Thomas Sureau and his partner Lisa Buisine took possession of the keys to an abandoned cafe in the village of Congrier faced with the task of breathing life back into a small corner of "La France Oubliee", or "Forgotten France".

Restoring the heartbeat of forgotten France, one cafe at a time

Inspired by the late Pope John Paull II, an avid skier, Polish priests hit the slopes on Saturday (February 15) for a friendly competition in Wisla, Poland.

Hallelujah! Polish priests hit the slopes to win prize

Nina Krinitsina has been creating her mosaic masterpieces, some including over 1,000 caps, decorating her house in the village of Makarye around 850 kilometres east of Moscow.

Russian granny turns tonnes of plastic bottle caps into art

Argentina's female soccer league has long tackled stereotypes in the soccer-mad nation. Now, a first-division women's team in the country is breaking new barriers in the sport with a first-division transgender player.

Tackling discrimination: Meet Argentina's transgender soccer player

For the Sarhani family, petting a wolf is not just a scene in make believe films; it is part of their daily life as they live side by side with the wild animals.

Saudi family shares home with wolves

An ageing 1,500 ton Soviet-era submarine known as "Foxtrot", built in Latvia in 1956, is being removed from a harbour in Amsterdam where it was abandoned in 2002.

Abandoned submarine in Amsterdam port makes final journey before dismantlement

Chile's Buin Zoo is celebrating the recent birth of a rare pygmy hippopotamus, as part of its breeding programme for the endangered species.

Meet Bernardina, the baby pygmy hippo delighting Chile

Wearing Santa swimsuits and chanting 'ho ho ho', dozens of visiting Santa Clauses from abroad, enjoyed the Mideast winter sun on Tuesday (January 7) as they floated on the waters of the Dead Sea.

Floating Santas in the lowest place on Earth

Kane Tanaka has extended her record as the world's oldest person by celebrating her 117th birthday at a nursing home in Fukuoka in southern Japan on Sunday (January 5).

World's oldest living person celebrates her 117th birthday

Tens of thousands of devout Hindus thronged a temple in southern Nepal where thousands of animals and birds were sacrificed this week, amid an outcry from animal rights activists who said the ritual was a cruel and gruesome spectacle.

Thousands of animals sacrificed in Nepal Hindu ritual amid outcry

Up, up and away from street level - 1,131 feet (345 meters) in the air the finishing touches are being put on the highest outdoor observation deck in the Western hemisphere. Edge is being built as part of the new New York City's luxury Hudson Yards complex.

101 floors above Manhattan, a sky high outdoor deck is set to open

Floating sturgeon laboratories are common in Russia or Iran, but this is Lake Mantasoa, a hydropower reservoir in the highlands of Madagascar at an altitude of 1,400m. It is Africa's first and only caviar farm.

The cool new thing in French haute cuisine? Madagascar caviar

Comic book aficionados turned out in droves this weekend (September 21 and 22) to appreciate, celebrate, perform, compete, and share their love of comic book culture at the second edition of Comic Con Africa in Johannesburg.

Superheroes and sidekicks turn up for Comic Con Africa 2019

Literature and society: do the two terms, clubbed together, seem to suit each other or are they incongruous as a pair?&nbsp;

While literature, as we all know, is a discipline which pertains to the written word, society is the name given to the structure which human beings create as a result of their mode of interactive living. What have the two got to do with each other? Are the two interdependent or can they exist independently of each other? Or, can we study either literature or society without making any reference to the other? That is to say, can we know a society without having knowledge of its literature or can we make an effective study of literature without finding out about the society in which it emerged?

As we will see shortly, there could be many ways of approaching the subject. Let us examine the traditional way of looking at literature first. According to this view, literature is a social activity and a product of the society. Since society gives rise to literature, therefore, literature should be one of the following things: (a) It should reflect society. (b) It should depict moral and ameliorative themes and, thus, serve society in a useful way. (c) It should consider itself answerable to society and, therefore, should not contain anything adverse or inimical to society. In other words, literature should be a useful activity, and an activity which in some way makes literature and society interdependent on each other.&nbsp;

Those who hold the above-stated view are obviously in some way followers of Plato, who did not want poetry to be allowed in the ideal Republic except in so far as it promoted positive thinking and discouraged negative thinking.&nbsp;

Plato&rsquo;s concept of the ideal world prompted him to declare that a poet or an artist&rsquo;s creation is &lsquo;twice removed&rsquo; from reality. He believed that the world we live in is a shadow that is, a copy of a world which exists in an ideal state. Our world, therefore, is itself a picture in which copies are made by skilled persons like carpenters, masons, tailors weavers etc. of the ideal table, chair, building or dress.&nbsp;

