| 02 November 2004 | Tuesday | 18 Ramazan 1425 |
Devotional poetry among the youth
Commenting on the newly enacted law on karo-kari (honour killing), Kawish says that owing to the pressure of human rights organizations, media and other circles, the National Assembly approved the bill. However, the haste in which it was adopted, in the absence of the opposition, suggests that the government is not serious in curbing the heinous crime.
It's for this reason that rights organizations have expressed reservations about effectiveness of the bill. Since the law has several loopholes, these organizations say, it will not be helpful in eradicating the barbaric practice. According to the new law, honour killing is pardonable, like an ordinary murder, and the heir of a victim can forgive a killer on the basis of the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance (QDO).
Under the tradition of karo-kari, women are killed by their husbands, brothers or other family members and the heirs being close relatives of the killers usually pardon them. The paper says that honour killing should have been made an unpardonable crime so that killers do not get any relief from the QDO.
Enforcement of the law will also pose a problem. In a feudal society there exists an unholy alliance between feudal lords/tribal chieftains and police, and there is little hope that the law will be fully enforced. If serious efforts are not made by the administration to ensure its implementation, this bill, like several other pieces of legislation, will just be another addition to the statute book and parliament's record.
The official attitude, the paper says, can be gauged from the fact that a proposal to legalize the jirga system is being actively considered by the Sindh government. Under the system, a murder is pardoned against another, feudal lords/tribal chieftains issue orders for killing women and puts kari women up for auction. By giving a legal cover to the jirga system, won't the authorities negate the karo-kari law, the paper asks.
Awami Awaz takes up the issue of illegal detentions and says that the recent release of 22 illegal detainees from a Sukkur police station reveals that the force has no regard for law. The fact that no police official has ever been punished for unlawfully detaining people encourages them to persist with the illegal practice. Therefore, courts should not only order release of illegal detainees but also punishment of perpetrators of the crime as a deterrent for others.
Commenting on a prison riot in Jacobabad, Ibrat says that the incident again reveals nasty conditions in Sindh jails. On the one hand, the prisons are overcrowded and, on the other, the inmates do not get facilities in accordance with the jail manual. To add insult to injury, prison staff force prisoners and their visitors to bribe them in order to get what they are entitled to. This often leads to scuffles and riots in prisons.The paper calls upon the provincial government to improve the lot of prisoners otherwise, it warns, prison riots may take the form of jailbreaks.
Devotional poetry among the youth
Cultural activities always decline in Ramazan. The focus shifts to religious gatherings. Many writers and poets are commandeered by the electronic media for discussions on religious topics.
However, the Pakistan Arts Council held a 'naatia mushaira' last Saturday, which was presided over by a senior poet Sarshar Siddiqui. The event was sponsored by a new body set up by the Arts Council, Naujawanan-i-Shehre Karachi.
Naatia verses are based on the venerated life of the Holy Prophet, Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH). They form a genre spread over more than a thousand years, from Arabic poetry to Urdu poetry. Poets have long been attracted by the Prophet's role as a benefactor of humanity.
Urdu naat writing found great impetus in the early 20th century, thanks to such luminaries as Mohsin Kakorvi (d. 1905) and Amir Meenai (1829-1900) Mohsin gave this genre local colour and brought in the culture of the subcontinent. Maulana Hali was also influenced and wrote naats which were later included in his collected works.
In Pakistan, naatia poetry gained popularity during the period of Gen Ziaul Haq, who encouraged it as part of his own political agenda. Almost all the front ranking poets from Hafeez Jallundhari to Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi to the late Taabish Dehlavi have written naats.
At the Arts Council, after reading out his devotional poems, Sarshar Siddiqui noted the presence of younger poets taking interest in religious poetry, and hoped that this would help them in poetic development.
Anwaar Ahmad, a senior bureaucrat and a connoisseur of good poetry also praised the young poets who had presented their works. He recited a naat beginning with the following couplet:
Sub bund hi rahtey haen, koi ghar nahin khulta Rahmat ke seva bab-i-moqaddar nahin khulta
Other poets who recited their verses included Arif Shafeeq, Rashid Noor, Yaamin Akhtar, Pervin Haider, Perveen Javed, Shakil Akhtar, Fazil Jameeli, Farhat Sapna from Mirpurkhas, Sarfraz Abedi, Shaukat Ali Unqa and Azeem Haider.
The evening's comperes were G. Habib and Fahim Sham Kazmi.
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Elections for the main offices of the Arts Council for theyear 2005-06 will be held next month. Two panels of candidates are in the field. Electioneering has started with Iftar dinners in some quarters.
Khushbakht Shujaat and Syed Azfer Rizvi are the contestants for the office of vice-president. Yawer Mehdi will not contest and prefers to remain on the sidelines, leaving the office of honorary secretary open for Moin Akhtar, the actor and compere. As far as it is known, Moin Akhtar has not been opposed by anyone so far.
Naqqash Kazmi is seeking the office of treasurer and is opposed by Rizwan Siddiqui, who failed in a previous bid for this office.
Names of candidates for the governing body are being finalized by the two rival panels.