DAVOS: Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday on his statements against honour killings in Pakistan.

“I just want to thank you for your recent statement saying that you are going to work against honour killings in Pakistan,” Ms Chinoy told Prime Minister Sharif at a meeting with businessmen held on the sidelines of World Economic Forum.

“As a Pakistani woman, I am honoured to have a prime minister who is working on the issue,” said Ms Chinoy who was recently praised by the prime minister for the shortlisting of her film A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, for the Academy Awards.

The prime minister had earlier stated that honour killings afflicted several segments of Pakistani society.

He also expressed the government’s commitment to rid Pakistan of the evil by bringing in appropriate legislation and termed Ms Chinoy’s insights useful in this connection.

The prime minister recently invited Ms Chinoy to Prime Minister House for the first screening of her film.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2015