The poet, in turn, makes copies of the copies made by the carpenter or mason or nature itself. The artist, therefore, is a painter of untruth, as he is twice removed from reality. It was basically this theory which led to the apologetic view in the art (literature). As a result, we see serious efforts being made on the part of Western literary writers to provide justifications for the existence of literature. What else could a race threatened with banishment from the &lsquo;ideal republic&rsquo; do? One could think of a good number of people down the ages who have defended literature on grounds of its moral utility for society. They have argued that literature holds a mirror up to society and constantly suggests morally enhancing ideas.&nbsp;

Almost as soon as this view is formulated, it is in danger of developing pitfalls. For, if literature is to reflect society, how can it possibly be morally uplifting? There are innumerable incidents of injustice and virtue going unrewarded in this world. A morally enhancing literature cannot be a true reflection of society, to whichever age the society may belong.&nbsp;

Moreover, a prominent difficulty in the traditional approach is that all the components of the proposition &ldquo;literature should be a useful activity for the society and should promote positive thinking and discourage negative thinking&rdquo; are impossible to define in a logically coherent or useful manner. This is simply because what is useful for one person may be considered harmful to another. What is positive for one person may well turn out to be negative for another.&nbsp;

Thus, ultimately, literature becomes a tool in the hand of the ruling class or the rule makers. Briefly, the problem is that there cannot be absolute standards to determine good, bad, positive, negative, moral immoral and so on. Only those whose interests are suited by literature can view literature as a socially useful activity and it generally happens that the ideology in power gets such literature produced as portrays a certain view as the truth.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<hr />

Only those whose interests are suited by literature can view literature as a socially useful activity

Literature and society: do the two terms, clubbed together, seem to suit each other or are they incongruous as a pair? While literature, as we all know, is a discipline which pertains to the written word, society is the name given to the structure which human beings create as a result of their mode of interactive living. What have the two got to do with each other? Are the two interdependent or can they exist independently of each other? Or, can we study either literature or society without making any reference to the other? That is to say, can we know a society without having knowledge of its literature or can we make an effective study of literature without finding out about the society in which it emerged? As we will see shortly, there could be many ways of approaching the subject. Let us examine the traditional way of looking at literature first. According to this view, literature is a social activity and a product of the society. Since society gives rise to literature, therefore, literature should be one of the following things: (a) It should reflect society. (b) It should depict moral and ameliorative themes and, thus, serve society in a useful way. (c) It should consider itself answerable to society and, therefore, should not contain anything adverse or inimical to society. In other words, literature should be a useful activity, and an activity which in some way makes literature and society interdependent on each other. Those who hold the above-stated view are obviously in some way followers of Plato, who did not want poetry to be allowed in the ideal Republic except in so far as it promoted positive thinking and discouraged negative thinking. Plato’s concept of the ideal world prompted him to declare that a poet or an artist’s creation is ‘twice removed’ from reality. He believed that the world we live in is a shadow that is, a copy of a world which exists in an ideal state. Our world, therefore, is itself a picture in which copies are made by skilled persons like carpenters, masons, tailors weavers etc. of the ideal table, chair, building or dress. The poet, in turn, makes copies of the copies made by the carpenter or mason or nature itself. The artist, therefore, is a painter of untruth, as he is twice removed from reality. It was basically this theory which led to the apologetic view in the art (literature). As a result, we see serious efforts being made on the part of Western literary writers to provide justifications for the existence of literature. What else could a race threatened with banishment from the ‘ideal republic’ do? One could think of a good number of people down the ages who have defended literature on grounds of its moral utility for society. They have argued that literature holds a mirror up to society and constantly suggests morally enhancing ideas. Almost as soon as this view is formulated, it is in danger of developing pitfalls. For, if literature is to reflect society, how can it possibly be morally uplifting? There are innumerable incidents of injustice and virtue going unrewarded in this world. A morally enhancing literature cannot be a true reflection of society, to whichever age the society may belong. Moreover, a prominent difficulty in the traditional approach is that all the components of the proposition “literature should be a useful activity for the society and should promote positive thinking and discourage negative thinking” are impossible to define in a logically coherent or useful manner. This is simply because what is useful for one person may be considered harmful to another. What is positive for one person may well turn out to be negative for another. Thus, ultimately, literature becomes a tool in the hand of the ruling class or the rule makers. Briefly, the problem is that there cannot be absolute standards to determine good, bad, positive, negative, moral immoral and so on. Only those whose interests are suited by literature can view literature as a socially useful activity and it generally happens that the ideology in power gets such literature produced as portrays a certain view as the truth. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: Does literature serve any useful purpose?

