are never arrested, tried and
punished. The lack, eventually, is of accountability.
And without accountability, we cannot build a just,
democratic society, in which the citizens feel safe
and secure.
It is all very well and good that the government
is engaged in the image building of Pakistan. We
all agree that this country is misrepresented in
the West and even in the East, and that there's
a lot more to life in the Land of the Pure than
violent fanatics who would like to criminalize every
little joy in life (much like the Saudis who banned
red roses on Valentine's Day). But unless we Pakistanis
feel safe and secure in our own land, why would
foreign investors be willing to risk life and limb
in this potentially promising investment climate.
It's only a few crazies more attuned to journalism
and/or social development than investments and finance,
like the Brits George Fulton and Chris Cork, or
Germans Claus Euler and Hans Bremer (all married,
incidentally, to Pakistani women), or the UK-based
American Ethan Casey who will take the risk of living
here for any extended period (There are a few brave
women too).
Pakistan is probably one of the few countries where
violence against women is actually on the rise.
According to official figures cited in the HRCP
Report 2004, an average of a thousand women die
in Pakistan every year as a result of 'honor' killings.
Add to this the thousands who suffer domestic violence,
or are burnt with acid or kerosene, and the picture
that emerges is one of extreme hatred of women (misogyny),
violence, and deep-rooted concepts about women being
the property of men, to do with as they will.
Think of the pain of young Aasiya in Karachi, just
16, raped by her employer's son and then burnt when
she resisted -- doctors were amazed that she survived
as long as she did, for two weeks, with 90 percent
burns. The police refused to even register an FIR,
until the intervention of rights organizations.
In another recent case, Ghazala, a young graduate
working in the advertising section of a local newspaper,
was taken to Islamabad and raped by the owner-editor
who photographed her nude in order to blackmail
her into silence... but Ghazala isn't keeping silent,
just as Aasiya refused to. Her family is standing
by her (her father is a retired Steel Mills worker,
and her mother a principal at a school in Karachi's
Lines area); they have registered an FIR. Dr Shazia
isn't keeping silent either.
The State must support such struggles for women
for justice with more than just words or (inadequate)
bills on 'honor killing'. For Aasiya and others
like her, it is too late. But there are hundreds
if not thousands of other such cases screaming for
justice, accountability, and the rule of law. Until
the government takes steps to ensure these basics,
all attempts at improving Pakistan's image abroad
will remain a superficial veneer.
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