We Can End Honour Killing Launch In Balochistan (16-24 March 2005)

On March 16 2005, the We Can campaign was officially launched in Quetta, Balochistan, with a high profile seminar involving around 500 participants from the district, provincial and national alliances, including representatives from the Government, media, INGOs and the civil society.

The Chief Guest of the launch ceremony was Maulana Abdul Wassay, Deputy Chief Minister and Senior Minister for Planning and Development, Government of Balochistan. In his address, the Minister said that Islam is a moderate religion that condemns extremism and gives equal rights to men and women. He said that in the face of Islam human lives are so precious that just on the basis of suspicion and in the absence of any absolute evidence no punishment could be given to any individual. The minister argued that men suffered as much as women in honour killing incidents.

‘Killing of women on the basis of fornication, heritage and tribal enmity is tantamount to killing of humanity which should be stopped strictly,’ Wassay said. He urged the civil society and human rights’ activists to play an active role in addressing the issue of violence.

Speaking on the occasion, Raheela Durrani, Member of the Provincial Assembly from Balochistan, said that there was no honour in killing women and all persons responsible for such heinous crimes should be uprooted from society. She urged the legislators to put their aside their differences aside and work collectively to eradicate this social curse. She stressed the need to build capacity of legislators and reiterated the importance of the civil society engaging closely with legislators.

Younis Khalid, Regional Director of Aurat Foundation, said honour killing was the most brutal form of violence against women. While endorsing the We Can campaign, he said a lot more needs to be done to end violence against women. He laid emphasis on improved coordination and networking among the civil society to develop a consensus and create awareness among public on the issue.

Barrister Zafarullah Khan, an eminent lawyer, called for the strengthening of legal provisions. He was, however, of the view that besides effective enactment and strict implementation of laws, attitudinal and behavioural changes in society were imperative to appropriately address the issue.

Qari Abdul Rasheed Al-Azhari, a leading religious scholar from Balochistan and member of the Central Roet-e-Halal Committee (The apex body in the country that is entrusted with the task to sight moon and determine the dates for religious calendar of events such as beginning of Ramadan, Muharram, Eid, etc.), said that Islam does not allow killing in the name of honour because according to Islamic injunctions and the teachings of the Quran, killing a person was tantamount to killing the entire humanity and saving one life was equal to saving the whole humanity. He quoted many verses from holy Quran to prove that killing in the name of honour was not allowed under any circumstances in Islam.

Marcus Thompson, Regional Programme Manager Oxfam South Asia Region, highlighted the goals, objectives and priorities of Oxfam in South Asia and gave a brief background of the regional We Can campaign. He said ‘honour’ could not be protected by killing of women. He urged men to recognise their duties at the family and society levels and join hands to end all violence against women.

Farhana Faruqi Stocker, Country Representative Oxfam Pakistan, formally announced the campaign launch by lighting candles along with other guests. She said that the lighting of candles was symbolic of the hope and determination of the campaign to end honour killings of women. Dr Arif Mehmood, Campaign Manager, who facilitated the launch ceremony, elaborated on the We Can Pakistan campaign objectives and strategy.

A poster exhibition on the theme of honour killing was also organised as part of the launch. It was inaugurated by Jamal Shah Kakar, Speaker of the Balochistan Assembly. The posters were created by a number of young women and men aged between 15 and 25 in a national poster competition. Speaking on the occasion, Kakar outlined the programmes initiated by the government of Balochistan for the development of women. He emphasised the need for taking the campaign into the interior and far flung areas of the province by involving the clergy and other influential community-based groups, including tribal leadership.

The exhibition was viewed by over 500 people from different walks of life who took an avid interest in the ideas portrayed by young artists.

Poster Exhibition

Theatre Performance on ‘Honour’ Killing

Tehreek-e-Niswan, a Karachi-based theatre group, performed a special play ‘Aakhir Kiun?’ on honour killing that provoked the 300-strong audience to think on this issue. The performers highlighted the issue of honour killing by juxtaposing real life case studies of women into their performance.

Launch Events In Districts

Following the Quetta launch, campaign activities were held at Naseerabad, Jaffarabad, Sibi and Bolan districts. The We Can allies organised public rallies, open seminars, debates, interactive theatre, music shows, press briefings and special fun fairs for women. It was attended by around 1,500 persons in each of these places. The speakers at districts included district and sub-district nazims, high ranking police and administration officials, academics, political activists, lawyers, religious scholars and members of NGOs and local CBOs. They highlighted the gravity of the crime and pledged to work together to end this practice.

