Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies

Raja, Masood Ashraf

English

Pakistaniaat Vol 2, No 3 (2010)

Ali, Shaikh Muhammad

Celebration on the Birth of a Second Child Through â€˜ATANâ€™

Hashmi, Waqar Haider

Bawa, Riffat

Labor Unionization in Pakistan â€“ History & Trends

Pakistaniaat Vol. 2, No. 2

Hashmi, Shadab Zeest

Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies Vol. 3, No. 1 (2011) 
 
 
A Halva Vendor Bemoans a Legendary Calligrapher 
 
By Shadab Zeest Hashmi 
 
I see you about town 
trying on sandals 
mumbling 
but the doves laughed 
 
over and over  
Cheeks puffed with 
fig halva 
 
You don’t know your name 
An egret stretches 
from end to end of your nebula  
 
I have studied your delicate strokes 
Your volumes 
fill the caliph’s library 
 
Here  
Try these pistachios 
in hot syrup 
Yes, you need good shoes for  
the court in Cairo. 
 
106


A Halva Vendor Bemoans a Legendary Calligrapher

Gardezi, Saadia Zahra

Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies Vol. 2, No. 1 (2010)
 It is Monday. I try to tell you about my escape. 
 My grandmother’s house is built on the corner of one of the busiest streets 
of Lahore. Nights that I spend here are often sleepless as she likes to leave lights 
on throughout the house. I try to find simple and effective ways to escape. So I 
stand in my mother’s former bedroom and look out her window onto the street. 
It’s 3 am. I stare out at the trucks rolling by on Ferozpur Road. I put my hands 
onto the windowpane and feel the vibrations of this grand causeway. For a few 
seconds, my mind hears Lahore’s diabetic frequency.  
 There’s an epidemic in the city.  I try to speak of the common Lahori and 
not all countrymen for reasons I don’t know. We Lahori’s are addicted to our cel-
lular phones. The poorer we are, the more phone calls we seem to receive and the 
more we get to hear the happiest Indian songs when we answer the phone. It’s not 
about telecom being cheap or frivolous entertainment that peasants and princes 
are glued to cellular chips; it’s all about the momentary fragmented escape. So 
call me, my ringtone is Lahore’s song. 
 It has been four days since anyone has called me. No five actually. It’s 3 
am; the new day is here. Since the 27th of September I have sent a total of eight 
text messages. I also went to a wedding, where I made small talk about clothes, 
the weather and the dreadful sugar crisis gripping the stores of Lahore. Today, I’ll 
have tea at noon with some of my mother’s friends. I hope they talk about sugar 
as well. My dialogue is well-rehearsed. 
 I also need to talk to someone I might never meet; it relaxes me, there is 
no pressure...  Hello instant web messenger. How have you been today? What is 
your favorite flavor? Strawberry? Mine too. Such lies.
 It is Monday. I stare at cement carrying trucks at night. It is Tuesday. I lie 
in my driveway at 10 pm and try to see the stars through the November haze that 
grips Lahore and makes it hard to breathe. It is Wednesday. I stare at the progress 
bar of my download manager, watching the download speed change the time left, 
second by second. It is Thursday. I close my economics textbook, wait for 4 am 
to happen when I’m sure everyone’s asleep and light up in my bathroom with the 
Escape on Ferozpur Road
By Saadia Zahra Gardezi
115
Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies Vol. 2, No. 1 (2010)
exhaust fan on. It is Friday. I come back from a family dinner and try not to think 
about why the boy I like couldn’t like me back and think about him for two hours 
while listening to the music we used to listen to: Nusrat Fateh Ali’s duet with Ed-
die Vedder and soundtracks to American shows. It is Saturday. I have my period;  
I have an excuse to mope. I sit in the dark and fantasize about dying, hospitals, 
and anorexia. It is Sunday. My baby sister falls asleep in my bed, and I stare at her 
for an hour, marvelling at how tiny the pores of her skin are. 
 Mornings are hard. We eat at night, we dance at night, we sleep at night, 
we meet at night, we stay at home because we are conservative at night, we get 
high at night, we sit with ourselves and get to know ourselves at night. Daytime 
comes, and I take three exams in one day. It was morning when my aunt bled to 
death in the hospital. My cook, bless his ghee-laden soul, slipped on a paratha 
and broke his hip. It was high noon when my best friend’s boyfriend decided to 
drown in his own bath tub. Do you ever remember Lahore being bombed in the 
middle of the night?
 There is a story in here somewhere; I am trying to say what I need to say. 
Lahore, I love you. But let me escape for more than just a few moments at a time.
 Nirala is closing down. Nirala had the best sweets I have ever had. 
 He has stopped talking to me; he is never online anymore. He also had 
the best sweets I have ever had. It should be a crime to make a Lahori so used to 
something and then take it away. I replace mithai with chocolate. I’ll replace all 
the hes with a husband. It is the wedding season; those who can’t choose, wait 
to be chosen. It is most perverse. This is not the story I want to tell. It would be 
self-defeating. Like the cramped supermarkets, the decadence of the drawing 
rooms, the fake accents and millions of rupees spent sending you to Georgetown 
and me to St. Andrews, the Karachite making fun of you, the rude beggars of the 
posh Defense Housing Authority where the military has sold its land to civilians, 
the security barriers off Sherpao bridge, the seven overlapping aazans five times a 
day, the children on the street without shoes, the obnoxious empty towering build-
ings sprinkled all over you, the men on the street scratching themselves noncha-
lantly, the bus driver spitting out the window onto your feet, the officers gone for 
Friday prayers while you wait for two hours, the extra tuition fees to make up for 
the inadequacy of schools. Survival in the face of defeat. Yet, Lahore is vibrant, 
historical, rich and blessed by the Sufis. I need to escape to my bathroom to have 
a smoke. I am not a smoker. 
 In Lahore for 21 years, I have never touched the Minar-e-Pakistan monu-
ment. As a child I was awestruck by it, reading about it in Urdu and in Pakistan 
Studies textbooks. Then one day, on the way to Islamabad, I drove past it. It was 
small and out of place--a colonized columnar minaret. It symbolized escape, but 
116
Gardezi
it was conflicted and trapped. A planned coincidence that it stands there, like a 
concrete dandelion, symbol of our freedom. They soon built a better escape out 
of Lahore, so I don’t have to see the monument again. It’s a highway that ignores 
everything on the sides. 
 So I go blind. I refuse. I stop thinking about mithai at Eid. I turn off the 
Wi-Fi. No one calls anyway. I delete any nostalgia producing music. I stop com-
paring Minar-e-Pakistan to Data Darbar mosque’s magnificence. I stop listening 
to the man with a beard, on nine channels of cable television. I stop listening to 
the 25 anchormen all telling me Lahore is burning. I nod my head at whatever my 
mother says. I am left with myself, and I have no way to get away from me. 
 It is Monday again. I try to tell you about my escape. 
117


