PAKISTAN: Mothers set fire to daughters in Nuclear Nation

PAKISTAN: Mothers set fire to daughters in Nuclear Nation

A State that prides itself on being a nuclear State, a symbol of strength and technological advancement, needs a double take. There is something very wrong in a nation and a society where the most fundamental human relationships are mired in violent brutality.

Ms. Zeenat 17, was caught off guard when her own mother doused her with petrol and set her on fire. Her crime? She had dared to marry the man of her choice and had left home to elope and make a life with him.

Incidents like this are everyday news in Pakistan. If in case after case the basic relationships between mothers and daughters end up in violence and murder, how safe are nuclear weapons housed within this jurisdiction?

Or to put it differently, a nation that has devised nuclear weapons against its professed enemies has failed to protect 52% of its population against atrocities and torture, meted out in the name of honour. Are the enemies outside the border the real threats or the ones lurking inside the country? Pakistan is the third most dangerous country to be a woman. Given this, what on earth is the nuclear nation trying to protect with such weapons if it cannot even protect its women and grant them their human rights on a day to day basis?

As per media reports, Zeenat had married Hassan a week ago after leaving her house. Zeenat’s mother Parveen contacted her and told her that she had forgiven her. Parveen took her daughter back home, assuring her that she wants to arrange a proper marriage function for her. Early in the morning, on 8th June 2016, Parveen doused Zeenat in petrol and set her on fire. The victim succumbed to burn injuries in the hospital. And, so the nation has observed silently as yet another young woman has been set on fire, taking the toll to three in the past two months.

The act of live burning of young girls has become endemic. While most go unreported, recently three cases have found space in the press. There is the case of 19-year-old