At the age of 16, living in a remote village in northern Albania, Shkurta Hasanpapaj faced being forced into marriage.&nbsp;There was just one way out, and the young woman grasped it: She took the ancient, gender-bending oath to become a &quot;sworn virgin&quot;. 
 
At a stroke, her life changed. She renounced sex, married life and parenthood. But in return, she won the right to live as a man and lead her family in a fiercely patriarchal society.&nbsp;Nearly seven decades later, Hasanpapaj prefers to go by the male form of her name, Shkurtan. 
 
&quot;I chose to be with the men,&quot; she said, as short white hair poked from beneath a cap. &quot;Those who like me call me Shkurtan, those who want to offend me use Shkurta.&quot; 
 
Seeing out the end of her life in a hospice in the northwestern city of Shkodra, Hasanpapaj is among the last of the sworn virgins, a social status once common in Albania and its neighbours in the Balkans.&nbsp;Today experts estimate that fewer than 10 remain. 
 
The exceptional life of the sworn virgin is rooted in the Kanun of Leke Dukagjini, a medieval code of conduct that was passed down orally among the clans of the craggy peaks and verdant valleys of northern Albania. 
 
The Kanun, which also lays out the rules for the nation&#39;s notorious blood feuds, allows two ways to become a &quot;virgjinesha&quot;, as sworn virgins are called in Albanian.&nbsp;One possibility is when all males in the family are dead or gone, and a girl takes the oath in order to take over male duties and rights. 
 
The other is to invoke it to peacefully avoid an arranged marriage. Without the oath, blood can be shed. 
 
Refusing a proposal is seen as a major affront that can ignite a feud between the families of the would-be bride and suitor that can span generations. 
 
Sworn virgins win the right to hold a job, smoke, knock back shots of fiery raki liquor at the bar, wear trousers and even make family decisions. 
 
You don&#39;t have to &quot;serve food with your head bowed&quot; and &quot;disappear without looking at the guests&quot;, said 62-year-old Djana Rakipi, who also goes by Lali. 
 
She was born in the remote Tropoja region in northern Albania, but now lives on the coast in Durres.&nbsp;Dressed in a tie and military beret, Rakipi chain-smokes, has a crushing handshake and takes clear pleasure when the guard at the local port calls her &quot;boss&quot;.&nbsp;Rakipi said that, for her, the oath was a form of liberty. The alternative path laid out for women in the Kanun is one of subservience, hard domestic labour and total lack of control. 
 
&quot;It was difficult for women to be part of life,&quot; said Rakipi. &quot;Being free was taboo.&quot; 
 
&#39;They mixed with men&#39; 
 
For Hasanpapaj the pressure to change came early. She and her twin sister, born in 1932, were seen as a catastrophe by their parents who had already had three sons die. Her sister was named &quot;Sose&quot;, which means &quot;that&#39;s enough&quot; in Albanian. 
 
During the post-World War II communist regime of Enver Hoxha, Hasanpapaj was a leader of the local branch of the communist party and headed up &quot;a brigade of about 50 farmers&quot;. 
 
&quot;I was tough,&quot; she said. 
 
Rakipi also feels nostalgia for the communist regime &quot;that always recognised me as a man&quot;, worked as a soldier training students to assemble a Kalashnikov rifle. She later became a police officer. 
 
Much like Hasanpapaj, Rakipi says &quot;she doesn&#39;t give a damn&quot; about not having kids and brushed off the matters of sex and relationships. 
 
&quot;I am in love with nature, the sun. I paint,&quot; Rakipi said. &quot;What better love is there than that?&quot; 
 
Both these sworn virgins firmly reject homosexuality. With Rakipi saying it is &quot;not moral&quot;. 
 
&quot;Two men and two women getting married, that is the end of the world,&quot; she added. 
 
For British anthropologist Antonia Young, author of a book on sworn virgins, sexuality had nothing to do with the custom. The &quot;virgjinesha&quot; gained the privilege of being admitted into a male-only world, although their gender was never changed on their birth certificates. 
 
&quot;They were definitely within the masculine world. They mixed with men, they socialised with men, they drank with them, particularly in cafes,&quot; she said. 
 
For any women today who may be tempted into taking the oath of becoming a sworn virgin, much of the significance of the act will be lost as so much has changed in Albanian society, said Young. 
 