Escape on Ferozpur Road

Memon, Muhhammad Umar

Zaheer Kashmiri: My Life, My Art

Waterman, David

Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies Vol. 2, No. 1 (2010)
Ali, Saleem H.  Islam and Education: Conflict and Conformity in Pakistan’s Ma-
drassahs.  OUP Pakistan, 2009.  350 pages.  ISBN: 978-0195476729.
Ayres, Alyssa.  Speaking Like a State: Language and Nationalism in Pakistan.   
Cambridge UP, 2009.  230 pages.  ISBN: 978-0521519311.
Bhattacharyya, Harihar.  Federalism in Asia: India, Pakistan and Malaysia.  
Routledge, 2010.  224 pages.  ISBN: 978-0415315401. 
Eteraz, Ali.  Children of Dust: A Memoir of Pakistan.    HarperOne, 2009.  337 
pages.  ISBN: 978-0-06-156708-7.
Ganguly, Sumit.  India, Pakistan, and the Bomb: Debating Nuclear Stability in 
South Asia. Columbia UP, 2010.  144 pages.  ISBN: 978-0231143745.  
Imran, Muhammad.  Institutional Barriers to Sustainable Urban Transport in 
Pakistan.  Oxford UP, 2010.  350 pages.  ISBN: 978-0195476668.  
Jones, Owen Bennett.  Pakistan: Eye of the Storm.  Yale UP, 2009.  408 pages.  
ISBN: 978-0300154757.
Khan, Nichola.  Mohajir Militancy in Pakistan: Violence and Practices of Trans-
formation in the Karachi Conflict.  Routledge, 2010.  208 pages.  ISBN: 978-
0415554909.  
Koppel, Nikolas J.  Combating Islamic Militancy and Terrorism in Pakistan’s Bor-
der Region.  Nova Science, 2010.  ISBN: 978-1607413356.
Malik, Iftikhar Harider.  Pakistan After Musharraf: Democracy, Terror and the 
Building of a Nation.  New Holland, 2010.  208 pages.  ISBN: 978-1847734532. 
List of Recent Pakistan-Related Texts
Compiled by David Waterman
152
Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies Vol. 2, No. 1 (2010)
Manzar, A.  Taliban in Pakistan: A Chronicle of Resurgence.  Nova Science, 
2010.  ISBN: 978-1608762064. 
Nawaz, Shuja.  Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within.  OUP 
Pakistan, 2009.  700 pages.  ISBN: 978-0195476972. 
Niaz, Ihan.  The Culture of Power and Governance in Pakistan.  Oxford UP, 
2010.  350 pages.  ISBN: 978-0195477313.  
Nyman, Jopi.  Home, Identity, and Mobility in Contemporary Diasporic Fiction.   
Rodopi, 2009.  248 pages.  ISBN: 978-90-420-2690-2.  Kamila Shamsie is one of 
the authors discussed in this work.  
Raja, Masood Ashraf.  Constructing Pakistan: Foundational Texts and the Rise of 
Muslim National Identity.  Oxford UP, 2010.  300 pages.  ISBN: 978-0195478112. 
Rozehnal, Robert.  Islamic Sufism Unbound: Politics and Piety in Twenty-
First Century Pakistan.  Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.  286 pages.  ISBN: 978-
0230618961.
Seth, Ali.  The Wish Maker.  Riverhead Books/Penguin, 2009.  421 pages.  ISBN: 
978-1-59448-879-5.  
Schmidle, Nicholas.  To Live or To Perish Forever: Two Tumultuous Years in 
Pakistan.  Henry Holt, 2009.  255 pages.  ISBN: 978-0-8050-8938-7. 
Shah, Niaz A.  Islamic Law and the Law of Armed Conflict: The Conflict in Paki-
stan.  Routledge, 2010.  288 pages.  ISBN: 978-0415563963.
Synnott, Hilary.  Transforming Pakistan: Ways Out of Instability.    Routledge, 
2009.  186 pages.  ISBN: 978-0415562607.
Weaver, Mary Anne.  Pakistan: Deep Inside the World’s Most Frightening State.  
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2010.  320 pages.  978-0374532253.  
Whiles, Virginia.  Art and Polemic in Pakistan: Politics, Culture and Tradition in 
Contemporary Miniature Painting.  I. B. Tauris & Co, 2010.  304 pages.  ISBN: 
978-1848853652.  
153


