Express Tribune Editorials 20th March 2025

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GBV and police apathy
The Sindh High Court recently issued a scathing rebuke of the police for their non-serious approach to investigating honour killing cases. The court's observations are a grim reminder of how a flawed and negligent criminal justice system enables perpetrators to walk free, reinforcing a culture of impunity.

Despite the alarming frequency of honour killings in Pakistan, law enforcement agencies continue to treat these crimes with indifference, prioritising financial incentives over justice.


The modus operandi of honour killings is well understood within the criminal justice system. The killers, often close family members, exploit legal loopholes and societal norms to ensure acquittal. Witnesses, many of whom are either coerced or complicit, conveniently retract their statements at trial.

Crucial evidence is either never collected or deliberately overlooked. Prosecutors, lacking any solid groundwork, fail to build a case, and the courts, bound by legal procedures, are left with no choice but to exonerate the accused. Worse still, the police see these cases as an opportunity to extort money from the accused rather than ensuring justice for the victims. If the state is serious about tackling honour killings, it must first reform its police force. Investigators must be equipped with advanced forensic tools and trained in modern investigative techniques.

More importantly, there must be a shift in mindset in recognising honour killings for what they are: brutal acts of murder, not private disputes. Accountability mechanisms must be strengthened to ensure that officers who botch investigations, whether out of negligence or corruption, face consequences.

Until the police start treating honour killings with the seriousness they deserve, the cycle of impunity will continue, and justice will remain a distant dream for countless victims. The state must act prudently, before more lives are lost to this deeply entrenched crime.

Aurangzeb tomb protest
Hindutva goons in India have a new target these days, as they have begun a violent campaign to try and get the tomb of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb "removed" and replaced with a memorial for Hindu Maratha rulers of the region. The recent violence in Nagpur has so far seen extremists — who were inspired by, if not directly affiliated with, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) extremist group — riot and attack the police to demand the removal of the tomb, which is over 400km away from Nagpur.


The trigger point for the protest was reportedly a recent Bollywood movie about Sambhaji — a Maratha ruler who fought and got defeated by Aurangzeb, who then ordered him to be tortured and killed. The movie includes a graphic depiction of him being tortured. However, it also ignores - or rewrites — the fact that the real Sambhaji was betrayed by upper-caste Hindus who were bribed by Aurangzeb, because this would go against the myth portraying them as noble religious warriors, rather than unscrupulous politicians.

Unfortunately, like most forms of extremist ideologies, logic is the greatest enemy of Hindutva. It is also worth noting that the VHP makes Modi's strain of Hindutva seem almost inclusive — VHP leaders have said they were the real masterminds of the 2002 Gujarat riots, and Modi was simply their pawn.

The group is one of the most virulent far-right extremist organisations in India and, thus, the source of some of the most outlandish historical conspiracy theories. The tomb removal demand is a reflection of this. Unlike most recent attempts to raze mosques and replace them with temples, Aurangzeb's tomb has little religious value for Muslims, and the Hindu extremists are not demanding a temple to replace it, or claiming that a temple once stood in its place.

The objective is a straight-up attempt at historical erasure — razing and replacing the tomb of the last great Mughal emperor with a monument to a Hindu Maratha ruler, never mind that Aurangzeb's tomb happens to be located on the shrine of a Muslim saint, which would be an odd location to memorialise a Hindu king.


Torkham reopening
The reopening of Torkham border after authorities on both sides of the western frontiers reached an accord is quite reassuring. This Pak-Afghan border crossing point constitutes a lifeline status for millions on either side, and is a prime source of bread and butter apart from state-centric trade and commerce. The fact that this consolation land activity went for a toss and unscrupulous elements' whims and wishes prevailed to derail a good neighbourhood is worrisome. This tendency must be checked, and all efforts made to not only keep the borders open under lawful activity, but also to shun radicalism.

Torkham off and on had remained a theatre of activity, and trigger-happiness from Afghans is widely to be blamed for it. It seems border authorities are either not so well versed with orders from Kabul or have an axe to grind as they clash on with their Pakistani counterparts. The unilateral construction of check-posts on Torkham is a case in point, which resulted in severing trade and movement for more than three weeks. What is desired is an institutional mechanism to report such fissures, and to move in timely to pacify the situation and not to graduate it into a full-fledged brawl. It is hoped that the ministerial and flag meetings, scheduled shortly, will pave the way for congeniality and a better sense will prevail.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are passing through tough times, and are witnessing a surge in terrorism. Thus, the need of the hour is to promote confidence building measures, and to stop seeing each other from the prism of suspicion and otherness. Talks of hot-pursuit from certain quarters for avenging non-state actors' unbridled activities across the borders will further deteriorate the situation. The best way out is to sit down with the Taliban rulers and convince them to exterminate TTP, and the likes, for the collective good of the region. It's time for Kabul to value the generosity that flows across Torkham and other crossing points from Pakistan, bringing in food and essential supplies to millions of starving mouths.