Shocked, Senate dubs trend of setting girls on fire very dangerous

ISLAMABAD: Disturbed by the torching of a young woman Zeenat Rafiq by her mother for marrying a man of her choice, the Senate on Thursday adopted an unprecedented way of mourning by suspending its business for five minutes to give a wake-up call to society over the growing trend of honour killings.

Senators from across the aisle said the gory trend was a cause of national embarrassment at the international level and it was like going back to the pre-Islam era, when females used to be buried.

Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani spoke on the matter and said the setting on fire of daughters was highly condemnable and totally against Islam. He asked the Senate Committee on Human Rights to take stock of this issue and that this act of torching females must be included in the list of heinous crimes against humanity and the message of legislation against it should be issued from parliament.

Later, taking part in the discussion on the burning of Zeenat Rafiq in Lahore, PPP’s Senator Farhatullah Babar warned that such brutal murder and burning of women in the name of honour would continue as long as parliament failed to legislate making such murders non-compoundable.

He called for urgent adoption of the bill moved by former senator Sughra Imam that had been passed unanimously by all political parties in the Senate in March 2015 but could not be passed in the joint session recently for want of consensus.

Babar noted it was beyond comprehension as to why it was opposed by some of these very parties in the joint sitting of parliament after voting for it in the Senate. He talked about what he called the anti-woman bias of the Council of Islamic Ideology as expressed in its recommendations and pronouncements had also contributed to crimes against women with impunity in Pakistan.

He said that the CII had lost its relevance as well as constitutional basis and called for examining the validity of its continued existence and submission of annual reports to parliament.

Senator Sherry Rehman of the PPP said that hundreds of girls had been thrown into flames and called for inclusion of torching of females in heinous crimes. She wanted adoption of the anti-honour killing bill by parliament and setting up an ombudsman for females.

The senator asserted that by making movies and clapping on winning Oscar wards, such crimes could not be stopped. Senator Dr. Jehanzeb Jamaldeni of the BNP-Mengal said it was a very serious matter and needed a serious effort, cautioning, if not stopped, it could lead to more problems.

“Today, again we are heading towards the time of ignorance, when girls were buried alive and today, they are burnt alive,” PML-N Senator Salahuddin Tirmizi asserted. Another PML-N Senator Abdul Qayyum said that the crimes against females were crimes against humanity and those involved should be awarded an exemplary punishment.

JUI-F’s Senator Talha Mehmood said that crimes against females were rampant in far-flung areas  and local administrations were also aware of that but never took action to prevent this gory trend. “Religious militancy is leading to emergence of such crimes. Maulvis and martial laws gave birth to these heinous crimes,” said Senator Karim Khawaja of the PPP.

PML-N’s Nuzhat Sadiq noted relevant laws were there but never implemented and called for their strict implementation to combat the crime.Leader of Opposition Aitzaz Ahsan pointed out during the last two-three weeks, this was the third incident of torching of females and lamented the society was moving towards backwardness and ignorance.

He revealed that slain Ambreen’s killers were exerting pressure for being set free. She was set on fire in Abbotabad. Aitzaz advocated early adoption of the anti-honour killing bill, which was passed by the Senate but a few persons did not allow it to go through the National Assembly.

Leader of the House Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq called for practical steps to stop such killings, whereas he noted Islam for the first time raised its voice for girls and females. He noted with concern that there was an increase in crimes against children.

- Originally appeared in The News