List of Recent Pakistan-Related Texts

This is our analysis of the political implications of a sepcific case of honor killing in Balochistan, Pakistan

Khalil, Noor Akbar

Sheikh, Mashhood Ahmed

Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies Vol. 2, No. 2 (2010)
Expectative Summary: 
“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. Men and women of 
full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to 
marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during 
marriage and at its dissolution.  Marriage shall be entered into only with the free 
and full consent of the intending spouses. The family is the natural and fundamental 
group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State” (United 
Nations, 1948). But “The right to life of women in Pakistan is conditional on their 
obeying social norms and traditions” (Amnesty International, 1999). 
 Pakistan ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1996, still women continue to be 
‘commoditized’(Amnesty International, 1999, p. 4), bartered for land or money, 
given as swara (compensation for murder/dispute settlement) or watta satta (men 
acquire a wife by offering a sister or daughter in exchange), women are abused, 
raped or murdered by close relatives. ‘Honor’ killing was once an unusual custom 
but has more recently evolved into a common practice in which men kill sisters, 
daughters, or other female family members to avenge a ‘shame’ or ‘dishonor’ 
she is accused of bringing upon her family or tribe1. Behaviors considered to be 
‘dishonorable’ are many and can include a woman wanting to marry a man of her 
choice; wishing to seek employment outside the home; publicly disobeying the 
family patriarch; being accused of having illicit relations or seeking a divorce. 
 This paper is aimed to briefly discuss the recently occurred case of honor 
killing- a “heinous criminal offence”(Shah, 2008) where allegedly close relatives 
buried 3 women alive and shot two others to death. Detailed discussion about honor 
killing and its intensity is beyond the scope of this paper, though we will try to 
give a general description with special reference to this particular case and show 
how politics intervenes in human rights violations  and works to safeguard the 
interests of perpetuators rather than the victims. We will also briefly touch upon 
Political Manipulation in Human Rights Violations: A 
Case of Honor Killings in Balochistan, Pakistan
By Noor Akbar Khalil and Mashhood Ahmed Sheikh
36
Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies Vol. 2, No. 2 (2010)
the gap between theory (human rights idols) and practice (implementation) of the 
international conventions/covenants on human rights. 
Description of the Case:
‘Honor’ killings are possible because these inhumane acts are not condemned by the 
society, and the law does not punish perpetrators as only 20 % of honor killings are 
ever brought to justice2. Though the government has now passed a law according to 
which murders committed in the name of ‘honor’ would be considered intentional 
murder, the law is not sufficient to control this problem because in all cases the 
murderers are the close relatives of the victims (woman), i.e. father, brother or 
husband, who also have the privilege to resolve the issue on behalf of the deceased 
woman. It means when a person, father, brother or husband kills his wife, sister 
or daughter they sit together and resolve the case before it goes to the police for 
investigation or even if it goes to the police later on the men have the power to 
withdraw the case. Besides, “State institutions -- the law enforcement apparatus and 
the judiciary -- deal with these crimes against women with extraordinary leniency 
and the law provides many loopholes for murderers in the name of honour to kill 
without punishment”(Amnesty International, 1999, p. 3).
 A recent case of honor killing occurred in Baba Kot, a remote village in 
district Jaffarabad of Balochistan province where the alleged perpetuators buried 
three women alive and shot dead two others. Their reason: to punish the three girls, 
aged 16 to 18, for trying to decide their marriages by themselves, and their two aunts 
for assisting the girls. The deceased girls had planned to get married in court as a 
result of their elders refused to let them marry the persons of their choice. When the 
news of their decision to get married in court leaked out, the alleged person, known 
to be the brother of a provincial minister, came along with his body guards, picked 
the girls and took them to a deserted place, where the girls were  beaten before the 
men allegedly opened fire on them. The girls got seriously injured but were alive 
when the men  hurled them in to a ditch and covered them with mud and stones. It 
is believed that due to the influence of the alleged family the case was kept secret. 
The alleged persons are considered to be very influential in the area and have strong 
affiliations with the government.
37
Khalil and Sheikh
Description and Analysis of Key Actors
Cultural Setting of the Area:
Pakistan is a developing country, with 68% population living in rural areas in joint 
family system and following their ancestor’s way of life3. Balochistan, mainly 
consisted of ‘Baloch” tribe with many other smaller tribes, is considered to be the 
most traditional, as the people still live in a tribal set up, following their centuries old 
traditional way and a peculiar code of conduct for day-to-day life.  The “…Baloch 
reckon descent patrilineally. Lineages, however, play a minimal role in the lives of 
most Baloch (Library of Congress – Federal Research Division, 1994, p. 1). Their 
“… society is stratified and has been characterized as “feudal militarism.”(Library 
of Congress – Federal Research Division, 1994, p. 2)
 Women are considered to be the pivotal point of their honor code. For 
women it is obligatory to follow a peculiar code of conduct in and outside home and 
refrain from certain behaviors, as its considered to bring ‘Shame’ and ‘dishonor” to 
the family, which in most cases results in the death of the alleged woman.  
 Behaviors considered ‘dishonorable’ are many and can include: a woman 
wanting to marry a man of her choice, a woman wishing to seek employment outside 
the home, or publicly disobeying the family patriarch, or a woman being accused 
of having illicit relations or seeking a divorce4. Similarly, “Standards of honour and 
chastity are not applied equally to men and women, even though they are supposed 
