Thank you thank you thank you, State Department spokesperson. Someone is paying attention to the plight of Pakistani women.

What about the killings of innocent women, children, men in Afghanistan and Iraq by the US troops? US must answer this.

Pakistan Law should punish the culprits of this brutal act. What about killing of people in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan using the state of the art of defence technologies. Our government should not listen to these outsiders. Make the law to rule the people not the outsider to tell what to do.

what an irony, pot calling the kettle black.

pot say kettle black.

what an irony, pot calling the kettle black. And what of your killing in different parts of the world, that include thousands of innocent women, children and men.

True, as a human being we all should get concerned. Illiteracy is the root cause for such idiotic action. The government should make a plan to fight Illiteracy the way it is fighting against polio virus.

@Sunil Though i agree with your comments this article is about what is happening in Pakistan. Too many women are kiled or abused in Pakistan in the name of honor. Also too many men espescially in government who are whole heartedly against this sort of behaviour are keeping quiet and are taking too long to make any desicions on how to deal with the plight of women in Pakistan. Maybe a mass rally by all who are against this sort of behaviour too wake the population and government up.

@Sunil US remains the biggest human rights violator around the world,but all the violations are justifiable when American interests are involved..

@Malik Ajmal Khan What about the killing of innocent people including women and children in Afghanistan, Iraq etc. by the Americans? We condemn those!

what happened is wrong......

Madam, What is happening in our country should not detract us from feeling equally "concerned about violence" in your country. We are a poor, uneducated, disturbed and a distracted nation but nevertheless acutely aware of our shortcomings. Hence we do not like to pontificate on others. What is your excuse for the endemic violence in your country?

@MAJID KHAN You argument doesn't carry any weight. It is rude, irrelevant and out of place. I believe, you are comparing the killing of Farzana by her father to the killings of innocent people in the name of national security by the US government. Can you really compare the two? How many cases have you heard of in the USA where a father has killed his own daughter in this most animal like fashion and in the name of honour?

@Wajahat Hussain I can not believe that you are comparing the sad killing of people in Afghanistan by the US government to the killing of an innocent pregnant girl killed by her own father in front of the court building in clear view of he police. Do you really not see the difference? Sadly, i can not see any logical connection between what you are saying and what was said by the US state department spokesperson.

U S spokeswoman has rightly expressed indignation over honor killing of a pregnant woman .This was done by her relatives outside Lahore High Court - the citadel of Law and Fountain of Justice. We condemn all such killings,The government must otder investigation into this incident and give stern punishment to the assailants .Where were all the chiefs, including Chief Justice of Pakistan, Chief of Lahore High Court, Chief Minister of the province, Chief Commissioner of Lahore ,and I.G Police when rhis was happening ? Shame on all of them. They have done nothing at all. Not a single word of condemnation or sypathy. No Outrage by the civil society. All are complacent, and unmoved. We do not need such an insensitive and incompetent administration to run the government. They are paid for the Job. They are not doing it as a favor to the people.they are not even capable of doing any favor. May Allah rest her soul in eternal peace and tranquility.

@Sunil Yes, but remember, governments in Pakistan get serious (at least apparently) only when US govt is "concerned."

If Americans remain quiet about our problems, we would have a better chance for some solutions. I hope our friends can see that.

Stop your hate campaign. Did she not hear about the gang rape and the hanging of two dalit girls in uttar pardesh, india......Shame on the US for being so selective in their human right concerns.

It's about time that the leading and the strongest nations condemn such a heinous act of violence and barbarism (in the 21st century) against innocent women (incl young minor girls), in order to prevent this shameful and psychological behaviour and bring a closure to this social evil cultural practice (in the misconceived and misplaced Name of Faith) And, those who say, "the pot is calling the kettle black" are making naive and immature 'comparison between an apple and an orange'

@Sunil I totally agree with you Sunil but the fact is that what is happening in Pakistan is in the name of honour and sadly religion is being used to go scot free if the relatives of the victim forgive you. What we are really saying is that Islam allows killing if the relatives of the victim forgive you. This is being misused. Now this father is going to ask fogiveness from the mother of this girl and if she pardons, he will not face any punishment for killing his own daughter. Pakistanis have made religion a joke and send the world a signal that our religion allows us to kill. What a pathetic situtation. In Pakistan (and I am sure some of it also exists in India), we have an added element where the number of illiterates is much more than India (in % terms) and everyone takes full advantage of it. Hope you can see my point.

Where is the honor in honor killing ?

Killing innocent women & CHILDREN in the name of War on Terror is ALSO unjustifiable.

offcourse killing should be strictly controlled not only in pakistan but in all over the world not only women but all humanbeing in pakistan

I have yet to see a religious leader like Siraj-ul-haque, maulana Fazl-ul-haque and their likes to condemn such acts.

@Sunil What about hundreds of thousand of people killed in kashmir?. That is war . Fair or unfair , thats another question . Haven't you heard All is fair in love and war. You can not compare apples and oranges.

