No honour in murder

LAHORE: There is no honour in killing women and those involved in honour killing must not be left unpunished, speakers at the National College of Arts said.

NCA held a dialogue titled ‘No Honor In Killing – Making Visible Buried Truth’ at the NCA Auditorium on Saturday where various distinguished people spoke. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Secretary General IA Rehman said a series of operations were needed to put an end to honour killing, the most important of it being economic independence for women. He said that the only way of ending crime against women was to give them an equal status to men. He added thirty years ago, honour killing was confined to the tribal belt only but today our so-called civilized cities like Karachi and Lahore have also come in its grip.

Rehman said that ordinances like Qisas and Wadiat were highly flawed and had become a license to kill women. “We have to have a clear stance that no system can allow to murder a woman for honor,” he said.

A women rights activist from Karachi, Uzma Norani said that there was a dire need to strengthen social structures to end the crimes against women. She also suggested that shelter homes should be built to provide refuge to these women who become a victim of crimes in the name of honour. Activists from Bahawalpur and Multan also attended the dialogue and talked about the problems women face in their respective areas.

An award-winning documentary on Mukhtara Mai, a gang-rape victim, by Beena Sarwar was also screened.

The event was also marked by a touring exhibition at the Zahoor-ul-Akhlaq Gallery of NCA, where some 26 artists displayed their work on the theme ‘There isn’t any honour in killing women’. NCA Principal Naazish Atta-Ullah and other senior artists including former NCA principal Salima Hashmi, artist Michu and others were also present on the occasion.

The exhibition will also visit Hyderabad, Khairpur, Quetta, Multan,, Islamabad, Peshawar and Karachi. At all locations the core exhibition of 20 renowned artists will be supported with an exhibition on the same theme by the local artists and art students. The exhibition aims at highlighting the increase in ‘Honour Crimes’ in recent years.

The exhibition will continue till December 8.
Source: Daily Times
Date:12/6/2009