ISLAMABAD: The honour killing of Rubina Chandio echoed in the Senate on Friday as the members expressed grave concern over the rising trend of crimes against women countrywide.
Senator Nasima Ehsan, who hails from Balochistan, raised the issue on a point of public importance, while JUIF’s Maulana Attaur Rehman took the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments to task for their inability to combat terrorism.
Taking the floor, Senator Nasima said Rubina Chandio was shot dead in public in Sindh and demanded that the killers should also be hanged in public. She also called for stringent measures to stop this act of brutality against women.
PPP Vice-President Sherry Rehman, who was presiding over the sitting at that time, called Rubina’s killing “only the latest in a long line of such horrific cases”. She underscored the troubling social acceptance that continues to surround honour-based violence in parts of the country. “The surge in these cases is deeply concerning. We cannot allow such brutality to become normalised,” she emphasized.
Sherry was alarmed by the abysmal conviction rate of only five percent in cases involving crimes against women and remarked, “When justice is delivered sporadically, it reflects a systemic failure. This is an extremely alarming state of affairs”.
The Women’s Protection Bill drafted years ago, she noted, laid an important foundation, which was later strengthened by the provincial legislation. “The legislative framework exists. What is missing is implementation with resolve and consistency,” she stressed. “It is disturbing to note not only the brutality with which these crimes are carried out, but also the dangerous social acceptance around them,” she said, rejecting the common myth that such crimes are limited to remote areas or linked solely to poverty and illiteracy.
She pointed out that these crimes also occurred within influential households. Wealth, status and education do not erase patriarchal thinking; often, they provide stronger networks of silence and protection. Senator Rehman urged parliament to ensure that cases of honour killings were continuously and rigorously taken up by the Senate Human Rights Committee. She then referred the matter to the Senate Human Rights Committee for immediate scrutiny and action.
Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry termed the incident very unfortunate and remarked, “The more we condemn it, the less it can be”. The minister offered help and said the federal government was ready to provide all possible cooperation in this matter.
Meanwhile, JUIF senior leader Senator Maulana Attaur Rehman was again on his feet to raise the recent killing of his party’s senior leader Maulana Muhammad Idrees and decried that he was shot in broad daylight. “When we protested, the administration asked us to postpone the demonstration. I told them, ‘You are killing us and not even allowing us to express our grief. What are we supposed to tell our dedicated workers?’” he said. “Every week, we witness heartbreaking incidents. What direction is this nation heading in?” he said. “There has not been peace in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa for the past 13 years, and we no longer feel safe here,” he asserted. Maulana Atta contended that the PTI government was trying to blame the central government for this sorry situation.
PMLN Senator Abid Sher Ali strongly defended the federal government and armed forces and said soldiers were making sacrifices and unlike the past, the situation had now changed. “America and Iran have been brought to the negotiating table owing to Pakistan’s mediation efforts and our national flag is held high, whereas India has been humiliated in front of the world,” he maintained. The House was later adjourned to meet again Monday afternoon.
