Motif of violence

The Hindu ^ | Jul 13, 2008 | KALPANA SHARMA

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Afghanistan is once again in the news with the horrific bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul. Violence has remained a motif in a country trying hard to build a peaceful civil society. Everyone pays for this continuing violence — men, women and children — not just with their lives but also through the abysmal quality of their lives if and when they do survive.

Although some things have improved in Afghanistan since the Taliban regime was removed, much remains difficult to tackle, not least the problems women face. Hamid Karzai’s government has set up a Ministry of Women’s Affairs to deal with women’s issues, has emphasised education for girls, has tried to deal with the other forms of violence to which women are daily subjected. But the instability in the country appears to undo the good that is being done.

Thus, the slow progress of getting girls to enrol in schools has been adversely affected with the forced closure of 350 schools in the last year in the Taliban-dominated southern part of the country. Making a dent on the low literacy levels — 85 per cent of women are illiterate — becomes virtually impossible under such circumstances.

Another custom that has been difficult to reverse has been that of forced marriages, where even under-age girls are forced to marry men much older than them. One indication of the desperation of women caught in such circumstances is the increasing incidence of self-immolation as a form of suicide. According to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission ( www.aihrc.org.af ), such acts are increasing. Last year, 165 such suicides were recorded. It is possible that many are never reported.

Universal phenomenon

But violence against women is a motif that extends beyond Afghanistan. It is common to all societies although in some it takes a more horrific form. In several countries around the world, where traditional laws continue to be practised, women have no court of appeal to which they can turn when traditional courts order punishment or death for “honour” crimes. Even where there are laws banning such practices, they continue to be practised with impunity.

“There is no ‘honour’ in killing”, a report of the South Asian Seminar on Honour Killings that was held in Mumbai in 2006, brings this out vividly. The report was released last month by former Pakistan Supreme Court judge, Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid. It emphasises that the concept of “honour” in all societies is premised on women’s bodies and their behaviour. Norms are set on how women should behave, whom they can marry and how they should conduct their lives. These norms are rooted in patriarchy, based on what men believe is a woman’s place. “Honour” of the community, the caste and even the nation is vested in women. So if women deviate from these norms, they are deemed to be violating this “honour”. And for this they are punished, sometimes even with death. Men are not spared either. There are innumerable reports of men and women being killed for marrying outside their caste or religious community.

The report cites examples from several countries in this region — Afghanistan, Pakistan and also India. Dr. Rubina Saigol from Pakistan, for instance, points out that “honour” killings are not restricted to tribal societies or rural areas but also take place in Pakistani cities like Lahore. “In ‘honour killings’,” she writes, “honour becomes the cover for material and symbolic gain and attainment of power. Women’s bodies are its signifiers as well as the material values which intersect with symbolic values.”

Still a struggle

One of the striking cases cited in the report is by Niti Saxena of the Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives (AALI). This is the story of Lata Singh, a woman of the Thakur caste in Uttar Pradesh who was punished for choosing a man of a lower caste to be her husband. Her brothers, who objected to the marriage, filed charges of kidnapping against her husband’s family even though Lata was not a minor. They also forcibly took over her husband’s land in the village. Lata had the courage to take her case to the National Human Rights Commission and fought through several courts before she finally got some justice when she appealed to the Supreme Court.

In an important ruling delivered on July 7, 2006, Justice Markandey Katju made remarks that are relevant for all time. He said, “The caste system is a curse on the nation and the sooner it is destroyed the better. In fact, it is dividing the nation… inter-caste marriages are in fact in the national interest as they will result in destroying the caste system. However, disturbing news are coming from several parts of the country that young men and women who undergo inter-caste marriage, are threatened with violence, or violence is actually committed on them. In our opinion, such acts of violence or threats or harassment are wholly illegal and those who commit them must be severely punished. This is a free and democratic country, and once a person becomes a major he or she can marry whosoever he/she likes…We sometimes hear of ‘honour’ killings of such persons who undergo inter-caste or inter-religious marriage of their own free will. There is nothing honourable in such killings, and in fact they are nothing but barbaric and shameful acts of murder committed by brutal, feudal-minded persons who deserve harsh punishment. Only in this way can we stamp out such acts of barbarism.”

I have quoted from the judgment at some length for two reasons. One, it is reminder to us that “honour” killings are not exclusive to one society, one religion, one tribal group or one community and that they also take place in India. And two, that laws that can work in favour of the victim are only efficacious if the victim is empowered to fight for justice. In this case, Lata Singh did and she finally won. Although the judgment is unlikely to change the views of her brothers, it will at least remind them, and others like them, that there is a justice system in this country.

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