This article, like most about honor killings, never once mentions Islam (although Sindh is 91% Muslim). This steadfast and universal refusal to identify the root cause of honor murders only ensures that there will be more of them.
Muslims commit 91 percent of honor killings worldwide. A manual of Islamic law certified as a reliable guide to Sunni orthodoxy by Al-Azhar University, the most respected authority in Sunni Islam, says that “retaliation is obligatory against anyone who kills a human being purely intentionally and without right.” However, “not subject to retaliation” is “a father or mother (or their fathers or mothers) for killing their offspring, or offspring’s offspring.” (‘Umdat al-Salik o1.1-2). In other words, someone who kills his child incurs no legal penalty under Islamic law.
The Palestinian Authority gives pardons or suspended sentences for honor murders. Iraqi women have asked for tougher sentences for Islamic honor murderers, who get off lightly now. Syria in 2009 scrapped a law limiting the length of sentences for honor killings, but “the new law says a man can still benefit from extenuating circumstances in crimes of passion or honour ‘provided he serves a prison term of no less than two years in the case of killing.’” And in 2003 the Jordanian Parliament voted down on Islamic grounds a provision designed to stiffen penalties for honor killings. Al-Jazeera reported that “Islamists and conservatives said the laws violated religious traditions and would destroy families and values.”
“202 women murdered in the name of honour in Sindh last year,” by Peer Muhammad, Express Tribune, April 21:
ISLAMABAD: In 2013, as many as 202 women were murdered in the name of Karo-kari (honour killing) in Sindh, Special Home Secretary Sindh informed the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights on Monday.
The secretary also stated that at least 28 honour killing cases have been reported in 2014 thus far.
He added that the incidence of honour killing in interior Sindh is continuously rising because of the jirga system that exists in all districts of the rural parts of the province.
“The weakness of the legal system and the encouragement of the jirga system in rural areas are both responsible for the rise in the murder of women in the name of honour,” the secretary informed.
He assured that to prevent violence against women, special cells were functioning in all districts of Sindh, encouraging civil society to join the cells and report such cases.
He said that to create awareness, special seminars about the issue are also organised from time to time for the general public.
The Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights Chairperson Senator Afrasiab Khattak expressed serious concerns about the rising number of women killed in the name of honour.
He directed the provincial government to take effective steps to discourage the act.