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Personal jails belonging to and run by Sindhi Wadayraas (Feudal Lords) are common in Sindh. These jails are used to imprison Harees (poor peasants) and their families who are unable to pay their ever-increasing debts to the landowners. Imprisoned Harees are not protected by law and practice; and it is understood throughout Sindh that the treatment of Harees, outside of these jails and especially inside, is egregious.
A colleague of mine told me about a girl of about thirteen or fourteen years old whom she had met recently. The young girl was very thin, with a covered head. She relayed the following to my colleague: “What worth does my body have? Does it have the feather of the proverbial surkhab or is it studded with diamonds and pearls? My brother's eyes forever follow me. My father's gaze guards me all the time, stern and angry... If it is so precious that it must be watched at all times, then why must I labour in the fields? Why don't they do all the work by themselves? We, the women, work in the fields all day long, bear the heat and the sun, sweat and toil and we tremble all day long, not knowing who may cast a look upon us. For if someone looks at us, we may be accused of dishonouring the family, and then be condemned kari and murdered." The young girl continued: "In a small village close by, there's an old man called Karim Dada. As a little girl I used to play in his lap. He is known and respected by my family. The other day I was working alone in the fields. Dada Karimoo passed by. I called out to him, "Dada, can you help me lift this crate of tomatoes and place it on my head. I have to carry it. He said, ‘You are like one of my daughters and very dear to me. But you should never call out to me, never speak to me. Your brothers are extremely cruel. If I help you put the crate on your head, somebody looking from a far might suspect something else. Together with this old man, your precious little life will also go to waste.’ I cannot even talk to men who are old enough to be my father or grandfather.” She looked at herself with flaming red eyes as if she wanted to spit out her body. She is taught to blame her body for being a potential threat to her life.
This young girl is Meeran who lives in Khosa Goth, a small village in Kandiyaro and Darbelo in the district Naushehro Feroze. In this village a 13-day-old girl was recently declared kari and put to death.
HONOUR KILLINGS:
The stories are, tragically, plentiful: In an interview with a young woman last month, it was revealed that she had fled from her village in the Khairpur district because the tribal elders there declared her “kari” The reasons for the charges, it turns out, were that her husband and father-in-law levelled the false charge because they were opposed to her being a schoolteacher.
The woman, Rozina, who belongs to the Ujan tribe, told she had been forced to leave Sukh Wahan village in taluka Gambat after her husband, Sadiq Ujan, charged her with having an affair with a 15-year-old boy and threatened to kill her. Rozina Ujan said she and Sadiq are cousins who were married only five months ago, and that she was now pregnant.
The woman, who is in her mid-20s, said she had received secondary education, and her husband and his father, Naik Mohammad, charged her with being a “kari” after failing to pressure her into leaving her job at a private school in Sukh Wahan.
The woman said she and the boy, Sheral, were found innocent at a tribal jirga convened on March 13 after her husband levelled the charge against her on March 4. But tribal elders held another jirga on March 28, which denounced her and Sheral as “kari” and “karo,” she added. The jirga ordered the boy’s family to pay a fine of Rs80,000 to the family of her husband, who had asked him to divorce his wife. But although Sadiq Ujan complied, she decided to come to Karachi because she still felt her life to be in danger.
There are lot of girls who are declared "Kari", but still not killed called "dohi" get refuge in the so-called safe house" called "kot" of the feudal lords where they are totally at the mercy of the area king who and his henchmen use and abuse them, which is not very difficult to imagine. The sitting Chief Minister (CM) is on the record to have statement that he like to kill all the Kari’s (Monthly Herald, Karachi). It’s a well established fact that the majority of that type of killing occur in the area to which the incumbent CM belong, tribal clashes between Mehar (CM belong to this tribe) and Almani clan which resulted in numbers of deaths on the Shaista Almani marriage issue. His clan has one of the largest "kot" where hundreds of innocent girls are dumped without any voice, just like silent birds with severely wounded wings.
The present law protect the accused in honour killing because it said that emotions, personal and family honour forced the persons to do this act in fits, so it's a bail able offence. This law was introduced by the British colonial rulers.
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Aftab Khan
25 years old Electronics & Computer System Engineer by Education and an activist of Human rights and Women Rights. Presently living in exile in Sweden since october 2003 due to the involvment in a campaign against the injustice in the society and undemocratic Military Government in Pakistan
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