11 things that moved me towards JOY

Since childhood, I have been hearing quotes like “Joy is your original nature”, “Joy is within you” from different philosophers, spiritual masters etc but couldn’t understand how. Personally happiness has always been a point of interest for me and I have always seen happiness as the epitome of all success. When I was very little, my permanent prayer would be “ Dear God, make me happy forever”.

It’s hard in this fast paced society to find time for self and avoid complaining about various external factors we assume as our reasons to be away from joy. With time and experience, I added certain things to my life effortlessly and they moved me towards joy. Its not that I don’t get sad anymore because I still cry, get angry, have some unhealthy habits, get involved in arguments, get emotionally low but I can tell with full confidence that most of the time in my life, I feel a constant inner joy and below are the 11 reasons why.

1. Wake up early and sleep early

I wake up at 4:00 am and make sure I don't miss the sunrise. This gives me 4 hours of my personal time before going to work, helps me enhance my productivity, I feel healthier mentally, enjoy my quiet time and it has improved the quality of my sleep.

2. Yoga, breathing and meditation

I have attended many courses of the Art of Living in which I learnt sun salutations, padma sadhna, three-stage pranayama and Kriya. Every morning at sunrise I do 12 rounds of sun salutations followed by three stage pranayama, forceful breathing, chanting and kriya (breathing and meditation) and when I open my eyes I feel as fresh as a new being every day. All of this takes 1 and a half-hour and by 6:00 am I am done. This practice helps me stay in the moment, gives me clarity of mind and besides many other benefits it helps me experience a deep inner peace of mind.

3. Morning bath

I have a bath playlist which has classical music from Bach, Beethoven and some violin tracks that I play while taking a bath with full awareness of the moment and it makes me feel alive, present and beautiful. I use shampoo only once a week and natural coconut conditioner once a week, rest of the days I use only water and when my hair gets dry I put a little bit of rose water in my scalp. By 6:30 am, I am done with ironing clothes, shower and changing into clothes for work

4. Never miss Breakfast

I weigh only 46 Kgs so I may not be having a very healthy breakfast but I have scrambled eggs with cheese, mushrooms, olives and some veggies with bread and masala tea (or green tea). I cook my breakfast myself and cut vegetables in a meditative state giving 100% to everything that I do with total consciousness. I feel it’s the most important meal of my day.

5. Reading/Browsing/tweeting

At around 7:30 am, I read the newspaper, contribute my bit on Twitter, check all of my social media pages and whatsapp, welcome people to the new day and read a few pages from a book. I mostly read philosophy, spiritual or motivational books and sometimes I choose to watch videos on YouTube of different spiritual gurus, authors and philosophers.

6. Job to earn 

From 9:00 to 5:00 I do a job in an NGO working for human rights and providing humanitarian assistance in emergencies. In these 8 hours besides coming home to have lunch, I don't know anything about the outside world and I am 100% into the work that I am getting and enjoy the salary it gives me by the end of the month. I earn good enough to pay my bills, have good food, help someone in need and travel within the country. At work I stay in the moment and I don't plan any activity for future and neither do I bother myself with anything that happened in the past. If I am bound to plan something specific for near future, I just write it down on a notepad and know in my heart that I will manage it.

7. Service to humanity

I run a little charity that works for equality for all and I have a big vision of what to do. When I come back from work, I meditate for 20 minutes which helps me take rest and after that I spend my time on working on my vision which includes work on registering my NGO, raising funds, spreading awareness, contacting people from the areas where I am involved in working, implementing activities in different areas of need and listening to people from different areas about their issues as I get messages from people of various geographic locations with their serious issues/matters and I then work on their solutions. I also spend this time being an activist on social media or attending protests favouring the causes I support. 

8. Traveling/ connecting with nature

I make sure I leave the town I am living in at least once a month, come what may. As I am sure about doing this in my life, I never have to make an effort to plan it but it happens automatically. Similarly I make sure that on the weekends I go into the woods, hills or near any water falls, rivers etc., I make sure that I feel the grass barefoot and also in the beginning of the year I aim for a few countries to visit and I make sure I visit at least one other country once a year. 

