JUST weeks after we reported the case of an Iraqi man who beat his daughter to death in an ‘honour” killing, comes the news that a Pakistani man is behind bars in the USA after strangling his daughter. He was said to be upset that Sandeela Kanwal, 25, wanted to leave her arranged marriage.
According to this report, Chaudhry Rashid, 54, is charged with strangling his daughter with a bungee cord at their home in Jonesboro, Georgia.
Rashid’s wife, Gina Rashid, 49, called police just before 2 am on Sunday and told them she had been awakened and heard screaming.
Rashid is being held without bond in the Clayton County Jail.
Gina Rashid did not attend the hearing. But she told police that her daughter wanted to end her arranged marriage and had not spoken to her father in two months because of their disagreement on the matter.
Police said Chaudhry Rashid owns a pizza parlour in Clayton County, while his daughter worked at a Wal-Mart.
When police arrived at the family’s home Sunday morning, Rashid told them simply, “My daughter is dead”. When police asked him how Rashid knew she was dead, Rashid reportedly said nothing and hung his head.
According to a National Geographic article:
…Where most marriages are arranged by fathers and money is often exchanged, a woman’s desire to choose her own husband – or to seek a divorce– can be viewed as a major act of defiance that damages the honour of the man who negotiated the deal.
The magazine quoted Tahira Shahid Khan, a professor specialising in women’s issues at the Aga Khan University in Pakistan, who, in 1999, wrote Chained to Custom, a review of honour killings:
There is nothing in the Koran, the book of basic Islamic teachings, that permits or sanctions honour killings. However, the view of women as property with no rights of their own is deeply rooted in Islamic culture.
Women are considered the property of the males in their family irrespective of their class, ethnic, or religious group. The owner of the property has the right to decide its fate. The concept of ownership has turned women into a commodity which can be exchanged, bought and sold.
And, of course, murdered!
2 Comments
Life without parole I hope to give the idiot time to think about what he has done. Sorry piece of crap that he is
Honour Killing
Honour killing and female infanticide come from Pagan-Hindu-Judeo-Christian traditions. Hindus idolise women as Goddesses on one hand, while downgrading them on the sly at the same time. There is nothing in the Holy Quran and the Hadiths that may encourage people to kill their daughters. Infact, Islam came to abolish the dark ages of Pagan- Hindu –Judeo- Christian traditions. Islam is a matter of choice and there is no compulsion at all. It is a misconception that forced marriage and honour killing are part of Muslim culture. Forced marriage, honour killing and genital mutilation are rare practices among migrant communities. Muslim migrants are worried about institutional racism, binge drinking, drug addiction, incivility, gun and knife crimes, high rate of abortions and teen age pregnancies. An average of 20 English girls under the age of 16 falls pregnant every day. Muslim parents do not want their children to be integrated into such barbarity. Muslim women feel torn between two cultures, thanks to the British education system with non-Muslim monolingual teachers. It makes their lives very confusing.
The tragedy of forced marriage and honour killing could have been avoided if the poor girls were educated in a single sex state funded Muslim schools by female Muslim teachers. Educational attainment rises quite significantly if boys and girls are educated separately. The tragedies are an eye opener for all those Muslim parents who send their children to state schools where they are exposed to non-Muslim teachers who have no respect for Islamic faith and Muslim community and do not understand the needs and demands of the Muslim children. Muslim schools are crucial for Muslim children because western education makes a man/woman stupid. The hypocrisy of the Western society is clearly seen whereas an Australian Judge failed to jail nine males who admitted gang-raping a 10-year old aborigine girl in 2005, saying the victim probably agreed to have sex with them and a UNICEF Photo of the year shows, a bridegroom, 40, with his 11-year old bride in Afghanistan. In my opinion, a UNICEF photo of the year must show a nine year British girl having a baby and another photo showing a gang of teenage girls with anti-social behaviour and vomiting out side a pub, thanks to binge drinking. Muslim children need state funded Muslim schools with Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods. Muslim schools are the solutions and not a problem. They help to strengthen community cohesion, not undermine it. Muslim schools stand as shining beacons of light, serving as one of the most crucial factors which protect Muslim children from the onslaught of Eurocentricism, homosexuality, racism and secular values and traditions. They need to be well versed in Standard English to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity. At the same time they need to be well versed in Arabic, Urdu and other community languages to keep in touch with their cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry. Muslim schools are not only faith schools but also bilingual schools. Infact, bilingualism is an asset and not a problem as perceived by the British education system. There is a positive co-relation between language and culture. English language is associated with western culture.
The silent majority of Muslim parents would like to send their children to Muslim schools but there are not enough schools to go by. The only alternative left is either British Government should introduce voucher system for parents to choose the school of their choice or designate all those state schools as Muslim community schools where Muslim pupils are in majority. There are hundreds of state schools where Muslims are in majority. Such schools may be handed over to Muslim educational Trusts or charities for their management. They are in a better position to educate Muslim children in accordance with their needs and demands. This demand is in accordance with the law of the land because there are state schools already managed by private companies. Muslim community is not asking for a favour. It is their legal right.
Iftikhar Ahmad
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk
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