&quot;It won&#39;t be the same - it won&#39;t be for the benefit of the family or the community,&quot; she said. &quot;It would just be for individual choice.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

The ancient gender-bending oath gives women traditional male freedom: They can hold jobs, smoke, drink and make family decisions

At the age of 16, living in a remote village in northern Albania, Shkurta Hasanpapaj faced being forced into marriage. There was just one way out, and the young woman grasped it: She took the ancient, gender-bending oath to become a "sworn virgin". At a stroke, her life changed. She renounced sex, married life and parenthood. But in return, she won the right to live as a man and lead her family in a fiercely patriarchal society. Nearly seven decades later, Hasanpapaj prefers to go by the male form of her name, Shkurtan. "I chose to be with the men," she said, as short white hair poked from beneath a cap. "Those who like me call me Shkurtan, those who want to offend me use Shkurta." Seeing out the end of her life in a hospice in the northwestern city of Shkodra, Hasanpapaj is among the last of the sworn virgins, a social status once common in Albania and its neighbours in the Balkans. Today experts estimate that fewer than 10 remain. The exceptional life of the sworn virgin is rooted in the Kanun of Leke Dukagjini, a medieval code of conduct that was passed down orally among the clans of the craggy peaks and verdant valleys of northern Albania. The Kanun, which also lays out the rules for the nation's notorious blood feuds, allows two ways to become a "virgjinesha", as sworn virgins are called in Albanian. One possibility is when all males in the family are dead or gone, and a girl takes the oath in order to take over male duties and rights. The other is to invoke it to peacefully avoid an arranged marriage. Without the oath, blood can be shed. Refusing a proposal is seen as a major affront that can ignite a feud between the families of the would-be bride and suitor that can span generations. Sworn virgins win the right to hold a job, smoke, knock back shots of fiery raki liquor at the bar, wear trousers and even make family decisions. You don't have to "serve food with your head bowed" and "disappear without looking at the guests", said 62-year-old Djana Rakipi, who also goes by Lali. She was born in the remote Tropoja region in northern Albania, but now lives on the coast in Durres. Dressed in a tie and military beret, Rakipi chain-smokes, has a crushing handshake and takes clear pleasure when the guard at the local port calls her "boss". Rakipi said that, for her, the oath was a form of liberty. The alternative path laid out for women in the Kanun is one of subservience, hard domestic labour and total lack of control. "It was difficult for women to be part of life," said Rakipi. "Being free was taboo." 'They mixed with men' For Hasanpapaj the pressure to change came early. She and her twin sister, born in 1932, were seen as a catastrophe by their parents who had already had three sons die. Her sister was named "Sose", which means "that's enough" in Albanian. During the post-World War II communist regime of Enver Hoxha, Hasanpapaj was a leader of the local branch of the communist party and headed up "a brigade of about 50 farmers". "I was tough," she said. Rakipi also feels nostalgia for the communist regime "that always recognised me as a man", worked as a soldier training students to assemble a Kalashnikov rifle. She later became a police officer. Much like Hasanpapaj, Rakipi says "she doesn't give a damn" about not having kids and brushed off the matters of sex and relationships. "I am in love with nature, the sun. I paint," Rakipi said. "What better love is there than that?" Both these sworn virgins firmly reject homosexuality. With Rakipi saying it is "not moral". "Two men and two women getting married, that is the end of the world," she added. For British anthropologist Antonia Young, author of a book on sworn virgins, sexuality had nothing to do with the custom. The "virgjinesha" gained the privilege of being admitted into a male-only world, although their gender was never changed on their birth certificates. "They were definitely within the masculine world. They mixed with men, they socialised with men, they drank with them, particularly in cafes," she said. For any women today who may be tempted into taking the oath of becoming a sworn virgin, much of the significance of the act will be lost as so much has changed in Albanian society, said Young. "It won't be the same - it won't be for the benefit of the family or the community," she said. "It would just be for individual choice." (AFP)

Albania's last 'sworn virgins'

Iran destroyed 100,000 satellite dishes and receivers today as part of a widespread crackdown against the illegal devices that authorities say are morally damaging, a news website reported. 
 
The destruction ceremony took place in Tehran in the presence of General Mohammad Reza Naghdi, head of Iran&#39;s Basij militia, who warned of the impact that satellite television was having in the conservative country. 
 
&quot;The truth is that most satellite channels deviate the society&#39;s morality and culture,&quot; he said at the event according to Basij News. 
 
&quot;What these televisions really achieve is increased divorce, addiction and insecurity in society.&quot; 
 
Naghdi added that a total of one million Iranians had already voluntarily handed over their satellite apparatuses to authorities. 
 