Agreed. And so is the killing of suspects without due process of justice....or detaining one indefinitely because they are suspects without proof.

For some people these days, it seems like the fact that the U.S. condemns something means that they have to start bashing the U.S. instead. But does anyone actually disagree with the U.S. position on this? I don't think so. The U.S. position on this issue is correct. It is also the same position that all sane and decent people in Pakistan are taking on this issue. And the fact of the matter is that official U.S. support for change and better law enforcement on such issues is something that may help motivate our government to actually do something about this. That would be a good thing. Whatever people's opinions about U.S. military engagements in various international theaters may be (and I caution you to not form your opinion solely on sources critical of the U.S. that are rather popular in pakistan, that is the door to inaccuracy and the world is more complicated than that), it seems absurd to bash it in cases where it is obviously taking the correct position.

The State Department condones the millions of children murdered by abortions in America and the hundreds of thousands killed in Iraq yet has the audacity to criticize others?

I wish I can understand what this debate is all about. The killing of Farzana Parveen was a brutal cowardly act whether in the name of honour or for some other excuse and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. The Government of Punjab and the Prime Minister himself has ordered the swift arrest and trial of the perpetrators of this abominable crime. However what is the need for USA to make an announcement which sounds like it is a practice condoned in our legal system. Killing of innocent people anywhere by anyone is wrong. Should the Foreign office have issued a public statement condemning the massacre of college children by a disgruntled colleague and stating this practice in the USA as unacceptable?

This is the most bizarre case I have ever heard of! First, it was the father and the rest of the family who murdered Farzana, later, we find out that the husband had killed his first wife and was marrying Farzana 20 years his junior and was demanded to pay $1,000 to Farzana's parents to spare her life. Now, we are finding out that it could very well have been Iqbal who killed Farzana. Before we jump to any conclusions, can we wait till all the facts are out? With what we are hearing so far, I am even not sure if it was an "honour" killing!

@Khalid Agreed. But i am amused and shocked at your statement, as you cannot see any logic, when the US rampantly kills the poor innocent young women, children and men with their drone strikes.. Very sad -

Dear Spokesperson why this particular case of Farzana has troubled the US, and what about the countless women who lost their lives in the attacks by the US, in Libya, in Iraq, in Afghanistan and in Syria. Why you think their lives were worthless, only because your interest was involved there. And this statement from the US seems to show the world that they are very much concerned, but please do you have any answer or explanation for all those Farzana's --No you don't have it.

@Akil Akhtar - amazes me how the Paki brothers and sister manage to localize the issue to Pakistan only. The appalling treatment of our mothers and sisters in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh is horrible and disgusting - honor killings, rapes, gang rapes, acid throwing, wife killings for dowry, terminating pregnancy because of gender- all these seems to be very common practices in the subcontinent and have nothing to do with ones religious beliefs; rather it is imbedded in the culture of the land - a land of castes and classes and differences

Yes honor killings and any type of killings need to be condemned. What about the rape and death of two women by hanging them on trees that happened in India the same week? Won't you say anything for them?

@Khalid America ranks as the number one country when it comes to violence against women, with only 14% of sexual assaults ever reported and 1 quarter of school girls have experienced sexual assault.

@Akil Akhtar So true

As a Canadian of Pakistani origin I fully support the condemnation of the US State Department, in connection with the "honour" killing of Farzana. However, the US State Department must also stop indiscriminate killings of many innocent children and women, in the name of protecting the honour of America.

With tainted credibility owing to being responsible for millions of deaths and miseries throughout the world, why do we think US government is the right body to talk about human rights?

"Unjustifiable" -- is that the strongest word in the linguistic armory of the US State Department for the horrible crime of honor killing?

Look Who's Talking

@MAJID KHAN So you are justifying the honor killing of Pakistani women because America is killing Afghanis?

Stone to death? The story I have read in Pakistani newspapers is different. According to them the women was already married to her cousin and ran away with someone and married again without getting divorce from first husband. The first husband was among the killers out side the court in Pakistan. The second husband had killed her wife long time ago and was hiding from police and at one point he was hiding in that village where the poor lady belonged to that's where their relationship began. The Family and her first husband wanted to kill her by all means and because of police presence they could not bring any arms and they used Bricks to kill that poor woman. Calling it stoning to death gives an impression that member of public or society was involved or supported this cruelty. Which is not the case.Stoning to death for honour killing can happen in backwards areas of Pakistan where literacy rate is very low but not in Lahore. Killing someone doesn't give you honour Saving someone does.

@Ayesha I thought there was nothing amusing or shocking in my statement. I was trying to differentiate between a girl being killed by her own father in an open space in view of the police in the name of honour killing versus the killing of innocent people by US government. Do you really not see the difference?

Just ask them what is the honor in killing their own flesh and blood. They need education.

Think before doing pertaining to the honor killing that has pushed us back too long ...