to”(Amnesty International, 1999, p. 5). In the North West Frontier Province and in 
Balochistan “men often go unpunished for ‘illicit’ relationships whereas women are 
killed on the merest rumour of ‘impropriety’”(Amnesty International, 1999, p. 5). 
The case of honor killing under discussion occurred in the Balochistan  province of 
Pakistan.
The State:
Pakistan is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and 
is morally bound to implement its articles in true spirit. “Everyone has the right to 
life, liberty and security of person”. And “No one will be subjected to torture or 
to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment5”. But in this particular 
case of honor killing the state seems unsuccessful not only in implementing the 
articles but also in punishing the perpetrators because “after one and a half months 
the police have still not registered the case and it is difficult to get more detailed 
information”(Asian Human Rights Commission, 2008, p. 3). “…human rights 
38
Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies Vol. 2, No. 2 (2010)
groups have accused local authorities of trying to cover up the executions”(Telegraph 
(Our Foreign Staff), 2008, p. 2). 
 Besides, it is observed that the perpetrators after burying these women 
returned to their tribe like ‘conquerors’ without any fear of action against them. 
Father of these girls lodged a First Investigation Report (FIR) with the police 
against his own brother, who was said to be the architect of this crime. But latter on 
due to family pressure, he withdrew the case (Pak Tribune, 2008, p. 2). 
Similarly Pakistan also ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in March 1996. CEDAW stipulates that 
state parties agree, “To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and 
women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and 
all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of 
either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women” 6 (United Nations, 
2007, p. 12). The constitution of Pakistan7  reconfirms the same article of CEDAW: 
Laws inconsistent with or in derogation of fundamental rights to be void. 
(1) Any law, or any custom or usage having the force of law, in so far as it 
is inconsistent  with the rights conferred by this Chapter, shall, to the extent 
of such inconsistency, be void”(Pakistani.org, 2007). 
 Due to public uproar and protests, the upper house of the country 
took the matter seriously and started discussion over these killings. During 
the discussion a cabinet member, who represents Balochistan province, 
defended and justified these killings saying “these are centuries-old traditions 
and I will continue to defend them”(McDowell, 2008, p. 1). He claimed 
that the tribal traditions helped stop obscenity. Besides he asked the fellow 
lawmakers not to make a big fuss about it (killings). (McDowell, 2008) 
 Many members stood up in protest, and called the executions ‘barbaric’ 
demanding more discussion (McDowell, 2008, p. 2). “I was shocked”, said one female 
lawmaker, who pushed for legislation calling for perpetrators of so-called honour 
killings to be punished (McDowell, 2008, p. 2). While, “a handful (of members) said it 
was an internal matter of the deeply conservative province”(McDowell, 2008, p. 2). 
 But so far the government has been slow to react, said a senator and 
co-chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), as, 
according to him, the matter was referred to the federal government on 16th 
August and the parliament took it into account very lately. Equally shocking 
was the conduct of the acting Chairman Senate, Jan Mohd. Jamali, from 
Balochistan province, who disliked even raising of this issue by a  female 
Senator and advised her to “go to our society and see for yourself what the 
39
Khalil and Sheikh
situation is like there and then come back to raise such questions in the House8”.
 Though, the senate has passed a unanimous resolution condemning 
the incident and punishing the perpetrators, an “attempt at a cover-up is on9” 
and the government presented an “extremely dubious report” before the senate. 
“The fact the act was ‘kept quiet’ means the government sympathizes with such 
doings”(Telegraph (Our Foreign Staff), 2008, p. 2).  Thus, while the fact of the burial 
of the women is no longer disputed, but despite the public acknowledgment of this 
“heinous crime”10 ‘no action’ has been taken so far by the competent authorities. 
Civil Society Organizations/NGOs:
CSOs and NGOs reacted to the case, and though in the beginning their reaction was 
mild but the Balochistan’s senator’s statement heightened it and they staged protests 
outside the parliament building over the killings and asked the government to take 
strenuous actions against the perpetrators. They condemned the senator’s remarks 
for rationalizing the killing of five women in the name of honor. The main rights 
group in the country, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, has also condemned 
the senator’s statement in the parliament and asked the government for taking due 
action against the perpetrators. 
Media:
Media are one of the main sources for bringing the honor killing cases to surface. 
It is considered to be comparatively more authentic source for honor killing data 
in Pakistan, as rights groups compile their reports about honor killing on the daily 
reporting of newspapers and other media news. The present case is one of those 
which the media published and it got nationwide attention including the parliament. 
 Negating the government version of the incident, media, particularly English 
newspapers, tried to present the actual situation. The government presented its report 
in senate stating that three women had died instead of five and that the incident 
was a family property dispute, not honor killing case. This is a “distinct diversion 
from accounts of NGOs that have investigated the happening11”. In its editorial, 
one of the English newspapers referred to the government silence as protecting the 
perpetrators. “Surely the government should be seeking the murderers, not protect 
(them) through some dark conspiracy of silence. The fact the act was ‘kept quiet’ 
means the government sympathizes with such doings.” the newspaper reported 
(Telegraph (Our Foreign Staff), 2008, p. 2).
Conclusion:
40
Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies Vol. 2, No. 2 (2010)
The above discussion, media reports, involvement of politicians (minister), senator’s 
remarks, chairman senate reaction, government “distinct diversion and extremely 
