There is No honour in honour killing: Prime Minister of Pakistan at screening of Sharmeen’s documentary
Islamabad – A special screening of Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy’s Academy Award nominated film “A Girl in the River – The Price of Forgiveness” was held at the Prime Minister House yesterday in Islamabad. Chinoy’s film nominated for 88th Academy Awards. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday termed honour killing a despicable act, saying it was his government’s highest policy to empower women and end violence against them in the society.
On the launch of documentary PM mentioned a saying of Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) that regards the most honourable man as the one who shows respect towards women. “There is no honour in honour killing,” he said, adding he was proud that a ‘daughter of Pakistan’ through her art of film-making was contributing towards the betterment of society by working on challenging themes.
Prime Minster of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif has re-affirmed the Government of Pakistan’s commitment to end discrimination and violence against women and girls, and more so end the menace of honour killings prevalent in Pakistan.
“The message of this film is strong and democratically elected representatives are listening to the message of this film and acting on it – This is the biggest win for me,” Sharmeen said at the screening of documentary.
She also stressed the need for working hard together to pave the way for strong legislation against honour killing, which she termed ‘premeditative murder’
UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka praised the film and the swift political response. “I couldn’t agree more with the Prime Minister that there is no honour in honour killings,” she said.
UN Women welcomes the Prime Minister’s leadership and stands ready to support him and the government to end the practice of killing women in the name of honour.
Bella Evidente, Country Programme Manager of UN Human Settlement Programme who attended the event told that a critical subject had been addressed for which Sharmeen deserved commendation.
Khawar Mumtaz, Former Chairperson National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), while sharing her views, said the PM’s personal interest in the launch of film was significant to raise awareness about honour killing, for which NCSW had been working for years.
The event was attended by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khwaja Asif, Minister of State for IT Anousha Rehman and Minister of State for Health Saira Afzal Tarar, Premier’s foreign policy aide Tariq Fatemi, foreign envoys, including Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong, and human rights activists. Maryam Nawaz also joined them.