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Honour Killing in Pakistan

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Honour Killing in Pakistan
Department of Global Political Studies

One-Year Master In Global Political Science (Human Rights Track) Spring 2010 Supervisor: Erika Svedberg Assistant Professor Malmo University, Sweden

Honour killings in Pakistan under Theoretical, Legal and Religious Perspectives
An Analytical Study of Honour killings Abuse and Disconnecting Islam from This Ancient Brutal Tradition

Author
MUHAMMAD ZIA ULLAH MASTER THESIS SUBMITTED, 27-05-2010

Malmö University Malmö, Sweden

Abstract
This research sets out to examine the main excuses, often mentioned in connection to the so-called “honour killings” in Pakistan. In this way, the aim is to discuss the idea of “honour killings” by looking at trends and patterns in this kind of homicides in Pakistan. This study also explores what legal and judicial obstacles stand in the way of putting an end to the abuse of killing women in the name of honour. The first part is mainly theoretical and analytical. In this part a set of concepts is theorized as the notion of patriarchy, public/private division and cultural globalization. These theories test the empirical data of “honour killing” in the last decade and try to find their role in the society of Pakistan. This study also analyzes the “honour killing” cases in a different way by telling stories. Second part contributes to the research regarding Islam the official religion of Pakistan. This section mainly concerns the status of women in Islam and their rights of life and free will to choose their spouses. This study also tries to remove the misconception in the minds of the West regarding Islamic teachings towards women. This study proceeds mainly under the qualitative method with the supplementary help of quantitative method. At the end, the thesis bears some finding under the abductive technique. The results show that the tested theories have a significant role in upholding the ancient practice of “honour killings” in Pakistan, and Qur’aanic and Prophetic Islam has no link with the


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