dubious12” report in the senate and legal action indicate political manipulation in 
the incident. Three main reasons for why the perpetrators have not been punished 
so far are listed below:
1. The alleged main perpetrator is known to be the brother of a provincial 
minister, who belongs to the ruling coalition and taking action against his 
brother can create problems for the ruling party. 
2. Balochistan is the most distant and traditionalist province of Pakistan. Living 
in tribal set ups and following their traditional code of conduct for life. Writ 
of the government is not applicable, enforced, or observed in most parts of 
the province where traditional laws and customs regulate day-to-day issues. 
Balochistan Liberation Army, an ethnic militant group allegedly involved 
in clandestine activities (GlobalSecurity.org, 2009) is actively seeking an 
independent political identity for Balochistan.  As the incident took place 
in the tribal setting and the alleged perpetrator is an influential member of 
the tribe with strong political ties, government action against him could 
be taken as interference in their tradition and custom thus possibly fan the 
issue of autonomy (separation).
3. Third, but the most important reason, was the presidential elections. After 
widespread public uproar, the government moved to support a Senate 
resolution condemning the killings. Various critics said that the delay was 
caused due to political considerations in order to “secure Balochistan’s 
support for the leader of the party, Asif Ali Zardari, in Saturday’s (6th 
September, 2008) electoral College vote for president” (Masood, 2008, p. 
3). 
Notes:
1 Focus Group Discussion with Community Elders in Balochistan Province (2005)
2 Dr. Arif Mehmood, Ex. Campaign Manager ‘We Can End Honor Killing” Oxfam 
GB, Pakistan (2006)
3 Census Report of Pakistan 1998, Pakistan, Census Organization Pakistan
4 Focus Group Discussion with Community Elders in Balochistan Province (2005)
5 Articles 3 & 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 
41
Khalil and Sheikh
6 Article 5 (a) of the Convention of the Elimination of All Form of Discrimination 
against Women
7 Article 8 (1) Constitution of The Islamic Republic Of Pakistan 
8 Press Statement of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in Daily THE NATION
9 Editorial of daily THE NEWS, on 3rd September 2008
10 Burning Point  Column by Basil Fernando, Director of the Asian Human Rights 
Commission 
11 Editorial of daily THE NEWS on 3rd September 2008
12 Ibid.
References:
Amnesty International. (1999). Pakistan: Honour killings of girls and women. 
(ASA 33/018/1999), 15. Retrieved from http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/
asset/ASA33/018/1999/en/9fe83c27-e0f1-11dd-be39-2d4003be4450/
asa330181999en.pdf
Asian Human Rights Commission. (2008, August 11). Pakistan: Five women 
buried alive, allegedly by the brother of a minister. Asian Human Rights 
Commission - Urgent Appeals  Retrieved April 25, 2010, from http://www.
ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2008/2969/
GlobalSecurity.org. (2009, 04 June). Balochistan Insurgency  Retrieved April 25, 
2010, from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/pakistan1.
htm
Library of Congress – Federal Research Division. (1994, April). Baloch. PAKISTAN 
- A Country Study (Country Studies Series)  Retrieved April 25, 2010, from 
http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-9802.html
Masood, S. (2008, 02 September). Pakistan Begins Inquiry Into Deaths of 5 Women, 
Internet, The NewYork Times, p. 7. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.
com/2008/09/03/world/asia/03pstan.html?_r=2&oref=slogin
McDowell, R. (2008, 30 August). Women buried alive in ‘honour’ killings, Internet, 
The Associated Press. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/news/world/
article/488145
Pak Tribune. (2008, 25 August). Five women buried alive in name of honour, 
Internet, Pak Tribune, p. 4. Retrieved from http://paktribune.com/news/
index.shtml?204881
Pakistani.org. (2007). The Constitution of Pakistan  Retrieved April 25, 2010, from 
http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/part2.ch1.html
42
Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies Vol. 2, No. 2 (2010)
Shah, S. (2008, 01 September). Pakistan: Three teenage girls buried alive in tribal 
‘honour’ killing, Internet, The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.
guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/01/pakistan
Telegraph (Our Foreign Staff). (2008, 01 Sep). Pakistani women buried alive ‘for 
choosing husbands’ Internet, Telegraph, p. 7. Retrieved from http://www.
telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/2660881/Pakistani-women-
buried-alive-for-choosing-husbands.htmlUnited Nations. (1948). The 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights  Retrieved April 25, 2010, from 
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/
United Nations. (2007, 31 December). Convention on the Elimination of All Forms 
of Discrimination against Women.  Retrieved April 25, 2010, from http://
www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/text/econvention.htm
Reports/Websites:
Smith, K.M.R. “International Human Rights” (New York: Oxford University 
Press Inc. 2007).
Human Rights Watch, 2007 Report
Amnesty International, Honor Killings in Pakistan
Reports of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan 
Reports of the Focused Group Discussion (FGD) in Balochistan (2005-6)
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam_in_action/where_we_work/pakistan.html 
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2008/2969/
http://www.pap.org.pk/statistics/population.htm#tabfig-1.1
http://www.photius.com/countries/pakistan/society/pakistan_society_baloch.
html
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2008/2969/
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/022448.php
http://www.na.gov.pk/publications/constitution.pdf
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1051229/Five-women-
wanted-pick-husbands-buried-alive-mass-honour-killing.html
http://www.upiasia.com/Human_Rights/2008/09/02/five_women_buried_
alive_in_balochistan/7639/ 
http://www.thenews.com.pk/arc_news.asp?id=8 
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/pakistan1.htm
http: / /www.nyt imes.com/2008/09/03/world/as ia /03pstan.html?_
r=1&oref=slogin
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Political Manipulation in Human Rights Violations: A Case of Honor Killings in Balochistan, Pakistan