9. Learning a skill

I never spend my time without consciously learning a new skill. I don't learn it for my ambitions, I don't learn it for any reason but I make it a part of my life to be involved in learning at least one new skill. It can be learning a new musical instrument, learning new asanas of yoga, doing a new course on leadership, human rights, and gender equality, learning a new language or anything that interests me. It always remains a part of my life.

10. Leisure time / Spending time with family and friends

Everyday before sleeping, I effortlessly find leisure time. It's normally between 8:oo pm and 10:00 pm when I hear music actively, meet friends and spend quality time with family, watch some interesting tv series like house of cards, elementary, game of thrones etc , dance with my friends and family members, play some indoor games, do colouring or chat with friends on whatsapp. By 10:00PM I am asleep. 

11. Angel signs

Various beings/things that I encounter in my day, I take them seriously and notice them as my angels giving me guidance. It could be a feather on my way, butterflies, dragonflies, peacocks, something from my dreams or meditations. These angel signs can come as a validation or answer to a question i may have asked, or they may serve to simply remind me that my angels are with me, and that they’re ready and willing to help.

  

This lifestyle may sound mundane to some but has a lot of room to play around with the daily activities, it may sound tough to some but our body gets used to a conscious routine very easily and everything gets effortless eventually. I am sharing my daily routine with everyone because however my day is and whatever is happening in my life, when i am aware of it, it helps me remain at peace and joy. This routine helps me improve my life on a moment-to-moment basis and also helps me spread joy, love and peace around me. Everyday is a fulfilling experience and every moment looks magical. This has also helped me gain more empathy, and the power of intuition. I have met some amazing people on my journey and each one of them works as a magical mentor for me.

On a final note it's in our best interest to invest the time in selves and see what works for us the best and remember that what I feel today as the best may be completely opposite to what I feel tomorrow as we all constantly change.

Slavery Exists

“This injustice I face is not my fate” – Veerji Kolhi (Advocate/Social Activist, was involved in bonded labor for four years.) Bonded labor is an extensive form of slavery. It is a system of forced labor, under which a debtor enters or is presumed to have entered into an agreement with the creditor for doing work in consideration of a said amount, which sometimes is of a substantial nature. As defined by the ILO, "a bonded laborer refers to a worker who renders service under conditions of bondage arising from economic considerations, notably indebtedness through a loan or advance. When debt is the root cause of the bondage, the implication is that the worker (or dependents or heirs) is tied to a particular creditor for a specified period until the loan is repaid." Bonded labor exists in all areas of Pakistan in one-way or another. It exists in agriculture with farmers working in the fields, at brick kilns and even in factories and mines. “10 years ago, we had drought in our village, Koya Nagarparkar and we had to migrate to Umarkot to a feudal lords farm. The feudal lord offered us work and good wages, so we started working there. His men followed us while we worked and made our lives very hard especially for our young unmarried girls. The men who married women from other villages were told that the feudal lord would consummate the first night of marriage because he bore the expenses of the wedding. Men and women used to work separately and we didn’t see our men for 6 months in the rainy season. Many people were killed and buried in the fields where they would run the remains with a tractor at night removing any trace of the corpse. They also made life very hard for my husband. One day they called him to the meeting area and offered him money. For two days no body knew where he was and on the third day we received his dead body “- Punni (documented by Mehrgarh – a center for learning) Bonded labor IS deeply rooted in the exploitative feudal system, which operates on power hierarchies, absolute control over people’s true democratic rule and elected democracies and has been further worsened by the recent devastating economic situation in Pakistan that has pushed countless people below the poverty line. From taking loans for marriages and medical assistance to simply surviving and feeding oneself, individuals not only pledge themselves but their entire families into bonded labor. Illiteracy has played its part in worsening the situation as people with financial needs are tricked into taking loans which are impossible to pay off in the given time frame and therefore are passed on down in the family. High interest rates, low wages and the employers’ negligent attitude toward laborers are just some of the reasons a loan is impossible to pay off. In majority of the cases, the employer tampers with the loan records and coerces the laborer to work indefinitely or face the consequences. The debt accumulated is passed down from generation to generation thereby creating an irreversible cycle of slavery. Bonded child labor is also a result of the peshgi system where a family member takes advance payment from an employer and in return pledges the child to work until the loan is paid off. The landed aristocracy has either maintained strong ties with elected assemblies or are sometimes even a part of them. Similarly, as a controlled mechanism, they have either kept strong ties with the law enforcing agencies and left little room for them to operate on their own. The disbalance between the economic and social structure mainly leads people in total standing of dependence leading them to bonded labor, as on one hand there is high

