Shared By: Karim Arman

Pictured to the right: Photo of Sadia Sheikh, who defied the family by living with a Belgian and refusing an arranged marriage, was shot dead when aged 20 on October 22, 2007 AND On December 12, 2011 her Father, Mother, Sister and Brother were convicted of the Murder

Justice was finally delivered and three Pakistani immigrant Murderers and Psychopaths have been convicted in Belgium for killing their daughter in the name of Honor. I am thankful to the rule of law in a secular country. I wish in our “Islamic Republic of Pakistan” where hundreds of helpless and powerless women are sacrificed in the name of honor every year, we could at least have had the courage to call this cowardly act against humanity a crime.

A large number of skilled migrants from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh chose to live in USA, Canada, and European countries mostly for economic reasons. They progressed and contributed through their skills in the economic growth of their new homelands. But some of them due to their poor academic background and intense indoctrination are facing problems in adapting to the secular cultures of the countries they migrate to. They live, eat and earn in the western secular societies but their worldview is imprisoned in the small towns in Pakistan and India where they were grown up. On the other hand their children having not been born and seen the traditional societies of their parents feel little empathy and connectedness with the tribal values and cultures which their parents have brought with themselves as their baggage. As a result one can see an escalating tension in some of the immigrant families in the west. Some parents successfully assimilate in the societies and have helped their children to grow as useful citizen of those countries. While others failed and have been contributing in the development of a counter culture, creating problems for themselves, for their children and the societies they live in.

The most disturbing thing is parents and families double standards for their sons and daughters. Even some of the most fundamentalist parents are hardly bothered by the choices their sons make for themselves but one can see a discriminative set of values for their daughters. Domestic mental torture and forced marriages of highly educated girls from UK, USA and Canada, with their uneducated cousins in Pakistan to save their daughters from the “evils” (a Hippocratic terms applicable to only females) of western society is another form of murder that kills soul and mind of a human.

Who is responsible? There are multiple factors and one can discuss them till cows come home. But I believe the responsibility rest primarily with the host countries whose immigration policies in the name of pluralism and economic growth allow psychopaths and uneducated breed of technicians to enter in their cities and societies. Majority of the universities in Pakistan which produce skilled manpower don’t have a vision to develop an educated workforce with understanding of diversity, pluralism, civil society and ethics of cosmopolitan cities. Some of us graduate from technical universities with enhanced skills in how machines work without an understanding of how human societies functions. And we migrate to other countries purely based on our skills and we become problem creators for those societies due to our tunnel visions.

The immigration rules should include an extensive test of a person’s commitment and understanding of basic humanistic values of civilized societies along with technical competence and financial stability. There should be extensive education and follow up programs for immigrant families to help them develop attitudes of co-existence harmony and balance. There should be no compromise on dignity of human life, freedom of choice based on aware judgment and equal rights for females and vulnerable sections of society. I am happy at least; in Belgium few criminals got punishment for their brutality and barbarism. It invites our attention to reflect upon our immigration policies and rehabilitation programs for immigrant families in the west.

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