This is part of our series, “Tales from The Dark Side“, about the deepest, darkest, harshest realities of Pakistani society that should serve as lessons. 

In 2011, Pakistan was dubbed as the third most dangerous country for women, in the world. One of the biggest reasons behind this is the Jirga (or Panchayat) system prevalent through most parts of the country where women are used as a means to punish the family or tribe found guilty of any crime.

The Jirga is essentially a tribal council, one that incorporates local customary laws and rituals in order to settle conflicts that take place within the members of that village.

The jirga is an all-male council which consists of the most ‘honorable’ men of the village

These men aren’t from a wide variety of backgrounds and include heads of families, the elders, tribal chiefs, and the local landholders, who sit together and ‘solve’ issues as and when they occur.

These solutions, however, focus more on imposing equilibrium than on justice and upholding the human rights of individuals.

The decisions  of the jirga are also binding on both sides of the party, regardless of the nature of these decisions.

While it started out as an institution that promotes justice and morals within the tribe, or village, these jirgas have increasingly become the hub of misogynist practices, that encroach upon the human and civic rights of the individuals.

Because of the fact that jirgas are an all-male institution, their practices have slowly taken a turn towards anti-women practices. The decisions that they make range from disputes over petty theft to extra-marital or pre-marital affairs.

There have been hundreds of cases reported to local and international media about the atrocities of these councils, and thousands that have not.

Women have, time and time again, been the target of these ‘decisions’ that are usually based on the actions of men.

In 2014, 11-year old Amna was married to a 33-year old man as compensation for her uncle having raped a girl. The man she was married to was the brother of the girl who had been raped. Zulhaj, from the same family was also given away as compensation.

While in 2013, 12-year old Rubina sought justice from the Supreme Court of Pakistan against being the “bounty” for the men’s criminal activities but not much was done, because apparently, the Prevention of Anti-Women Practices, 2011 covered the actions of the jirga, legally.

Moreover, in 2015, a jirga in Diamir district decreed that all 12,000 women of the village were not allowed to vote in elections.

In spite of there being a ruling by the highest authority of the country, these practices are still found in abundance.

One practice very commonly enforced by jirgas is Vani

Vani is a custom, first practiced 400 years ago, that consists of young girls being forcibly married to compensate for a crime committed by their male relatives. In 2012, 13 girls between the ages of 4 and 16 were forced into marriage to settle a murder dispute between two clans in Balochistan. The allegation: murder, the perpetrator: missing.

Tribal leaders of Balochistan who hold a position of power and respect in the region, defend the practice of Vani, as horrific and redundant as it is, as a means to settle disputes.

While there are more and more cases surfacing, due to the access to social media, these trends are in no way new.

Here’s a glimpse at just some of the decisions that have been ordered by the Jirga

Punjab, 1996: a man in Lodhran attempted to rape an 8-year old girl, but backed off when she started screaming. The jirga took up the issue and decided that equilibrium would only be achieved if the girl’s father would rape the perpetrator’s mother.

Sindh, 2000: a 6-year old girl was married to a 60-year old man as compensation for an unpaid debt by her family.

Sindh, 2001: two girls. aged 11 and 6, were given as compensation for their male relative having murdered someone. The 11-year old was married to the 46-year old father of the victim, while the 6-year old was married to the victim’s 8-year old brother.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2005: an 11-year old girl from Mardan was given in Vani, to compensate for her father having murdered a person.

In 2002, the Nawab of Kalabagh played a key role in handing over 8 girls as compensation to resolve an outstanding dispute.

2006: Kashmir saw 5 of its minor girls being handed to a rival party as compensation to a rival party, after taking permission from a parliamentarian and the District Nazim.

While the victims from these last two incidents were rescued by a suo moto action of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the fact that we have let the girls of our country go through this torment and torture, is shameful for us, as a nation.

Just this year, a 16-year old girl was strangled and set ablaze on orders of a jirga.

The girl who had allegedly helped her friend run away from the village in order to escape a forced marriage, was then taken from her house to an abandoned field, drugged, killed, put in a van which was doused in petrol and set on fire.

A week later, in another part of the country, a jirga gave orders for a 9-year old to be married to a 14-year old, along with Rs. 150, 000, to be given the 14-year old boy’s family in order to settle a murder dispute.

While there are laws that supposedly oppose the jirga system in the country, the fact is, given the prevalence of these horrific incidents, that they are poorly enforced; also that people in powerful roles are involved in these actions, themselves, only goes to strengthen the case that these laws might never be enforced and that our women and girls will always fall prey to these heinous “saviors of justice”.

For more of the deepest, darkest realities that plague our society check out ‘Tales From The Dark Side‘.

Cover image via: ibtimes.co.uk