The presence of women in large numbers from district councils is what made the district launches truly remarkable. This was probably the first time that many women had ventured out of their homes. Planned activities in Khuzdar and Jhal Magsi, however, had to be deferred due to law and order problems. In each of the district launches, the speakers claimed that 80 per cent of the honour killings were killings that were unrelated to honour and had to do more with battles of men over property, trade and politics.

Speaking at one of the district launches, a senior district police official shared a case from the night before with the audience. A husband brutally beat up his wife because he had an argument over the food she had cooked. The wife was brought to the hospital by one of Oxfam’s local partners of the We Can campaign and they requested the police to intervene. The senior official said that as a case was officially registered against the husband, he found it difficult to disguise the attempt to kill her as an attempt to kill her for dishonouring the family.

The women were emboldened by the support of the senior police official and assured him that they would disseminate information on women’s rights to their lesser-informed sisters in Union Councils and villages.

Interactive Theatre – Training and Performances

 Interactive Resource Center (IRC), Lahore, an organisation that specialises in interactive theatre techniques, conducted a weeklong training for two theatre groups from Jafferabad and Sibi districts at Quetta in March 2005. The participants were selected by the District We Can campaign alliances and included youth volunteers from local CBOs. As part of the training, two real life case studies of honour killing from these districts were selected and developed into plays. These theatre groups performed during the district launch events and created awareness and dialogue on honour killings effectively.

Campaign Publicity

The campaign launch was covered both by the electronic and print media at the national and provincial levels. Radio Pakistan and BBC Urdu Service broadcasted interviews of selected participants and Oxfam staff. A team of media persons both from Quetta and Islamabad participated in the launch events and covered the activities on a regular basis. A young journalist travelled to the campaign districts and filed a detailed account of the campaign launch activities. It was published in 17 dailies of Balochistan.

Colourful banners and posters carrying campaign slogans and messages were displayed at prominent places in the Quetta city and campaign districts. They generated a lot of interest among the general public. Campaign materials including t-shirts, stickers, key chains, caps, canvas bags and water bottles for school children. In order to make the campaign material effective, meaningful and relevant, the messages identified through a Perceptions Study conducted in six focus districts were pretested and finalised in consultation with the We Can allies. The same messages were displayed on banners, stickers, posters and other campaign materials.

National Alliance Meeting in Quetta

On March 10 2005, the We Can campaign allies held a National Alliance meeting in Quetta to discuss the progress of the campaign. Discussions on the launch plans for Balochistan predominated the session and the participants deliberated on the future campaign initiatives. Participants also debated on how to identify, mobilise and shape ‘Change Makers’ in communities to address the issue of honour killing in Pakistan. Over 100 participants, including legislators, human rights’ activists, religious scholars, lawyers, writers, journalists, electronic media representatives, academics, teachers, nazims, NGOs/CBOs, and youth attended the meeting from all the four provinces of the country. 

A detailed report of the national alliance meeting is available.

We Can End ‘Honour’ Killing Poster Exhibition

Between Monday March 7 and Wednesday March 9 2005, over 100 posters designed by men and women between 15 and 25 years of age from across Pakistan on the theme of We Can End Honour Killing were exhibited at the Nomad Gallery in Islamabad. The posters were a powerful reflection of the young peoples’ perspectives on honour killing and reflected their unhappiness about it. Suhail Safdar, Federal Secretary for Ministry of Women’s Development, inaugurated the exhibition. He condemned the practice of honour killing and shared the schemes that his ministry had initiated to help women survivors. 

A prize distribution ceremony was organised for the best creations The poster exhibition will be displayed in different locations around the country in the lead up to the national campaign launch in November 2005.

A separate detailed report of the posters exhibition is available.

End Honour Killing Sensitisation Workshop for Youth

On March 8 2005, the International Women’s Day, a workshop was arranged by the campaign allies to educate young children about the implications of honour killing. The children, who belonged to low-income schools in and around Islamabad, were made aware of concepts like gender-equity and the rights of women. The workshop included discussions and audio/video displays of young girls and women who were victims of violence The youngsters were encouraged to ask questions and share their views. 

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A nationwide campaign launch is to take place this November. It will reach out across the remaining three provinces of the country - Sindh, Punjab and the North West Frontier Province.

PRE-LAUNCH ACTIVITIES

REPORT ON THE CELEBRATION OF 125 YEARS OF THEATER IN SINDHI LANGUAGE
A PRE-LAUNCH ACTIVITY UNDER THE WE CAN END HONOUR KILLING CAMPAIGN

*Oxfam supported this activity as part of the pre-launch popular actions under the Pakistan We Can campaign

Background

The Indus Valley Theatre Community Advocacy Trust (IVTCAT) used the medium of Sindhi theatre, with a long and rich cultural tradition in Pakistan, to touch on issues related to violence against women. From December 31 2004 to January 5 2005, its members staged plays with different areas of focus. The subjects ranged from “Role of theatre for Socio-cultural change”, “Peace, development, and democracy”, “Human rights”, “Poverty”, “Socio-religious harmony” to “Labour rights". Organisations like the Oxfam GB, Action Aid, PILER, SPO and SAFWCO lent support to the event and the performances included traditional theatre, solo performances and folk theatre.