Under Iranian law, satellite equipment is banned and those who distribute, use, or repair them can be fined up to $2,800.&nbsp;Iranian police regularly raid neighbourhoods and confiscate dishes from rooftops. 
 
Culture minister Ali Jannati pleaded on Friday for a revision of the law. 
 
&quot;Reforming this law is very necessary as using satellite is strictly prohibited, but most people use it,&quot; Jannati said.&nbsp;&quot;This means that 70 per cent of Iranians violate the law by owning satellite dishes.&quot; 
 
Naghdi criticised Jannati&#39;s comments and said those in charge of cultural affairs &quot;should be truthful with people rather than following what pleases them&quot;. 
 
&quot;Most of these satellite channels not only weaken the foundation of families but also cause disruptions in children&#39;s education and children who are under the influence of satellite have improper behaviour,&quot; Naghdi said. 
 
There are dozens of foreign-based Farsi satellite channels broadcasting mostly news, entertainment, films and series.&nbsp;Conservatives regularly denounce the channels as an attempt to corrupt Iranian culture and Islamic values. 
 
Moderate President Hassan Rouhani, whose four-year mandate ends in June 2017, has repeatedly said that the ban on satellite dishes is unnecessary and counterproductive. 
 
(AFP)

The action is a part of a crackdown against satellite channels that 'deviate the society's morality and culture,' authorities said

Iran destroyed 100,000 satellite dishes and receivers today as part of a widespread crackdown against the illegal devices that authorities say are morally damaging, a news website reported. The destruction ceremony took place in Tehran in the presence of General Mohammad Reza Naghdi, head of Iran's Basij militia, who warned of the impact that satellite television was having in the conservative country. "The truth is that most satellite channels deviate the society's morality and culture," he said at the event according to Basij News. "What these televisions really achieve is increased divorce, addiction and insecurity in society." Naghdi added that a total of one million Iranians had already voluntarily handed over their satellite apparatuses to authorities. Under Iranian law, satellite equipment is banned and those who distribute, use, or repair them can be fined up to $2,800. Iranian police regularly raid neighbourhoods and confiscate dishes from rooftops. Culture minister Ali Jannati pleaded on Friday for a revision of the law. "Reforming this law is very necessary as using satellite is strictly prohibited, but most people use it," Jannati said. "This means that 70 per cent of Iranians violate the law by owning satellite dishes." Naghdi criticised Jannati's comments and said those in charge of cultural affairs "should be truthful with people rather than following what pleases them". "Most of these satellite channels not only weaken the foundation of families but also cause disruptions in children's education and children who are under the influence of satellite have improper behaviour," Naghdi said. There are dozens of foreign-based Farsi satellite channels broadcasting mostly news, entertainment, films and series. Conservatives regularly denounce the channels as an attempt to corrupt Iranian culture and Islamic values. Moderate President Hassan Rouhani, whose four-year mandate ends in June 2017, has repeatedly said that the ban on satellite dishes is unnecessary and counterproductive. (AFP)

Iran destroys 100,000 satellite dishes

This year at the Oscars, A Girl in the River: Price of Forgiveness caught the world&rsquo;s attention. It was based on the true story of Saba Qaiser, an 18-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot in the face by her father and her uncle for eloping with a man she loved- but she survived. Nevertheless, her father was proud of his gruesome act, and felt strongly it earned him the respect of his community. The poignant tale narrated in this documentary is commonplace in South Asia in most cases such instances are treated with absolute impunity.

When &ldquo;male honour&rdquo; is accorded supreme status, punishing any perceived breach with something otherwise flagrantly criminal and perverse is permitted by society in many such instances. At a screening of the film in his own residence Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan&rsquo;s Prime Minister, stated,&rdquo;there is no place for killing in the name of honour in Islam, and anyone who does it should be punished severely&rdquo;. He said there was an urgent need to amend the law.

In Pakistan, the law allows victims or their families to forgive the perpetrator. Sometimes the victim faces intense pressure to forgive the perpetrator, and if the victim is killed her family has the right to forgive on her behalf. If forgiven, the perpetrator can avoid punishment. With time, the practice has become associated with anti-modern cultures.

