Rethinking ‘honour’
From the Newspaper | 5th August, 2012


IT is a tragedy reported with more distressing regularity in this country than in the UK: the murder of a young girl at the hands of her family for having brought dishonour to them. But the euphemistically named ‘honour killings’ seem to be becoming an issue in the West too. The crucial difference is that unlike here, in those countries every effort is made to prosecute perpetrators and hand down severe sentences. In the most recent such trial, on Friday a London jury sentenced a Pakistani couple to a minimum of 25 years in prison for having suffocated their daughter to death in 2003. Reportedly, the 17-year-old Shafilea did not want to live her life by her parents’ strict — and conservative — rules. Earlier this year, three members of an Afghan family were sentenced by a Canadian court for the drowning of three sisters and another woman because they defied the family’s strict customs. Just weeks earlier, in December 2011, a Brussels court sentenced four members of a Pakistani family for the ‘honour killing’ of a family member in 2007.
It would appear, then, that the argument often heard in Pakistan that such crimes, when committed here, are the result of ignorance, lack of education or the sheer lawlessness of society is far from the truth. Going by the examples mentioned above, such murders are not restricted to people who are out of touch with modernity or unaware of the law and the consequences of transgressing it. A more plausible answer may be found in the words of the Canadian judge, Robert Maranger, who sentenced the Afghan family: he described the crimes as “cold-blooded, shameful murders” resulting from a “twisted concept of honour”.
Reflect on the term ‘honour killing’ and it appears that popular discourse has adopted the language of the criminals. This provides a measure of defence, though not in legal terms, to the act. Were such crimes to be referred to as what they are — murder — some of the cultural barriers behind which the perpetrators try to hide may begin to crumble.


Précis:

Honour killings have become a grave dilemma not only for Pakistan but also for the advanced Western world. The recent cases of honour killing in U.K and Canada demonstrate the severity of the issue. Such heinous acts in the developed countries also show that illiteracy and backwardness are not the only causes behind honor killings, which are perceived to be the root causes in Pakistan. In western countries,however, the perpetrators were punished in all of the cases. Pitifully, this is where Pakistan is lagging behind. The culprits always go unpunished. Moreover, these brutal acts should be termed as ‘murder’ not ‘honour killings’-which give legality to such killings.


Please seniors check my precis and suggest improvements. I am very weak in precis writing.

precis is good but i think your start should be like this..... IT HAS BEEN A GRAVE DILEMMA FOR KILLING HUMAN BEING IN THE NAME OF HONOUR NOT ONLY PAKISTAN BUT ALSO FOR WESTERN WORLD......

over all precis is very good.............

as for as the start of sentence is concerned, Nisha has taken the right start.

Dady' s point is not valid

i do not believe that there is no problem with my precis.

Your precis is really good and which sentence i used for start doesn't mean that your opening is not valid........ i just gave my opinion ..........