concentration of ownership, power and influence while on the other hand there are people with no ownership or means of production, neither any social standing or security. “We were like slaves that they had purchased. I cannot even tell you how we suffered. They used to do whatever they felt like doing to us. We were only given enough food to keep us alive. If we died, they would loose their laborers and the work would stop.” – Wakeelan Rajput from Khanewal. (activist/president brick kiln union, Azad Nagar) There have been anti-slavery laws for long but when ILO and Asian Bank conducted a survey, the result showed that about 2 million people were involved in bonded labor. The issue was raised and The Bonded Labor Abolition Act 1992 was introduced. The law was passed in 1992 and its rules in 1995 so it wasn’t used for three years. This law states that an individual living in a society can not be bound under any circumstance or agreement and if any loan is granted under any agreement, after the enactment of this law, it would be considered invalid. Most importantly, a district vigilance committee was to be made in every district to monitor its implementation but unfortunately from 1995 to 2015, we cannot be certain that one such vigilance committee has been made in every district. There was one set up in Hyderabad, but limited initiatives have been taken under it. Regrettably, this law has hardly been used for charging the violators and despite the declaration of bonded labor as a crime under “Pakistan Penal Code”, no violator has been charged with any punishment. The only result of these cases have been the liberation of slaves from bondage but the crimes reported by the victims like imprisoning them, putting them in chains, rape of women and murder of their family members have gone un-acknowledged. Several reasons have been used to justify the non-implementation including the change in the third tier of governance through local bodies where magistrates cease to exist and alternative term comes up. The federal law minister sent out instructions to cover this change in each law, through a notification and a generic notification was sent to cover any act to change the terminology to match the local body system but still did not help in its implementation. After the historical 18th amendment, the provinces are expected to take charge of their portfolios. It is recommended that the Bonded Labor Act 1992 should get implemented first and then the provinces can take their own decisions on its amendments. Federal and Provincial Government should ensure the enactment of this law, make sure that conviction for violators set a precedent. It is their duty to take the legislation seriously and properly notify the relevant authorities for its implementation. It is also recommended that the election commission should disqualify political candidates who are engaged in the practice of bonded labor on their lands. The government must work in close collaboration with the civil society who has collected data and information to play a greater role in the proper allocation and distribution of the funds for their rehabilitation. “We want our government to give us the rights we deserve, so that we don’t have to worry anymore about slavery. The rest we will work out ourselves, we will make our living. We feel that even though we don’t live there anymore, we are still trapped in prison as we can not leave our homes in the fear that they will kidnap us again” – Laxmi Kohlan

published in dailytimes on July 7th, 2015

It's now or never

On 16th December, 7 members of the inhuman Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) ferociously killed 145 people including 132 children and the number is still rising. This horrible Genocide in Army Public School Peshawar has left the silent Pakistanis shocked and disgusted. It is like when you lose a family member, not anyone outside can completely empathize with your pain. Pakistan as a family has lost its children. Had it been the first time it had happened in Pakistan, we would have been hopeful to get all kinds of terrorists eliminated but that is not the case. Pakistan has a habit of forgetting its wounds. Guns have silenced many of us and a doubtless fact is that many of us are still not able to believe the statements of TTP as we have been forced into confusion by our very own.

It took Pakistan some 30 to 35 years to be changed into a mindset that spreads hatred, radicalization, conspiracy theories and doubts because of how we have been truly brainwashed. The fact of the matter is there are still humans living in this country. We are all in pain, we are tired of burying innocent bodies everyday and we have finally united against terrorism. The silent majority has started to conclusively speak demanding only action. It may take us the same number of years to change back the mindset but the outcome of that mindset is the first thing that has to be completely eradicated.