Recently, in the aftermath of the killing of a teenager, Zeenat Rafiq, who married against her family&rsquo;s wishes, an Islamic religious body in Pakistan condemned honour killing, termed it &ldquo;unethical&rdquo; and &ldquo;unjustifiable&rdquo;. The General Secretary Mufti Saeed Rizvi of The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) mentioned, &ldquo;women are free to marry whomever they choose, if consented&rdquo;. He further added the root cause of honour killing is &ldquo;illiteracy&rdquo; and not religion. Killing of women in the name of &ldquo;honour&rdquo; is &ldquo;un-islamic&rdquo;. Around 40 clerics issued fatwa against honour killing. The clerics requested the government to draft a new legislation and stated, &ldquo;those guilty should be punished within a week&rdquo;. This was the third reported incident of honour killing in Pakistan since April. Unfortunately, most cases of honour killing remain unreported due to the influence of society and culture on the rule of law. 
 
The saga across the border 
 
The prevalence of honour killing as a cultural practice is deeply pervasive in India as well. On March 13, 2016, in a small Indian village called Udumalaipett, a young Dalit man named Shankar was attacked by three unidentified men armed with sickles. He died en route to the hospital. Shankar was targeted for marrying an upper caste Hindu girl. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) stated, &ldquo;the incident is a serious concern of safety especially for lower castes&rdquo;.

Tamil Nadu has seen 81 honour killings over the last three years. Unfortunately honour killings, though often reported, usually do not end up in conviction. The family who have perpetrated the honour killing tell authorities the victim committed suicide, so it isn&rsquo;t registered officially as a murder. The Tamil Nadu government has also dismissed the incident of honour killings. The state failed to submit its report on honour killings to the Supreme Court.

Around 80 per cent of honour killing victims are women. According to Mr. A Kathir, the managing director of Evidence, a Tamil Nadu-based NGO, &ldquo;84 per cent of Dalit women are into inter-caste marriage face humiliation due to marital discord&rdquo;. In 2007, there were 30 incidents of honour killing reported in just the western district of Tamil Nadu. Caste-based politics encourage a culture of mob violence. Such practices are only gaining in popularity, as the community considers this heinous crime heroic.

Religion also plays a pivotal role in rationalising honour killing. Therefore, it is imperative that a policy measure aiming to tackle the problem is premised on a multi-causal understanding of the problem and employs multi-pronged approaches towards solving this societal evil.

Women are at risk of being victims of honour-based crime wherever a woman&rsquo;s life means less than the locale&rsquo;s conception of honour. The Supreme Court in Lata Singh vs. State of UP &amp; Another observed, &ldquo;there is nothing honourable in honour killings. They are barbaric and brutal murders by bigoted, persons with feudal minds&rdquo;. The apex court further added, &ldquo;young couples fall in love to seek shelter in police lines or protection homes, to avoid the wrath of kangaroo courts&rdquo;. Despite the observation of the apex court, the practice remains unchecked to a large extent and the influence of such brutal &ldquo;kangaroo courts&rsquo; is being further emboldened.

International organisations&rsquo; opinion

The issue has received the attention of international community as well but measures taken thus far have remained ineffective to say the least. In 2001, the UN General Assembly urged for effective laws to fight honour killing in their first specific resolution on the topic. In 2002, the Special Rapporteur to UN reported the presence of honour killings in Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Yemen and other Persian Gulf countries. In the West, France, Germany and UK were listed, where the practice is prevalent among migrants. In 2010, UK police claimed that honour-related crime in Britain increased by 47 per cent. As many as 2283 cases were reported from cities with high immigrant populations.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), recognised honour killings as an extreme symptom of discrimination against women. The then Chief of UNHCHR, Navi Pillay, claimed that the state institutions fail them and that honour killing isn&rsquo;t featured prominently enough in the news. The General Assembly, in three resolutions (2001, 2003 and 2005), said that Member States should intensify legislative, educational, social reforms&nbsp;and work on other efforts to prevent and eliminate honour crimes. Despite a call for action more than 11,000 cases of honour killing were reported by UK police between 2010-2014.

India&rsquo;s legal position on honour-based crime

According to the UN, out of 5000 reported&nbsp;international cases, 1000 are from India. The Hindu Marriage Disabilities Removal Act, 1946, was enacted to validate marriages between Hindus belonging to the same &ldquo;gotra&rdquo;, &ldquo;pravara&rdquo;, or different subdivisions of the same caste. The Supreme Court, in a landmark case, Arumugam Servai vs. State of Tamil Nadu, states, &ldquo;caste system is a curse upon the nation and the sooner it is destroyed the better&rdquo;. The apex court added that honour killing is, &ldquo;taking law into your own hands and indulging in offensive activities and endangering the lives of the persons who are willing to marry as per their choice&rdquo;. The practice followed by khap panchayats to restore honour was strongly lambasted by the court.

