Soccer Dad

The nyt opposes honor killings

Of course anyone with a conscience would oppose so-called "honor killings." But today's editorial about honor killings is missing a certain word. Let's parse it.

There is much to admire in India today, including its vibrant democracy and economy and its rich traditions. It should also lead the way in protecting and empowering women by ending so-called honor killings.

I know a little bit about honor killings, but am not surprised to hear that it occurs in India. I was sort of surprised that it was India that the Times was calling on to "lead the way" in fighting this practice.

Jim Yardley recently reported in The Times on the case of Nirupama Pathak, a 22-year-old journalism graduate student from northern India who was found dead in her bedroom in April. Police arrested her mother on suspicion of murder; the family insisted Ms. Pathak had killed herself after confessing that she was pregnant.

The legal process must move forward, but what is clear is that Ms. Pathak's family -- members of the Brahmin caste, the highest Hindu caste -- fiercely disapproved of her engagement to a young man she had met at school who was from a middle-upper caste. When she told her family of her plans to marry, The Times reported, she was accused of defiling her Hindu religion.

Good! The Times reported on this phenomenon, so that's why its editors opined on the subject.

Responding to an apparent resurgence in "honor killings," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ordered a cabinet-level commission this month to consider tougher penalties in such cases. In June, India's Supreme Court asked seven states and the national government to report on what is being done to address the problem. Mr. Singh and the court need to follow through.

Well it does sound like India is doing something.

Honor killings are widely reported in the Middle East and South Asia, but in recent years they also have taken place in Italy, Sweden, Brazil and Britain. According to Navi Pillay, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, there are 5,000 instances annually when women and girls are shot, stoned, burned, buried alive, strangled, smothered and knifed to death by fathers, brothers, sons, uncles, even mothers in the name of preserving family "honor." Ms. Pillay has rejected arguments that such family violence is outside the conceptual framework of international human rights.

Honor killings take place in the "Middle East!" Who knew!?! And they've been spreading to other parts of the world. (They've also been known to occur in the United States, not too far from the offices of the New York Times, but "United States" were not the missing words I was seeking.)

Finally we come to the Times's conclusion:

There is a reason these religious and cultural beliefs are allowed to persist. Politicians don't have the courage to call it what it is: murder.

That is a pretty harsh judgment. Politicians are cowards because they refuse to recognize what it is. What about newspapers who are unwilling to mention which religion "honor killings" are a part of?

Phylis Chesler writes:

Why do I write "gladly?" Because this, after all, is proof that honor killings are not specific to Muslims. Nevertheless, according to my 2010 study in Middle East Quarterly, 84% of those who commit honor murders in North America have been Muslims and 96% of honor murderers in Europe were Muslims.

Yes, Hindus and Sikhs have committed honor murders in the West. Apparently, the kind of Hindus who emigrate to the West do not bring such tribal or religious customs along with them.

But Muslims do.

(I wish she had addressed what percentage of honor killings occur in Hindu lands and which in Muslim lands.) This is instructive, as the New York Times describes honor killings as a growing phenomenon, but still can't bring itself to mention members of which religion are most responsible for spreading the practice to new lands.

The Times's failure to mention the religion "Islam" in any form when confronting honor killing is gutless. To insist India take the lead in fighting this horrible crime when India, in fact, is doing something, dilutes the strength of the editorial.