Pakistani Legislator Supports “Centuries-Old Tradition” of Honor Killings

A Pakistani lawmaker, Israr Ullah Zehri, has publicly supported honor killings even in the face of a recent case in which five women were buried alive by Muslim religious fanatics. While the case is the latest outrage that has disgusted the world, Zehri insisted it is a time-honored tradition for immoral people to be dealt with under Sharia law.

Zehri represented Baluchistan province where these attacks are common. He told his colleagues that “[t]hese are centuries-old traditions and I will continue to defend them. Only those who indulge in immoral acts should be afraid.”

His comments follow the killing of five women, including three teenagers by shooting them and then throwing them into a ditch where they were buried alive with rocks and mud. Their crimes was their intention to marry men of their own choosing, here.

Zehri insisted on Friday in a speech to his colleagues that such Baluch traditions help deter obscenity and should not be viewed as a big deal. Some colleagues agreed with him that it should be treated as an internal matter for the province. What is not an internal matter is a legislator who endorses murder. The question is whether the parliament with expel Zehri who is obviously holds monstrous and murderous views for a lawmaker.

There is still no action against the culprits in the murders in Baba Kot, a remote village in Jafferabad district. They were forced into a car at gunpoint by six men, taken to a field, beaten, shot, and then buried alive.

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