Well well, what matters it! believe that too

And do you think that unto such as you

a maggot-minded, starved fanatic crew

God gave the secret and denied it me

Well well, what matters it! believe that too

(Umer Khayyam by Robert M)

A while ago I read an article about our habit of terming suicide bombers and extremist mentally ill. The article said it is not a mental illness because putting it under this term limits our treatment options, and actually also makes us sympathetic to some extent. The writer was talking about the Palestinian children who grew up watching jihad propaganda and all. In case of Pakistan, kids grew up listening to justifications for killing women in the name of honour or anybody else in the name of religion. The law itself provides for such crimes to be committed with minimum penalties and sentences.

The Pakistan Penal Code in this regard covers Qatl-i-amd (Culpable Homicide, which varies geographically) Sections 302, 324, 337 and 338, which accommodate killers who commit the crime in the name of honour. It is defined as: “{offence committed in the name or on the pretext of honour} means an offence committed in the name or on the pretext of karo kari, siyah kari or similar other customs or practices.” The punishment for such people is minimum five years, which gives a lot of leeway for offenders in getting away by terming almost any murder an honour killing. Hence, the justifications and support this act receives is also large.

With such provisions in the law, one must not wonder if the collective psyche of the nation instead of condemning such acts actually condones them. Women have been the most targeted under these laws, for reasons starting with the man wanting to take another wife and not being able to afford two at a time, to property matters where a brother kills his sister or sisters/mother to be the sole benefactor.

The recent case for Veena Malik, a Pakistani actor, is clearly testament to the misogynist psyche where women are not only considered as a property, but also their body a ‘safe’ for the ‘honour’ of the entire country. The medias’ role in this scenario instead of being open minded and supportive has been hypocritical and extremely biased. Especially the right wing media groups like Jang, Geo, and most prominently Express 24/7. Instead of forwarding support, the whole episode has been given a religious colour, which of course is one of the best ways to instigate a reaction.

These issues need to be addressed on a serious note, especially by the secular media. Instead of keeping the messages subtle and ambiguous, due to religious and social restraints, the message should be clear and in your face. The secular media as well as civic society and other secular and liberal groups should take a stand for the lady and stand by her. Not wait for her to be a target like Salman Taseer, this time for something as petty as the choice of clothes and a few stolen hugs with a guy.

Hemline of 'ghairat'

The media charade over Veena Malik’s participation in the Indian show Bigboss has been going on for weeks. But yesterday it reached its ultimate heights when she confronted a Maulana on live television and asked him the questions every woman of this region wants to ask the male dominated religio-fanatic society. It seems no matter how advanced we get, the ‘ghairatmeters’ are still stuck on how women behave or not behave here.

One almost wants to cry when the only thing that seems to ruffle the calm of this otherwise dead general public is the hemline of a girls dress. How easily the sensibilities of the religious get offended by the Veena Maliks or the Sania Mirzas who dare to take a step for their emancipation. Who challenge the set norms for women and break the bounds which define the fragile ego and ‘ghairat’ of the men in sub-continent. Or rather I must say the so called ego and ‘ghairat’ of the religious bigots who are slaves to their tribal mentality.

Why are these humane people not shocked by the suicide bombs? Why do they not come out on the roads and demonstrate against the religious seminaries where they not only molest children, but also train them to kill others? Why do the Maulvies not become so vociferous when talking to another Maulvi and accuse him of sodomizing a child? But how can they do that? The hands of their ‘ghairatmeter’ are tangled in the bra strap of a girl and their eyes are glued to the hemline of Veena Malik’s skirt.

Everything else, including the sodomized, crying children, are nothing compared to a hug given by a ‘Musalmaan Larki’ to another guy. The children of the nation can go and blow themselves up one by one to be with hot virgins in the surreal ‘Jannat’ but in realtime, women cannot be hot.

They can let their children die and get molested by nasty bearded men belonging to the religion of so-called peace, but lo and behold, the garb of a woman should be modest. Why modest, because if they don’t dress modestly, they will lead the pious men away from the true path. But I want to know, what is the true path and who are the pious men? The only true path according to Muslims, leads them to a place of booze and women. And the pious men dream of being with 72 virgins in a place where booze is free and limitless. So why be such hypocrites in this life?