Qadri, Mustafa

Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies Vol. 2, No. 2 (2010)
For three decades Pervez Hoodbhoy, a Professor of Particle Physics at Qaid-e-
Azam University in Islamabad, has been promoting science and humanism in 
Pakistan. His was one of the earliest voices to sound the alarm not only against 
the Pakistan Taliban movement but also against the perils of developing nuclear 
weapons and the deepening religious intolerance that has been aided in large part 
by the Pakistan state. In this fascinating and insightful encounter, journalist Mustafa 
Qadri speaks with Professor Hoodbhoy about science, Islam, and the challenges 
faced by Pakistan.
MQ: There is a tendency in Muslim communities to look at past advancements 
in science by Muslim societies. In Pakistan, the development of the nuclear 
bomb was hailed as a marvel of modern Islamic science. What do you think is 
the relationship between Islam and science today?
PH: Well, of course theological inquiry has nothing to do with the physical sciences 
today and it can provide no guidance in my opinion. Theology relates to an entirely 
different set of issues. It has to do with how humans perceive their role in the 
universe, what is right, what is wrong, what is the purpose of life, and so forth. 
Whereas natural science has a very defined purpose; which is to understand the 
workings of the natural universe. And I’m afraid that religion, any religion, no 
longer has anything to say about how we should investigate nature, what we expect 
to find.
MQ: There have been a slew of books by authors like Richard Dawkins, 
Christopher Hitchens and a number of others talking about atheism and trying 
to distance society and the way it is governed by religion. Is that barking up 
the wrong tree? Does science have a role to play in social policies?
PH: No, I don’t see that. I see that our ethical and moral principles are perhaps 
defined by the species instinct within us to propagate us and to become more 
An Interview with Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy
By Mustafa Qadri
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Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies Vol. 2, No. 2 (2010)
evolutionarily capable. However, the relation between morality, ethics and science 
is a distant one. I see that there are some things in society that we can ascribe to the 
need for us to survive... But other things, I think, are built on human experience and 
there does not seem to be a clear link between what is in existence in the field of 
morals and ethics and between science and rationalism.
MQ: But you don’t think morality and ethics should temper society? We’ve 
just witnessed the 20th century where science has given us nuclear weapons and 
more efficient ways to kill people.
PH: I think anyone who says we should just let science do whatever it can has a 
very dangerous belief. Science must be tempered by human principles. I do think 
humanism does offer that way out. Because if one accepts the principles of humanism, 
that we are all equal, and that wisdom is to be obtained through experience and 
that science and logic are essential tools by which we can understand not just the 
physical world but the functioning of our societies, and that there is no place in this 
world anymore for superstitions and for things that have been worshipped in the 
past. I think in that sense scientific humanism does provide a means by which to 
temper the excesses of science and tell us that some things are absolutely wrong. 
Take nuclear weapons, it’s obvious that if we condone their use, this world is going 
to be a very unhappy place... and it may not exist for very long.
MQ: In a deeply religious country like Pakistan how does one apply that 
humanism? Is it inevitable that someone promoting it will have to invoke 
Islam?
PH: Well, nuclear weapons have become a symbol of defiance for Pakistanis for two 
reasons. One the bomb has been associated with Islam as a means of increasing its 
glory. And the second reason is that it is associated with Pakistan in a nationalistic 
way which is... no different from India or perhaps what it was like in the United 
States when it first developed nuclear weapons or other nations. Nuclear weapons 
are a symbol of national pride in all countries. At the time of the nuclear tests 
religious parties took out cardboard replicas of the bomb, paraded them on the 
street with placards saying Islamic bomb and verses of the Koran.
MQ: So going back to humanism, that seems to be a departure from universal 
humanist principles. How does one recover the ground lost to this kind of 
mindset?
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Qadri
PH: Well, it’s not just in Pakistan, you find it in every part of the world humanistic 
principles are a second priority. Even if they are admitted as theoretically good... 