In Bertrand Russels’s words though written a long time ago but still very current given the scenario in Pakistan, “The world is suffering from intolerance and bigotry, and from the belief that vigorous action is admirable even when misguided; whereas what is needed in our very complex modern society is calm consideration, with Readiness to call dogmas in question and freedom of mind to do justice to the most diverse point of view.”

Recently we saw the manifestation of such a mindset again. A cleric who had been openly responsible for kidnappings and attacking Pakistanis with weapons they had collected in the Laal Masjid, ran away in a burqa after being attacked back by the army, arrested and then released by our very own and given a lot of airtime by our very own. He refused to call the children brutally killed by TTP as Martyrs, he even called the TTP his brothers and immensely hurt our sentiments. When the brave civil society of Pakistan protested against his statements, he threatened to attack them on which the civil society filed an FIR against him.

Pakistan is signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) that grants all children the right to survival, development, protection and participation. Pakistan is also signatory to The United Nations International Convention on Civil and political Rights (ICCPR) to ensure that no one is denied his or her right to due process of law, freedom of life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. Pakistan’s state can be held accountable in case of failure to safeguard these rights.

The civil society urges the Government to take an action against Mulzim Abdul Aziz. Today Monday 22nd December,2014 we are all gathering outside Aabpara

Police Station at 5:00 PM to demand justice. It is an appeal to all Pakistanis to break the silence, never forget more than 50,000 lives taken by the terrorists and join the movement of getting the people who terrorize us behind bars. It really is now or never. We have been silent on killings in the name of religion just thinking that tomorrow our house can be on fire too. Our house is on fire already, put it off and stand united against terrorism and their apologists.

published on 22nd December, 2014 in dailytimes

Child Labor in Cotton Growing Districts of Pakistan

Pakistan is a large producer of cotton in the world. Globally, Pakistan produces 9% of the total global cotton production and is considered the fourth largest producer of cotton in the world and the third largest global consumer. However, despite enjoying this status, Pakistan ranks among the top ten countries producing cotton by using forced child labour. Regrettably for decades now, children as young as 10 have been forced to pick cotton under appalling condition each harvest season. Children, particularly girls, usually work whole day during the sowing and picking seasons. These children and their families are exposed to pesticides causing life-threatening harms to their lives. In addition to that, the primary healthcare services are insufficient and unattainable. The education system either excludes many children or offer poor quality education in a highly unprotected environment.

As per a recent survey conducted by Save the Children in two cotton growing districts i.e., Lodhran in Punjab and Shaheed Benazir Abad in Sindh, Child labour prevalence rate in Shaheed Benazirabad is 50% and in Lodhran is 43%. While the findings show that in Benazirabad 71.4% and in Lodhran 68% of 5 - 17 years of age children are engaged in the agriculture sector, including cotton sector. 22%, which is a significant number of households in Shaheed Benazir Abad, and 16% in Lodhran reported that children suffer harassment and physical punishment at work. The actual numbers may be higher, as there is general consensus amongst experts that this significant proportion remains unreported. The poor state of child rights in the two districts remains similar to rights violations in most other rural areas in Pakistan. A large proportion of children are denied their fundamental rights to survival, development, protection and participation and they can therefore, if addressed in a structured way together with learning from model work already initiated by some NGOs, pave way for building contextual appropriate systems to protect children and have a long-lasting impact.

The main reason for forcing children to work is poverty which pushes families to send children to work in hazardous conditions in addition to a mix of non-child friendly socio-cultural values, structural inequalities, inadequately resourced and incomplete public child protection systems putting children at risk to abuse, violence, exploitation and neglect. There is also Poor quality, access and non-inclusive basic education, leading to non-attendance, dropouts and in turn fuelling child labour. The lack of knowledge is of grave concern besides the lack of access to and availability of skilled work force for quality healthcare.

Pakistan is seriously deficient in targets for almost all Millennium Development Goals. An estimated 12 million children are working in Pakistan, out of which 5 million children are engaged in hazardous forms of labor and 1.7 million children are enslaved in bonded labor.