There&rsquo;s been speculation on whether a separate law distinguishing honour killing from murder would help prevent honour-based crime. Unfortunately our respected lawmakers have failed to develop a nuanced understanding of the problem. P. Chidambaram, the then Indian home minister, said, &ldquo;the demand for a special law is one that has been made most eloquently...the answer is not to make another law. Whatever law we make, honour killing is murder&rdquo;.

There are two bills meant to deter honour-based crime that are still pending before the parliament and despite strong condemnation from select lawmakers and civil society, it is uncertain whether these bills would see the light of day anytime in the near future. In the purview of one of the bills ,Section 300 of Indian Penal Code should include &quot;honour&nbsp;killings&quot;&nbsp;and the burden of proof on the accused. Further, the Bills also focus on the &quot;unlawful assemblies&quot;&nbsp;held by caste panchayats to prevent marriage by choice.

The proposed Bills have been framed after careful deliberation. If we observe the pattern of honour killing, it is evident it has signs of gendered violence and the notion of shame and honour results in atrocious violence. Elements of honour crime also include status anxiety governed by social convention and honourable masculinity. As per the National Crime Statistics Bureau, from 2010-2014, 25 per cent of murders in the name of honour were reported from Madhya Pradesh.

There is an inherent fallacy in any notion that attributes &#39;Honour&#39; to an act of killing. However, mere legislative change may not be able to address this societal evil. Honour killing as a concept hinges on regressive cultural mindset, lack of education and exposure and access to speedy justice. Thus, law is only one part of a larger strategy that needs to be adopted to counter this societal evil. It must be complemented with education which focuses in reconceptualising the notion of honour. For this citizenry, civil society and the law and order apparatus need to take proactive measures in initiating programs which provide self sufficiency avenues to women define honour through awareness campaigns and undertake sensitisation of law enforcement forces. We must not sacrifice the integral notion of human rights at the altar of regressive societal norms lest we may travel back in time to an antediluvian era.

Honour killing as a concept hinges on regressive cultural mindset, lack of education and exposure and access to speedy justice