nationalism and ‘my country right or wrong’ often dominates. It dominates to the 
extent that the US even today, when they talk about casualties in Afghanistan or 
Iraq, they say 4000 American lives have been lost. How often do you see American 
newspapers mentioning 500,000 Iraqis have been killed? So you see this attachment 
to one’s own, this ‘us and them’ is very pervasive and it’s very hard to fight. But it 
must be fought. And in places it has been successfully fought. After all the anti-war 
movement [against the Iraq war] in the US and Europe was really an expression. It’s 
not that Europeans were worried about their own being killed. That was a factor but 
the biggest factor was that here was a large army going overseas to kill [people in] a 
country that had no capacity to hurt the US or Europe. Let’s go even further back to 
the anti-Vietnam war movement. That was an expression of idealism and humanism 
and the feeling hasn’t disappeared [but] it has to be cultivated and increased.
MQ: Is there a comparator to all of that in the Muslim world? You’ve mentioned, 
for example, the reluctance often to condemn the Taliban in Pakistan.
PH: There has been a reluctance to condemn the Taliban, Al Qaeda for all the 
atrocities that have been committed and justifications instead have been sought... 
that who else is opposing the Americans? The US is an imperial power and... 
somebody has to fight them. You see this confusion even among people in the Left 
in Muslim countries and in fact even among Hindus in India who belong to the Left 
who say someone has to oppose the US. So the fact that the US has been such a 
dreadful imperial power has confused people and made them look away from the 
fact that the Taliban are barbaric beyond any kind of calculation.
MQ: And all the people they are killing are ordinary Muslim Pakistanis.
PH: Absolutely, ordinary Muslim Pakistanis. And so now I think perhaps the tide 
is beginning to turn. You can see that there is something wrong in killing doctors 
merely for trying to inoculate young children from polio? [The Taliban oppose 
vaccinations which they see as a ploy by foreign powers to sterilise the population]
MQ: Is there a chance for some sort of humanist movement?
PH: In the long term, yes [but] I think that Muslim countries are in a confused 
psychological state. On the one hand they are dependent on the West for everything. 
Even the Taliban, they use cell phones, they travel in pickups, their lives are now 
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Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies Vol. 2, No. 2 (2010)
increasingly defined by the technology that they have available to them. They have 
no part in the making of that technology.
MQ: But they’re happy to use it?
PH: Oh yeah, they’re happy to use it. Incidentally, this is different from previous 
eras where you had opposition to technology. For example, the loud speaker. When 
it was first used in mosques sixty to seventy years ago, there was an uproar because 
here was something that had ‘probably’ been invented by Jews. How could it find its 
place in mosques? There was opposition to the printing press, so seventy years ago 
in Turkey it was banned and it had also been banned a century earlier in Baghdad 
[in what is now modern day Iraq]. All of these were seen as innovations that would 
cheapen the value of religion.
MQ: I’m wondering about the Taliban. When in control of Afghanistan, they 
didn’t use any electronic media. Now they are using mobile phones, have 
spokespersons and produce videos.
PH: They have become increasingly more sophisticated in how they propagate 
their messages. So for example although in the strictest form of Islam it is forbidden 
to have a human face depicted in any way. Well now they show their victims’ full 
face and then cut off their heads. The videos they produce now are fairly slick. They 
are filmed with excellent cameras and edited with electronic software and they have 
become very savvy at using the media so it’s not just night letters as it used to be. 
Now with the night letter comes a dvd.
MQ: Now, let’s move to the broader picture. What is at the root of the current 
violence occurring in the name of Islam?
PH: It’s different in different places. If you look at [Muslim extremists in] the West 
it’s an assertion of identity and they nurse each other’s grievances. A lot of them are 
underperformers and so there is an attempt to lay the problems of their community 
on others. So you blame the other for what is actually your own lack of opportunity 
or ability... 
MQ: So coupled with that do you think America’s actions around the world 
have assisted that, given them a ready excuse?
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Qadri
PH: Well, I wouldn’t even call it an excuse. I’d call it a reason. So many things 
come together. It’s like a bomb. You’ve got to have the explosive, the oxidiser, all 