The responsible government must work for protection of rights of children working in the cotton farming areas or are at risk of being engaged in child labor. There should be a strategy based on empowerment of communities, with special focus on engaging and

empowering mothers. There is a dire need of creating and strengthening child protection mechanisms at the community, districts and provincial level in order to increase access of children to school. Quality of education must also be improved with an addition of promoting health education for protection from hazards from working in cotton fields and promoting mother child health in cotton communities through strengthening existing health care and education systems. A program like Benazir Income Support program has already successfully focused on economic empowerment of mothers, similar fruitful initiatives could be taken for adolescent girls and boys for them to support the family income, which can lead to withdrawal of children from work.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was ratified in 1989 by 192 states, where Pakistan ratified it in 1990. The UNCRC has helped protect children worldwide for the last 20 years. In Pakistan, however a breakthrough in the protection of child rights can only be reached if two national child protection bills tabled in parliament in 2009 are enacted into law. The Charter of Child Rights Bill which commits the federal government to take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect children and the Protection of Children Bill which makes sexual abuse of children, corporal punishment and child marriage offences punishable by imprisonment and/or fines. The Protection of Children Bill also provides for the setting up of a network of child protection institutions. The sooner we turn these two bills into law, the quicker would resources be routed into protecting our children from labor and abuse.

published in dailytimes on October 29th, 2014

The unnoticed internally displaced Pakistanis

“I was studying in 4th Class in Mirali, North Waziristan and my teachers called me the most confident child of my class. I miss my school and the schools in Bannu are not giving me admission because I don’t have a school leaving certificate with me. I want to study, make friends in school and play in the ground as I have nothing else to do here” says 9 year old Mamoona from Mirali, North Waziristan. Her elder sister Zaib-un-nisa studied till 8th but had no opportunity to study further as school for girls was only available till 8th grade in Mirali.

Many IDPs who had no place to stay found space in the schools of Bannu as schools were available due to summer vacations. Those schools have been vacated of the IDPs now and they are looking for shelter while new admissions are only for Bannu residents since not any child displaced from North Waziristan carries a school leaving certificate and there is no alternative solution for those children. There are above 300,000 children displaced from North Waziristan as per FDMA report. KPk and Federal Government have so far not even given a statement about the loss of education of these children. Moreover polio drops have been given to around 20,000 children but the other routine immunization is not being given a priority which is a matter of concern.

As I visited the IDP camp set up by Pakistan-People’s Youth Organization (PYO) working specifically for women, I got a chance to find out about the unlimited problems women are still bearing especially those without an adult male in their family. In the beginning they were getting monthly ration but after the announcement made by the Maliks disallowing women to collect food items, they have not been receiving any aid. “ My husband passed away two years back in North Waziristan and I had to take care of 5 of my children while coming to Bannu by foot. I did not carry an ID card as no one told how important it was and now I don’t know how to make one and I am begging for ration since I am not “registered” as an IDP” – said 26 year old Pari.

In more than three months, those responsible to sort out the issues of IDPs have not been able to simplify the procedure for women to have identity cards neither have they been able to provide separate ration receiving points for women. The most ignored out of the ignored are the hindus and Christian minorities who have been living in North Waziristan since forever. “My 22 year old healthy son lost his life during our travel from Mirali to Bannu due to heat stroke. I buried him with my own bare hands in Bannu. I have 11 children and my old man is unable to walk while they don’t allow me to get food supplies for my husband and children myself. No one allows us food because we are women” – Amrita

