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JIHAD
MOVEMENT LED BY HAFIZ SAEED WORKING TO END OPPRESSION OF
WOMEN
AT THE GRASSROOTS
CONDEMNATION OF "HONOR" KILLINGS
from our Pakistan representative [translated and edited]
Most Pakistani
Americans
who visit their original homeland usually meet Pakistanis who live in
Pakistan but think and behave like Americans.
From among the poor,
they meet the servant class whose lives are tied to the hobbies and needs
of the Americanized ruling class.
Such visitors seldom understand the big changes taking place in Pakistan.
In the heart of Pakistan, a vast new movement has taken root.
It is called Jamaat ad-Da'wa and is lead by Hafiz Saeed.
Its message is that Jihad is central to Islam and that all Muslims,
particularly Pakistanis,
must help the
Kashmiri
people overthrow the yoke of
India.
Recently Jamaat ad-Da'wa held a massive three-day gathering at Pattoki,
near Lahore which was attended by 500,000 men and more than 100,000 women.
[It is said to be the largest gathering of women in recent Muslim history.]
In a recent issue of the Jihad movement's publication, GHAZWAH,
issues relating to the suffering of women are covered.
One of the most hurtful aspects of Pakistani society is that segments of
this society are feudal,
tribal and still carrying the baggage of Hindu superstitions.
The MOST HORRIFIC aspect of this tribalism takes the form of HONOR KILLINGS.
These murders occur because men take their female relatives to be their
"property" in some shape or form.
If the women are seen as "spoiled" by rape or acting out on their own,
the feudal males see this as a blot on their "honor" and the result is the
murder of women by their OWN RELATIVES.
GHAZWAH has tried to focus on the heart-wrenching aspect of one such murder.
ISLAM CATEGORICALLY CONDEMNS SUCH CRIMES and punishes them drastically.
[Pakistan's secularist rulers refuse to implement Islamic punishments for
"honor" killings - editor]
Another aspect of the suffering of women takes the shape of MARRIAGE WITHIN
ONE'S TRIBE or marriage only if a sufficiently expensive gift is made.
A woman's astonishingly frank letter has been published AS IS by the editor
with promise of full support for the
rights
of such women.
[New Trend congratulates the editor of GHAZWAH.
If the Jihad movement takes up women's causes,
the entry point of cultural imperialism into Pakistani society will be
plugged.]
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[In the U.S., the equivalent of "honor" killings is called "stalking"
during which ex-husbands and ex-boyfriends continue to pursue their women
and resort to violence, and murder,
if they see their "property" starting a new relationship - Ed]
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2003-11-30 Sun 12:27ct