The Case of Samia Sarwar

1999 The Case of Samia Sarwar : There have been several reported cases of fathers bringing charges of zina against their daughters for marrying of their own accord. In one such case a woman, Sher Bano had eloped with a man who she had willfully married and was apprehended and arrested under the Zina Ordinance. On August 6, 1997 she was shot dead by her brother as she emerged from the court room in Peshawar (AI 15). In this way the Hudood Ordinance reinforces the practice of honor killing by legally formalizing the social control of women and their status as bearers of honor. One of the most widely publicized recent cases was that of Samia Sarwar (also referred to as Samia Imran). Samia Sarwar married her cousin in 1989 in Peshawar. During the time of her marriage she was subjected to years of severe physical abuse at the hands of her husband. In April of 1995, she returned to her family's home to escape her abusive husband because he had thrown her down the stairs while she was pregnant with her second child. Though she was allowed to live with her parents, they would not allow her to get a divorce. When Sarwar expressed her 38 intention to get a divorce, her parents threatened to kill her. Hina Jilani, SaIWar's lawyer said, "Samia was a frightened, unhappy woman who felt very alone in a predicament that she couldn't deal with confidently." On March 26, 1999, Samia took the opportunity of her parents' absence for a pilgrimage to Mecca to flee to Lahore and seek help at the AGHS (a law firm that works on won1en's issues) and refuge in the AGHS-run shelter, Dastak. Because her life had been threatened, Sarwar refused to meet with any of her male relatives. However, because she needed her marriage papers in order to get a divorce, Sarwar agreed to meet with her mother. Their meeting was set for April 6, 1999, in the office ofHina Jilani. Samia's mother came accompanied by her uncle Yunus Sarwar and a driver, Habibur Rehman. When Jilani asked the men to leave the room, Samia'a mother said that she needed the driver's help in order to walk. At that point Habibur Rehman pulled out a gun and shot Samia in the head, killing her instantly. Jilani was also fired at, but the bullet missed. Shortly after Samia was killed, the gun-man, Rehman was shot as a result of his having threatened a security guard. Yunus Sarwar who was waiting in the antechamber, took hold of the AGHS paralegal Shahtaj Qisalbash and escaped with Samia's mother. Qisalbash was taken with them and she claims to have heard the father ask the two if"the job was done." Qisalbash was released unharmed (AI 20)(HRW Summary). Though this crime was committed in full public view with several witnesses, nothing has been done to prosecute Sarwar's family. On April 20, police officers went to Sarwar's village to issue warrants for the family's arrest, but they were "shooed away" according to human rights organizations. Several reports were filed thereafter. The media reported that the response in NWFP oveIWhelmingly sided with the murderers. This attitude also surfaced in the Pakistani Senate. When Pakistan People's Party Senator Iqbal Haider presented a resolution condemning the killing, Senator Ilyas Bilour said in reference to Asma Jahangir and Hina Jilani: "'We have 39 fought for human rights and civil liberties all our lives but wonder what sort of human rights are being claimed by these girls in jeans "'(AI 21). This exhibits the complete disregard for women's rights even at the most superficial level of rhetoric by some Pakistani political leaders. The fact that a cold-blooded murder was argued in such a fashion, even when there was such wide international media coverage, speaks to the absence of any public support for women in Pakistan. The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce of which Samia's father was the president issued a statement on April 8 and 9, demanding that Jahangir and Jilani be dealt with in accordance with "tribal and Islamic law" and be arrested for "misleading women in Pakistan and contributing to the country's bad image abroad." Severalfatwas Xi were also issued against both activists with reward money stipulated for their murderers. Finally, in April of 1999 Jahangir issued a First Information Report (FIR) with the police against 16 people for threatening the lives of her and her sister. She also called on the government to investigate over 300 cases of honor killings reported in 1998. At the time of Amnesty's report, the state had taken no action (AI 21). The case ofSamia Sarwar is one of many such cases reported in the last year. I have focused on this one specifically because it received wide international attention especially through the networks of women's human rights organizations. However, even with the international outcry against this injustice, the state did not act. This case also exemplifies the dangerous nature of organizing for women's rights in Pakistan. Even at risk of their own lives, Jilani and Jahangir continue to speak out about injustices in Pakistan.