On Zillae Huma Usman

The recent assassination of Zillae Huma Usman, a courageous female social welfare minister, was an inhuman and cowardly attempt to discourage women from assuming leadership roles in Pakistan. Apparently, the assassin had issues with bold and confident women and was a repeat offender. This is what the current day and age Pakistan looks like when it comes to law and order situation.

- Why did the courts let a criminal be among the innocent masses? Why wasn’t the culprit taken to task and punished for the previous offenses?
There is more emphasis on putting poor women in jails for being violated vs. making sure that the murderers and criminals (men, in many cases) are taken to task and penalized for their crimes.

- What good is the facade of encouraging educated women to be at the forefront at the expense of their life?
Being a public figure has its own pros and cons, but providing appropriate security to the public figures is the responsibility of the government (knowing the prevalent law and order situation).

This behavior has huge implications for Muslims and Pakistanis worldwide. Such incidents do not impact the Pakistanis living in Pakistan only. They are an embarrassment to Pakistanis all over the world. In the US, we are sick and tired of reading about the honor killings and human rights violation of Pakistani women worldwide. Often times, we attribute that to lack of education and patriarchal culture. In this case, an educated woman in a leadership position was wiped off for being out there as a role model.

I hope the Pakistani courts penalize Maulvi Ghulam Sarwar (the assassin) in a way that is remembered for all times to come. It’s high time that we honor our women in the true sense and respect their individuality.

Brief Bio - Mrs Zilla Huma Usman wife of Dr Muhammad Usman Haider was born on September 16, 1971. She obtained the degree of LL.B. in 1997 and that of M.A. (Political Science) in 1998 from University of the Punjab, Lahore. She was engaged in business and had been elected as Member Provincial Assembly of the Punjab in General Elections 2002 against one of the seats reserved for women. She worked as Parliamentary Secretary for Planning & Development from August 5, 2003 to November 30, 2006. She was functioning as Minister for Social Welfare since December 1, 2006.