Honour Killings – Certainly Religion Seems To Have Misled The Religious
Posted: Tuesday, January 11, 2011
by Drunken Mystic
http://drunkenmystic.wordpress.com
What is an honour killing? Honour killing is cold blooded murder, a gruesome act committed to protect the prestige of the family in the society, to uphold strict rules of religion. An honour killing is done when some member of the family feels or suspects one of their members is breaking the rules of religion or caste and bringing shame to the lineage. There have been many cases of honour killings in countries like Germany and India especially. I know that it happens at least in these two countries because I have heard stories from friends living in Germany and I live in India.
The father was arrested and sentenced for life, but does this really bring a solution to this problem? Does religion say “If you shall not follow my laws, death shall be the answer”? Or “Man shall have the right to kill if his siblings break my laws”? How does man conclude that if someone doesn’t follow the rules of a holy scripture, that person deserves to be killed and God has chosen him for the mission? Love flies out of the window the moment children grow up and start making their choices and it is time for them to be bound within the four walls of religious tyranny.
I got to know this happens mostly among the Turkish Moslem community in different parts of Germany at least. There was also one instant where a Turkish Moslem girl (German) had to approach the law for protection and the police helped her move out of her home secretly to another city and changed her identity completely. Change of identity certainly doesn’t remove the fear from her mind that her father might be able to locate her sooner or later.
There have been many incidents of honour killing mostly in northern Indian states like Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar. At least 1000 die (mostly women) in India every year due to different issues of caste, religion, love affairs and marriage. Most of the cases are related with young couples in love, who want to marry outside their caste or religion and the family opposes the decision. One fine day, both the boy and girl are found dead under mysterious circumstances. There are even instances where families defend the murder.
Monica was the girl in love with a guy (name unknown), and her friend Shobha helped her marry her lover against the wishes of their family. Mandeep and Ankit, brothers of Monica and Shobha murdered their respective sisters only because they believed or their families believed these two women to have brought shame to their village society. The father very proudly spoke in front of the media and said what his son did was cent percent right and this should be a message to all those couples who want to do the same.
The Indian government has been looking to reform the laws since there is no law which points directly at a phrase such as “Honour Killing”. The politicians have been condemning this act and have raised serious concerns while the judiciary have also been scratching their heads. The other part of the problem is, village administration heads have themselves been ordering “honour killings” to couples who have been marrying against the rules of the caste system or religion. In many parts of India, marrying a boy or girl of another caste is considered a shame. To protect the honour of the family, the girl is murdered. That is how honour killing started and off late people have even started murdering the boy who is involved.
As of now, the Indian Penal Code sees 'honour killing' only as manslaughter and homicide. The issue here is to reform the Hindu Marriage Act and reforming this Act would mean changing the basic tenets of religion. If the judiciary chooses to finger around with the sensitivities of a religious principle, this will certainly pave the way for more chaos and opposition from the different religious authorities.
Religion has filled the society with ignorance and prejudice which forbids man even from loving his own children and siblings unconditionally. The only reason that the couple's choice of love life doesn’t fall within the precepts of religion (could be any religion) and the Hindu caste system, they believe it is their divine right to kill.
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Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)I don't see how any religion can justify the killing of innocent people. I know it's done in war but I believe this is not right either.Religion has always had a history of killing for honor. The problem over here is, even though there might have been good reasons to kill someone who is spreading evil, and that person might have been associated with religion, that one single act gets misused as an example by the future generations to kill for anything and everything if somebody chooses to go against the tradition of religious customs. Thank you David.
Well written, Shyam, this is such a great article, thanks :) "Honor killing" presses all my buttons. It's always about the women getting killed, isn't it? Such rank chauvenism and arrogance. I absolutely agree with you that religion has filled society with ignorance and prejudice. Bravo to the politicians who have been condemning this act.Thank you Jennifer. Even though women enjoy some rights in India to some extent today, there is still a majority where women don't enjoy freedom. South India never sees honor killings and women have made great progress in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. They work as bus conductors, bus drivers, Autoricksaw drivers. They have been offered good amount of respect and in case a girl marries outside her caste, it becomes an issue but they don't kill her. The Northern states which I mentioned have problems to deal with regarding women's rights.
Drunken Mystic are one deep thinking soul. I recently watched a doc Forbidden Lie$ investigating claims that "Forbidden Love" by author Norma Khouri was all fiction and not a true story of an honor killing of a young Muslim woman executed for dating a Christian. Regardless of whether the book is true, it is a social issue that needs to be fully looked into.
This is certainly a serious issue now. The Indian government is trying to reform laws accordingly. As of now there is no law which can convict culprits involved in 'honor killing' but can only look at it as murder. Dealing with Islamic laws will be a much tougher thing. Thank you Sid.
This just proves again, that not everyone is swept along in the evolutionary waves which constantly wash over the world- some get left behind on the bleak shores of ignorance and confusion. Another brilliant article DM- Thanks- Always- EllaCertainly Ella, you have put it very nicely. But these waves usually leave behind the good and pious too. :-) The world needs a balance for evolution to keep happening. Thank you very much.
DM
Thanks.......e
I agree with you COMPLETELY. Honor killing is murder, period. There is nothing honorable about murdering an innocent human being. The only time murdering another human being is necessary is if they are a danger to other human beings. Amazing article! Thanks for sharing.
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