Women vs. the Jirga

The oppression of women throughout the history of civilization is not unheard of. In the 21^st century, one would however, expect that the clichéd, pragmatic debate of men’s superiority over women would have somehow come to an end. Even though society has evolved over the decades and has come a long way by granting women equal rights to some extent, issues pertaining to abuse and mistreatment of women come up every day.

It would not come as a surprise that Pakistan was the third dangerous country for women according to a survey conducted in 2011. The fact that over 1000 girls are killed in Pakistan every year in the name of honor gives further evidence to support the survey.  Practices like karokari (honor killing) and vani (child marriage) are not new to the tribal culture of Pakistan. In fact, the reason these practices and punishments are still exercised in areas of rural Sindh, Baluchistan and KPK are because their system of justice, the Jirga, makes these actions legal and permissible.

The Jirga system is a decision making assembly or tribal council. It is made up of local elders and headed by a sardar or wadera to settle legal and local disputes. Despite being banned by the government, the system is still in practice today. This is mainly because the Jirga is headed by wealthy, affluent landlords and the state is not willing to take any action against them. The Jirga does not give people the right to a fair trial and suppresses women to the extent that they are viewed as objects and commodities. It is a male dominated system which has been designed to control women and use them for their own purposes. For example, whenever a male member of the tribe commits a crime, the young girls of the clan are forcibly married to atone for the man’s crimes.

Another example of mistreatment of women in the Jirga system is karokari. The Jirga system legitimizes the killing of women to restore a man’s honor. If a man wishes to remarry, he may kill his wife as kari. If a woman is seen talking to a stranger or even if she showers more frequently in her husband’s absence, she can be killed as kari.

 Although I feel that the Jirga system has to exist because the Pakistani state has failed to provide an alternative substitute to people’s problems in tribal areas, their unfair oppression of women cannot be justified. Even though the attitude of locals is supportive towards the Jirga, measures should be taken to abolish these inhumane practices.