Women IDPs have given birth with the help of fellow women within their camps. There are no midwives, lady health workers or trained staff to help women with such issues. They have

special health needs and the hospitals are charging them Rs.7000 for just check up as said by a woman who recently had a baby and has been vomiting blood almost every day after giving birth. Those people who have been officially registered as IDPs are getting food supplies by the army but their children have no place to even play, let alone go to a school and study, their wives health needs are not being prioritized and someone has to take the responsibility. The weather is still hot enough to make people go through heat stroke and they have thin tents without any facility of fans. Solar panels are manufactured in Bannu on quite an affordable price which they can use even after going back to North Waziristan but individuals can not afford to help more than 700,000 IDPs. It is state’s responsibility. It is unfair that the government has failed to provide the IDPs with a little comfort and would not even give NOC to the nongovernmental organizations that want to be of assistance. It is still not too late to make this appeal to the responsible stakeholders to kindly have an alternative arrangement for children to study, issue NOCs to NGOs, start routine immunization of children, make the process of getting ID cards easier for women, provide separate points for women to receive ration, have skilled health workers for mother and child and invest in women and girls protection. The recent apolitical appeal by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari must be given importance and IDPs should be given the top priority as they are displaced for the whole Pakistan’s protection.

published in dailytimes on 8th September, 2014

Women and Children in the IDP crisis

On hearing the news on the increasing number of IDPs coming to Bannu after the Operation Zarb-e-Azb was announced, I began to visit them in order to help the IDPs by providing them with basic relief items. Upon my recent third trip mainly focused on providing women and children with assistance, my attention was promptly diverted towards the unending problems they were facing.

The Federal Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) registered 71,654 displaced families comprising of 227,212 males, 252,721 females and 372,562 children as of 8th July, 2014. Since the day the IDPs came walking from North Waziristan to Bannu in sweltering heat, women and children have not been provided with the kind of assistance they ought to receive. Most male heads of the families are overseas for work and their womenfolk have been showing up for registration without CNICs. Lack of CNIC for registration by most of the female Head of Households (widows or women with husbands’ overseas) did not allow them to register and claim assistance. There are many women lacking CNIC registration due to which they were not provided with IDP registration cards depriving them of relief assistance by Army, NGOs, Individuals and government etc.

The women in Pashtun tribal society are treated in their own way. They are bound to stay at home and are not involved in any community business. Women represent the concept of honor for the men in the region not getting much honor in return. There are numerous challenges faced by females born in a Pashtun tribal family. The reputation of the family depends on the woman’s behavior. This disparity is obvious by barring of females from the “Jirga”. In the existing situation women carrying NIC registration are also unable to receive assistance as the men of the families have banned some from going out and the tribal elders (Maliks) have announced punishment for women going out to receive relief items even in shuttle cock Burqa. There were neither any separate registration points for women, nor separate checking points facilitated by women volunteers.

At present Women and children IDPs are at a heightened risk. There are around 2100 pregnant women registered as IDPs, having special health needs being ignored lacking the protection formerly afforded by families and community. “I was three months pregnant when I came to Bannu and the Doctors here charge Rs.5000 for only checkup which we cannot afford” – A woman IDP from Mirali North Waziristan.

Women and Children are more prone to exploitation and abuse. Women and girls are often the systematic target of sexual violence. Children may be separated from those who care for them and put at risk of sexual abuse and exploitation and recruitment into armed forces. Their entire childhood may be disturbed, with little access to education and few opportunities as they grow older to take on the usual roles and responsibilities of adulthood. While all these issues also affect refugees, research shows that internally displaced women and children usually fare even worse.

I got a chance to visit Pakistan People’s Party IDP Camp as they are solely focused on women and children. They have registered 100 pregnant women to be assisted and have so far provided them with clothes, cash and food supplies. They have provided space for widows making it easy for them to receive assistance instead of going out. Such efforts by different political parties, NGOs and individuals are commendable but still not enough. In the past month things have not been streamlined by the responsible government.

In order to overcome their problems, a NADRA counter for IDPs should be established at Bannu (NADRA office) and the process of obtaining CNICs should be simplified for women. There must be separate, culturally appropriate distribution points for women with women volunteers assisting them. The Women IDPs have come in winter clothes and thick burkas and are suffering 42 degrees Celsius temperature of Bannu. Their specific needs including summer clothes, hygienic items, shelter (tents), and food supplies are required to be addressed. On the other hand

