Nauman Nisar February 16, 2005

Tags: feudalism , justive , rape

href="/tag/women">women.

He is wrong, no doubt, and sadly mistaken. It is definitely not okay to rape women in Punjab. Last time I checked, rape was still illegal in Punjab and for that matter in all provinces of Pakistan. Violence against women is a heinous crime and Punjab does not permit it, endorse it, authorize it or justify it in any way conceivable.

Acts of random violence against women, including rape do happen, from time to time, throughout the country and are tried through the judicial system. In fact, approximately 10,000 cases of domestic violence including rape are reported by the annual report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in its 2004 annual report.

Tally among different provinces is not available, however it is safe to assume that Punjab would have a significantly higher proportion of such cases, partly due to a larger population mass. The under-reporting of the crime due to social pressures is rather universal. Inappropriate handling of the evidence at the crime scene and poorly trained personal both within the criminal system and the healthcare system are the major reasons for an embarrassingly low conviction rate.

The controversial Hadood and Zina ordinance enacted by late General Zia-ul-Haq in late 80’s introduced harsher and even capital punishment for these crimes against women. Unfortunately it failed to achieve the desired results, with almost no change whatsoever in the incidence of rape in Pakistan.

The Sui rape case is lately making the headlines. It is not the act of rape itself, but what happened afterwards has put whole Baluchistan in the spot light. Failures by authorities to act promptly have set in motion events that are spinning out of control. Allegations of a probable cover up by the army are rampant.

Seemingly a “planned riot” ensued after the news of an alleged rape broke out. Gas installations of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) were targeted. Hundreds of people from Bugti tribe took upon themselves to participate in this vigilante-style moral duty. Close relatives of Akbar Bugti including grandson and uncle are reportedly involved as they were named in the police report, which was later filed. This was by no means a street fight between few thugs; it was serious enough. Up to 600 rockets were fired on the Sui gas field, as reported by governor of Balochistan. Mortars and rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) were also used generously. The siege ended after security forces intervened. Eight people died, five of them were innocent civilians. Substantial damage to the property and infrastructure was also reported.

Destroying energy infrastructure causing millions of dollars in damages, interrupting gas supplies to businesses and consumers and above all resultant death of eight innocent people can never be justified.

Akbar Bugti was quite successful in steering the misdirected anger of his people for the sake of his personal gains. He evidently has prior scores to settle with the government on broader political issues. He remains un-apologetic. To date, no other Balochi leader of any rank has condemned these violent outburst. Most of them openly endorse it for one reason or another.

What happened with an innocent working woman in Sui, is reprehensible. Subsequent death of eight innocent people is even harder to comprehend. Provision of justice cannot be left at the whims of street gangs or private militias run by feudal lords. It is far better to let the criminal system run its course even when it is not perfect or does not often produce consistent results.

It is clear that the “Balochi way” of dealing with a rape crime, characterized by him and his tribe is fundamentally wrong. His proposed remedy for the alleged rapists to “walk on fire” to vindicate themselves, is even more insane.

We don’t mind if Mr. Bugti remains stuck in Stone Age. That’s his prerogative. However, he must stand corrected on one count: This reckless and outright idiotic behavior is not the “Punjabi way”.