Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Prejudice and Discrimination
okay. my last entry was dated july 2004. exactly a year ago. im truly a useless blogger. lets start all over again now.
watch a national geographic video during gp just now. horror.
in the rural part of Pakistan, the men actually believe that Islam condone honour killings. whats meant by honour killings is when the father, husband, brother or any other male relatives 'punish' their female counterparts by burning them alive, mutilating them and well, you get what i mean.
it was just so shocking to see the video. those men in the video claim they were following the beliefs of islam and quran, the holy book that states that women who commit adultery should be punished, and in this case, killing seems to be the punishment meted out. that idea itself is very disturbing and thwarted because most who make that claim are illiterate.
there was this woman who was mutilated by her own husband because he found her in bed with another man. she is at fault too i understand but the fact that he beat her up,hanged her upside down and then cut off her ears , nose, gouged her eyes out with a knife and cut off her tongue is just gruesomely inhumane.
in that part of pakistan, women are treated as slaves as they are expected to be subservient. they are not allowed out of their house, cannot be seen talking to another man besides her husband and women who are bold enough to stand up and fight for their rights are shunned by their family.
the worst things is, most of these murderers get away scot free because they bribe the police officers, bribe the victims's family or it is victims who actually survived are too afraid to speak up.
the feeling of wanting to extend help is there, to make a difference in their lives, to release these women from the poverty and slavery circle but im just not that strong. =( compared to them, my problems seems almost insignificant.
so yes, i do feel blessed. its like a wake up call, thank you god.
and last but not least, i feel like eating popiah. okay dahh. =D