children IDPs are out of school; out in the heat of barren land facing heat stroke, skin infections etc. There must be child friendly spaces set up to provide activities, educational facilities for children.. The homelessness brings various serious psychological disorders that will result in generation of a handicap society. Psychological consultation and sessions must be held especially for females and children (since they are most vulnerable to psychological disorders) to address the cognitive and psychoanalytical issues among them. This will also lead to confidence building and optimistic approach towards life. Instead of keeping the IDPs in the camps for an uncertain period of time, the affected must be provided with some suitable economic resources for their living and to maintain their dignity and self-reliance independence. These issues are not to be taken lightly and it’s already quite late to delay this further

published on august 4th, 2014 in dailytimes

Adopt a comprehensive law against honour killing

A young girl on 24th July was shot dead allegedly by her father in the name of ‘honour’ in Akhundani village in Jhal Magsi district. Regrettably, she was not the only one who had to face this brutality, there have been countless cases that Pakistan has faced, only increasing with time. A young mother of two sons was shot dead by a family acquaintance because she had sought divorce from an abusive husband. Another woman was shot dead in front of a tribal gathering after she had been repeatedly raped by a local government official and not many days back, a 25 year old girl Farzana in love with a man got married to him by her own choice. She must have had a lot of dreams for her new family and the future of the child she was supposed to give birth to. This three-month pregnant woman was beaten to death with bricks by members of her own family because in their judgment, she had dishonored her family’s opinion by marrying a man without their preference.

These brutal assassinations are based on the belief that a woman is the possession of her family. For whatever reason, should the woman’s virtue come into question, or if she refuses to act upon her father, husband or brother’s view, her family’s “honor” is thought to be put to shame and the woman must be killed by a male relative to restore the family’s reputation in the community. Often, women are killed because of mere suspicion that they have engaged in illicit sexual doings or immoral act according to the murderer’s opinion. Honor killings are part of a culture, not a religion, and occur in Arab communities, in the United States and many other countries. The reason for these killings is that many families tie their reputation to the women. If she does something wrong, the only way to rectify the family’s honor is to have a wife, daughter, sister killed as in their opinion blood purifies honor. Even if they love the woman, they consider it their duty to kill her. It is important to realize that people who commit the killings are also victims in their own way. Their families put all the burden and pressure on their back. If you don’t kill, you are responsible for the family’s dishonor. If you do kill, you will be a hero and everyone will be proud of you.

It is estimated that, in Pakistan, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, more than 1000 women were victims of these crimes in 1999. According to Aurat Foundation’s statistics, collected for its reports on violence against women, a total of 557 women were killed in the name of honor in Pakistan in 2010, whereas 604 women in 2009 and 475 women were killed in 2008.

The dilemma in Pakistan is that such killers are treated with leniency and these crimes are socially sanctioned to a level that once in Pakistan, a serving senator supported honor killings during a Senate discussion on the murder of a girl in 1999. Although it may be noted that so-called “honor killings” tend to be prevalent in countries with a majority Muslim population, many Islamic leaders and scholars have condemned the practice and denied claims that it is based on religious doctrine.

In 2004, some legal amendments were made to Pakistan Penal Code to address the issue of honor crimes through an act of Parliament. This victory when after relentless efforts of women’s rights organizations and committed activists, along with active women in political parties was soon shrouded into disappointment because the law did not offer any headway and turned out to be ineffective. Despite protests and reservations by civil society organizations and women rights activists like Shahla Zia

and Maliha Zia Alvi of Aurat Foundation, the original bill prepared by Shahla Zia was being severely mutilated with the final outcome that its most vital clauses were dropped when it was passed by the National Assembly.

The troubles lie not just in the law itself but in its implementation. With the unspoken consent of society, the murderers are given protection and impunity from within the community, which extends to the police and even courts. Apart from the inbuilt biases within these bodies, problems also lie with the methods of investigations, lack of up-dated machinery and tools etc. Law in the patriarchal countries has sustained the cultural tradition that women have an inferior status. Men are only mildly punished or not punished at all for murdering a female relative whose behavior is judged as bringing dishonor to the family.

