Balochistan assembly passes resolution against honour killings

A landmark resolution was adopted by the southwestern province of Balochistan’s provincial assembly on Tuesday, which urged the federal government to produce laws protecting women from honour killings, according to a parliamentarian. “We would like a bill to be passed as well, just as the resolution on “karo-kari” [honour killings] was passed in the assembly yesterday,” Dr Shama Ishaque, a National Party parliamentarian, told IRIN from the Balochistan capital, Quetta. “We would like it to be turned into law,” she explained. The resolution comes less than a fortnight after President Pervez Musharraf intervened personally in the matter of a young woman from the southern province of Sindh, which borders Balochistan, who had been forced to flee her native rural area in October since she feared for her life following her decision to marry a man from a different tribal group. Musharraf ordered the Sindh provincial government to ensure Shaista Almani’s safety after she sought refuge in the port city of Karachi following her forcible return to the village of Ghotki after which her newly-wed husband was pressured into divorcing her by tribal elders. According to rights activists, more than 1,200 women fell prey to honour killings across the country, out of a total of nearly 4,000 cases of violence against women reported in 2003. A similar resolution is due to come up for debate before Pakistan’s national assembly in its next session. Activists campaigning for an end to honour killings feel that if the law is passed, it will constitute a major step forward in the battle to end the crime. Dr Ishaque feels the same way. “These decisions should be made in court, instead of in the tribal or jirga system, as they are at present,” she stressed.