Seminars And Theatre To End Violence Against Women And Honour Killing (supported by OGB)

The Indus Valley Theater Community Advocacy Trust in collaboration with the Sindh Community Theater Network organised seminars and staged a play on honour killing on the last day of the theatre festival (January 5 2005) to raise awareness and mobilise people on the issue. It was held at the Mumtaz Mirza Auditorium (Hyderabad). Oxfam supported this one-day theatre venture to create linkages for the campaign in Sindh. More than 600 women, girls and men from urban and rural communities; writers; intellectuals; and NGOs participated in the event. 

a) Seminar On Ending Violence Against Women And Karo Kari

The Indus Theatre Valley Theatre organised a seminar on violence against women focusing on Karo Kari in first half of the day. MPA Sausi Palijo, intellectual and writer Amar, advocate Ayaz Latif Paleejo and regional director of SPO Noor Bajeer were the key speakers of the seminar. 

The Programme Coordinator of Oxfam Sindh presented the salient features of the We Can campaign in Pakistan and gave details of the allies associated with the campaign. He argued that honour killing denies a woman her right to life and such killings are used to gain control over the lives of women. The practice also prevents women from realising their full potential and locks them in a cycle of economic and social poverty.

His speech was followed by a keynote address by Ehsan Leghari, IVTCAT’s Director, who highlighted the role that art and culture can play to raise social issues. He said that they had chosen to bring out the gravity of the issue of honour killing through theatre for this very reason. HE mentioned that the IVTCAT had been involved in the consultation process in Sukkur and Karachi workshops and would be a strong ally in We Can Campaign. 

Intellectual and writer, Amar Sindhoo, turned the audience’s attention to the annual report of the Pakistan Human Rights Commission that claims 75 per cent of women in the country fall prey to domestic and physical violence; if invisible violence is added to this, one in four women is assaulted in the country. She pointed out that last year 1,065 women had been subjected to gang rape, 2,866 women were murdered, 1,511 women killed in the name of honour, 3,273 women suffered injuries, 530 women were brunt and 447 women faced deaths of some nature. Despite these grim statistics, she said, violence against women is not taken to be a serious issue that deserves priority attention. 

MPA of the People’s Party Parliamentarians, Sasui Palijo, stated that military dictator Zia ul Haq had introduced repressive laws in the name of Islam some years ago to appease retrogressive forces and gain their support in return. But the laws continue till date and women are the sufferers, she argued. She was also strong in her criticism of the honour killing bill and said that it had been passed without consulting women and members of the civil society. The Kisas and Diyat laws have also not been reviewed, she pointed out.

When an honour killing takes place, the waali (that translates into the owner of the killed woman) has the power to pardon the murderer notwithstanding the fact that even the shariat court allows the marriage of a woman without the consent of her waali. Miss Palijo stressed that it was very important to establish the right of a woman to decide her own marriage.

Recalling the particular case of Shaista Aalmani and Shamshad Shar, she said that though the Sindh High Court had banned the Jirga, police officers continue to support it. She also brought to notice the fact that men who wanted to rid themselves of their wives filed a Hudood case against them that left them defenseless. She called for an urgent repeal to laws, particularly the Hudood ordinance, and addressing loopholes in the legal system. She referred to recent amendments to laws in other country where cases of discrimination and domestic violence against women were being heard by women judges and prosecuted by women advocates. She was keen that such measures be introduced in Pakistan.

MPA Sauai Pallejo speaking against Kari and Hudood Ordinance

b) Plays On Violence Against Women

Pirbhat, Tehreek-e-Niswan, IVTCAT, Ajoka, and other theater groups from Shikarpur focused on Karo Kari and issues relating to violence against women trough their plays. These plays helped in bringing these issues from the private to the public domain and creating linkages with many organisations working in Sindh. The SPO of Sindh and more than 30 CBOs and NGOs have shown their willingness to support We Can campaign in Sindh. The plays have also helped in creating linkages with the civil society, academicians and people from different sections of the society. The plays were telecast on the satellite television channel in Sindh and the English daily ‘Dawn’ reported on the play festival.

Written by Shazia Nizamani, Programme Officer, Oxfam GB Sind Sub Office

Performance by Ajoka-Lahore on Honour Killing