To combat the epidemic of honor killings requires understanding that these murders differ from plain homicides, revenge killings, and domestic violence. Their inspiration is different and based on codes of morality and behavior that typify our culture, often reinforced by fundamentalist religious dictates. It now becomes necessary to go beyond merely protesting, identifying the gaps in the law and to move on to the government taking responsibility in identifying different strategies to conduct proper investigations into such cases and arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of these horrific crimes.

published on july 27th, 2014 in dailytimes

The Dilemma of North Waziristan's IDPs

A lengthy, unceasing queue in a barren land, void of shade was seen with little children, old men and youngsters waiting to receive food supplies from one morning to the next. The tribals of North Waziristan famous for throwing grand dinner parties especially in Ramzan were bearing 42 degrees of temperature to receive goods for their survival. A total of 75,241 families and 876,999 individuals have been registered at the registration points of PDMA. Recently a debate arose on the increasing numbers of IDPs being seven times higher than the total population of North Waziristan as per the 1998 census. To find ground realities i approached a few IDPs and was told by one of them that he had registered his twelve member family and his elder son registered the same number separately, hence the increase in number. Although I would still not confirm the flaw in registration system until there is a solid evidence but the issue must be looked into.

The Federal Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) has set up a camp in Bakakhel; Bannu. There have been ten water tanks installed in the premises, electricity is available 24/7 but only around 45 families have shifted there so far. Some humanitarian individuals including Maheen Taseer whose husband has been kidnapped by talibans for years now have also provided them with fans and food supplies. More families are interested in moving to Bakakhel camps now that the FDMA has made an effort to improve the camps but as per the tribals’ culture and large families, the IDPs are expecting larger family size tents which should be weather proof and they were also requesting for some sort of drapes between each tent for them to remain in privacy as per their traditions. The tribals live under a strict code of conduct defined. The code of conduct classifies the privacy of women, equal respect to all tribal people and hospitality as its major portion.

South Waziristan, North Waziristan and Birmal Afghanistan come under the same belt with extended families. The neighboring settled area to North Waziristan is the District Bannu. A great number of those Wazirs, Dawars who succeeded in receiving professional education, belonging to South Waziristan and North Waziristan have been shifting to Bannu in order to stay close to their village and are serving as doctors, businessmen etc for around 100-200 years now. These families have provided space in their private hujras for many IDPs who denied the camps set up at Union Council Bakakhel but each room has around 14-15 people residing; making it very hard for the IDPs especially with the high temperature.

The IDPs have left their homes for Zarb-e-Azb to succeed in removing terrorists from North Waziristan for their own and our sake. They have been living in isolation in chilly areas all their lives and have gone through enough troubles because of talibans for the past so many years. It is not easy for them to swallow the heat, disrespect by many treating them almost as beggars and no appropriate arrangements for their refuge. “We are glad to hear from Pak-Army that around 80% area has been cleared of terrorists as we cannot wait to return to our homes” – Zahir, an IDP from MirAli.

Till the time they have taken refuge in Bannu, Karak etc, we must help them in addressing their reasonable demands. Hands-on information from the IDPs verifies that shelter is still their dire need which must be given first priority. If family size tents are provided to each family unit, they would be able to set-up the camp in the court yards of the hujras, schools etc that they are already residing in.

“there are around 40 individuals residing in the school in Karak with me. If we receive four tents, it would make our lives much easier” – Omar Zaman an IDP in Karak. The food supplies have been sufficient as per the IDPs I personally met but they were insisting on cutting down the flour and increasing the amount of sugar in the food packs as its availability is short in markets and they require it especially in Ramzan.

The most unnoticed individuals in the whole IDP issue are children, placing them in danger to fall victim to violence, disease, malnutrition and also death as they flee in the scorching heat. They may become separated from their families, placing them at risk of forced recruitment, human trafficking, hazardous labour and sexual exploitation. Correct measures must be taken for the protection of the displaced children. There should be playing areas with shade for the children to exercise their right to play. The IDPs were requesting for clothes for women and children. Infants who are at risk for, or who already have, a delay in development must be addressed. High quality group care for infants, children and pregnant women is a requirement for IDPs. “Our children have summer vacations now but they usually end after eid and we are worried for their educational loss and would request the government to come up with plans for temporary educational institutions for our children.” – IDP Nisar Ali Khan