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‘honour killing a collective act of violence’

Islamabad-Honour killing is a collective act of violence and incomplete legislation from the state paves way for acquittal of people responsible for the act, speakers said on Saturday.

A panel discussion was held on gender violence, law and power in the country at 5th Islamabad Literature Festival (ILF).

Legislatures Sherry Rehman, Nafeesa Shah and social activists Ijaz Shafi discussed the book ‘Honor Unmasked’ written by Nafeesa Shah, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) legislature.

The panellists held state and tribal custom equally responsible for honour killing, as both instead of protecting a human life in spread insecurity in the citizen.

Author of the book Nafeesa Shah said that honour killing is collective act of violence where victim is not given the right of defence.

“Mob decides the fate of karo/kari which are taken as polluters and nobody can challenge that decision,” she said.

The author also said that most of the cases are not reported and the cases which are reported to state institution have to face legal complications which give safe passage to killers.

“Court follows law in such cases which also allows relatives of the victim to pardon the relatives involved in honour killing,” she said.

She said that honour killing is rational murder; parliamentarians divided opinion on the issue is a hurdle on strict legislation against this crime.

Senator Sherry Rehman said that it is a dire need to change the society in this regard.

“Every day struggle from every section of life is required to bring structural change in the society to prevent honour killing,” she said.

Meanwhile, citizens thronged the ILF on its second day by attending interactive sessions, dialogues, performances and literary activities.

According to details, residents of twin cities portrayed their interest not only for literature but also for the literary icons belonging to different countries of the world.

On second day of ILF, Fasi Zaka moderated a session “Preparing the Citizens of Tomorrow:  Are we Succeeding or Failing?”

The session was held to critique the current education provision in Pakistan. Featuring participants like Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Nadia Naviwala, Shahid Siddiqui, and Ishrat Hussain. Reema Abbasi moderated a session ‘Lost Heritage: The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan’, a nostalgic search for historic monuments and temples eroded by time which included the author Amardeep Singh and F S Aijazuddin.

To discuss the core issue of water, a special session “Where has all the Water gone? Experts and concerned citizens debate the water crisis in Pakistan” was held in which Nisar A Memon, Kaiser Bengali, and Aaron Mulvany discussed the issue with moderator Rina Saeed Khan. A Performance by Nimra Bucha and Sarmad Khoosat on readings from Amrita Pritam and Sahir Ludhianvi’s poetry focusing on their unique vision and elusive, unspoken romance was also featured on the second day of ILF.

To discuss the women’s issues in politics, AWAZ program presented a special session ‘Women and Excluded Groups in Political Parties and Legislative Bodies’ in which Marvi Sirmed, Zafarullah Khan, and Bushra Gohar participated along with the moderator Shirin Gul.

‘Hyat-e-Shayr’ and ‘Sur Mandal Ka Raj’ by Ali Akbar Natiq, ‘How Pakistan Got Divided’ by Maj Gen (R) Rao Farman Ali and ‘The Arts and Crafts of Hunza Valley in Pakistan: Living Traditions in the Karakoram’ by Jurgen Wasim Frembgen were also launched on the second day.

On the eve of the second day, ILF hosted an amazing Mushaira (poetry recitation) which was moderated by Shakeel Jazib while many renowned poets from twin cities including Kishwar Naheed, Iftikhar Arif, Imran Aami, Saeed Shaariq, Saeed Ahmad, Qamar Raza Shahzad, Harris Khalique, Ali Akbar Natiq, Manzar Naqvi, Zia ul Hassan, Akhtar Usman, Sarwat Mohiuddin, Qasim Yaqoob, Rehman Faris, and Nasira Zuberi read from their writings.

The Nation