the right chemicals. They’ve all got to come together at the right time for the bomb 
to explode. None of this by itself is enough to cause an explosion. So if you look at 
poverty, there has been poverty in the northwest tribal areas of Pakistan, and guns, 
for as long as anyone can remember. Then you have the history of the Americans 
coming in and launching their global jihad. But there’s one other thing and that’s 
I think at the base of it all practically everywhere in the world and that’s the fact 
that the world has moved much too fast for anyone’s comfort and we just haven’t 
been able to come to any equilibrium. Look, the lives of our parents are totally 
different to our lives today and that is true practically everywhere. And then you 
look at the tribal areas. Until 30-40 years ago they were living the lives of their 
fathers, their grandfathers and their great grandfathers. No difference. And then 
comes something very important in the 1970s – migration, to Saudi Arabia and the 
Middle East where they get the opportunity to dig ditches, clean toilets, very menial 
jobs. They come back with money and the technology it can buy, like pickup trucks, 
now cell phones, and so forth. That starts changing the face of the region. Over 
time it changes the structure of society. Traditional lives have been disrupted. This 
is a change that is more cataclysmic than what you saw at the time of the industrial 
revolution in Europe.
MQ: And why is that, is that because of the rate of change?
PH: Yes, the rate of change then was slower. Just look at the impact that population 
growth has had. Pakistan’s population at partition in 1947 was 28 million, West 
Pakistan. Today it’s 170 million so for every person that existed then there are six 
now. In cities there is a totally different way of living. They are mega slums. What 
can grow in that? Violence. 
MQ: So really while we can look at a certain particular date when the current 
violence started what you’re saying is it goes back to partition?
PH: Well, yes back to partition in terms of the religious intolerance that led to the 
creation of Pakistan... the notion that Hindus and Muslims could not live together, 
but that Muslims could live together. Well, the creation of Bangladesh in 1971 
[after mass oppression by West Pakistan forces] proved that wrong. Religion is 
always divided [and Islam] has been divided for the last 1400 years.
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Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies Vol. 2, No. 2 (2010)
MQ: From the very beginning?
PH: From the very beginning. 
MQ: Do you think part of the problem is that there’s a tendency to use the 
Islam stamp on everything? So for example when we talk about scientists from 
the 14th century, why do we categorise them as Muslim scientists? 
PH: Religion is inserted where it absolutely has no place. For example, if you go 
to [the university medical] clinic here in Islamabad you’ll find big posters that say 
‘cleanliness is half of religion’. Well hang on, if that’s the case then why is this 
hospital so dirty? Or at the start of tree planting week they say it’s your Islamic 
duty to plant a tree. But the rate of deforestation [in Pakistan] is greater than most 
countries in the world!
MQ: Doesn’t that just mean we’ve been bad Muslims?
PH: So, then it is said that Islam is good, Muslims are bad. That’s the defence that is 
taken. There’s a mythologised version of the religion which has never been practised 
except in the early days of Islam. If we go back to that early Islam everything will 
be ok. The problem with this is that it bypasses 1400 years of human progress. 
After all, people don’t travel by horses or camels, don’t own slaves or have the kind 
of tribal feuds they had in those days. We’ve learnt to outgrow miracles. Instead 
we see science doing things we could never have imagined. And so this dogged 
determination to look for all answers in the past and to imagine that all answers 
exist in the Koran... is very destructive of progress and of science. Because the 
fact is a lot of Muslims are looking to the Koran as the place to find answers to 
scientific problems. If you go to the internet you’ll see thousands of websites that 
say that the Koran predicted black holes and quantum mechanics and penicillin and 
antibiotics... in fact no discovery has not been predicted by the Koran. It’s rubbish.
MQ: In a country like Pakistan then how do you tackle these issues?
PH: Look, you tell people live your life, do what you want. Just keep religion out 
of politics, let it be a personal matter... In my mind the only way for Pakistan to 
move forward is for it to become secular... which means that people have the right 
to worship whatever they like and by whatever means. But no one has the right to 
impose their version of Islam on all of us. 
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