This Valentine’s Day we were greeted with a story of two young lovers dragged out of a police station and shot to death in rural Afghanistan. The angry mob included members of the young woman’s own family.
Her crime? Trying to elope with her true love after being married to a different man against her will. Villagers were tipped off that she might be up to something when she was spotted walking by herself —a no-no for females — which lead to her arrest on suspicion of of adultery.
The tendency among many Westerners will be to conflate these so-called “honor killings” with the religion of Islam—to see this as yet another example of the hateful intolerance displayed by religious radicals.
But this is not that. In fact, it was those who forced the woman to marry against her will who violated Islamic law. This tragedy is a consequence of the twin ills of rural ignorance and ineffective civil order. The local police, whose ability and desire to enforce laws on the books is tenuous at best, allowed mob rule to prevail. The locals, hidebound by prejudice and traditions soured by decades of war, capo rule and general lawlessness, did their best impression of Europe in the Dark Ages.
This activity is not sanctioned or driven by any religious authority. The sins are more indirect—perpetuating unequal power structures across society, and an overall tolerance of the very low status of women.
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