This year at the Oscars, A Girl in the River: Price of Forgiveness caught the world’s attention. It was based on the true story of Saba Qaiser, an 18-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot in the face by her father and her uncle for eloping with a man she loved- but she survived. Nevertheless, her father was proud of his gruesome act, and felt strongly it earned him the respect of his community. The poignant tale narrated in this documentary is commonplace in South Asia in most cases such instances are treated with absolute impunity. When “male honour” is accorded supreme status, punishing any perceived breach with something otherwise flagrantly criminal and perverse is permitted by society in many such instances. At a screening of the film in his own residence Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, stated,”there is no place for killing in the name of honour in Islam, and anyone who does it should be punished severely”. He said there was an urgent need to amend the law. In Pakistan, the law allows victims or their families to forgive the perpetrator. Sometimes the victim faces intense pressure to forgive the perpetrator, and if the victim is killed her family has the right to forgive on her behalf. If forgiven, the perpetrator can avoid punishment. With time, the practice has become associated with anti-modern cultures. Recently, in the aftermath of the killing of a teenager, Zeenat Rafiq, who married against her family’s wishes, an Islamic religious body in Pakistan condemned honour killing, termed it “unethical” and “unjustifiable”. The General Secretary Mufti Saeed Rizvi of The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) mentioned, “women are free to marry whomever they choose, if consented”. He further added the root cause of honour killing is “illiteracy” and not religion. Killing of women in the name of “honour” is “un-islamic”. Around 40 clerics issued fatwa against honour killing. The clerics requested the government to draft a new legislation and stated, “those guilty should be punished within a week”. This was the third reported incident of honour killing in Pakistan since April. Unfortunately, most cases of honour killing remain unreported due to the influence of society and culture on the rule of law. The saga across the border The prevalence of honour killing as a cultural practice is deeply pervasive in India as well. On March 13, 2016, in a small Indian village called Udumalaipett, a young Dalit man named Shankar was attacked by three unidentified men armed with sickles. He died en route to the hospital. Shankar was targeted for marrying an upper caste Hindu girl. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) stated, “the incident is a serious concern of safety especially for lower castes”. Tamil Nadu has seen 81 honour killings over the last three years. Unfortunately honour killings, though often reported, usually do not end up in conviction. The family who have perpetrated the honour killing tell authorities the victim committed suicide, so it isn’t registered officially as a murder. The Tamil Nadu government has also dismissed the incident of honour killings. The state failed to submit its report on honour killings to the Supreme Court. Around 80 per cent of honour killing victims are women. According to Mr. A Kathir, the managing director of Evidence, a Tamil Nadu-based NGO, “84 per cent of Dalit women are into inter-caste marriage face humiliation due to marital discord”. In 2007, there were 30 incidents of honour killing reported in just the western district of Tamil Nadu. Caste-based politics encourage a culture of mob violence. Such practices are only gaining in popularity, as the community considers this heinous crime heroic. Religion also plays a pivotal role in rationalising honour killing. Therefore, it is imperative that a policy measure aiming to tackle the problem is premised on a multi-causal understanding of the problem and employs multi-pronged approaches towards solving this societal evil. Women are at risk of being victims of honour-based crime wherever a woman’s life means less than the locale’s conception of honour. The Supreme Court in Lata Singh vs. State of UP & Another observed, “there is nothing honourable in honour killings. They are barbaric and brutal murders by bigoted, persons with feudal minds”. The apex court further added, “young couples fall in love to seek shelter in police lines or protection homes, to avoid the wrath of kangaroo courts”. Despite the observation of the apex court, the practice remains unchecked to a large extent and the influence of such brutal “kangaroo courts’ is being further emboldened. International organisations’ opinion The issue has received the attention of international community as well but measures taken thus far have remained ineffective to say the least. In 2001, the UN General Assembly urged for effective laws to fight honour killing in their first specific resolution on the topic. In 2002, the Special Rapporteur to UN reported the presence of honour killings in Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Yemen and other Persian Gulf countries. In the West, France, Germany and UK were listed, where the practice is prevalent among migrants. In 2010, UK police claimed that honour-related crime in Britain increased by 47 per cent. As many as 2283 cases were reported from cities with high immigrant populations. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), recognised honour killings as an extreme symptom of discrimination against women. The then Chief of UNHCHR, Navi Pillay, claimed that the state institutions fail them and that honour killing isn’t featured prominently enough in the news. The General Assembly, in three resolutions (2001, 2003 and 2005), said that Member States should intensify legislative, educational, social reforms and work on other efforts to prevent and eliminate honour crimes. Despite a call for action more than 11,000 cases of honour killing were reported by UK police between 2010-2014. India’s legal position on honour-based crime According to the UN, out of 5000 reported international cases, 1000 are from India. The Hindu Marriage Disabilities Removal Act, 1946, was enacted to validate marriages between Hindus belonging to the same “gotra”, “pravara”, or different subdivisions of the same caste. The Supreme Court, in a landmark case, Arumugam Servai vs. State of Tamil Nadu, states, “caste system is a curse upon the nation and the sooner it is destroyed the better”. The apex court added that honour killing is, “taking law into your own hands and indulging in offensive activities and endangering the lives of the persons who are willing to marry as per their choice”. The practice followed by khap panchayats to restore honour was strongly lambasted by the court. There’s been speculation on whether a separate law distinguishing honour killing from murder would help prevent honour-based crime. Unfortunately our respected lawmakers have failed to develop a nuanced understanding of the problem. P. Chidambaram, the then Indian home minister, said, “the demand for a special law is one that has been made most eloquently...the answer is not to make another law. Whatever law we make, honour killing is murder”. There are two bills meant to deter honour-based crime that are still pending before the parliament and despite strong condemnation from select lawmakers and civil society, it is uncertain whether these bills would see the light of day anytime in the near future. In the purview of one of the bills ,Section 300 of Indian Penal Code should include "honour killings" and the burden of proof on the accused. Further, the Bills also focus on the "unlawful assemblies" held by caste panchayats to prevent marriage by choice. The proposed Bills have been framed after careful deliberation. If we observe the pattern of honour killing, it is evident it has signs of gendered violence and the notion of shame and honour results in atrocious violence. Elements of honour crime also include status anxiety governed by social convention and honourable masculinity. As per the National Crime Statistics Bureau, from 2010-2014, 25 per cent of murders in the name of honour were reported from Madhya Pradesh. There is an inherent fallacy in any notion that attributes 'Honour' to an act of killing. However, mere legislative change may not be able to address this societal evil. Honour killing as a concept hinges on regressive cultural mindset, lack of education and exposure and access to speedy justice. Thus, law is only one part of a larger strategy that needs to be adopted to counter this societal evil. It must be complemented with education which focuses in reconceptualising the notion of honour. For this citizenry, civil society and the law and order apparatus need to take proactive measures in initiating programs which provide self sufficiency avenues to women define honour through awareness campaigns and undertake sensitisation of law enforcement forces. We must not sacrifice the integral notion of human rights at the altar of regressive societal norms lest we may travel back in time to an antediluvian era.

An Honour Code for Tyranny

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