Outlook English - Print Subscribers Copy Outlook English, 18 June 2018 | Page 67

ed The Hornet’s Nest
hs. Instead, Maher takes in the changing Pakistani scene in all its colours.
Smart, sassy and controversial, Qandeel’s videos made her a star
oes of this book. Each one of them
(Qandeel, Khushi, the model-turned-
event manager, the female police officer
in Multan) brings a glimpse of a Pakistan
rarely covered in everyday news coverage.
None of them—least of all Qandeel—is a
victim. Maher’s account of the outpour­
ing of grief on her death by a whole nation,
including the parents who mourned her
death and wanted their son punished for
his crime, ensures Qandeel doesn’t bec­
ome a victim even in her death.
This is not to say it’s a feel-good book.
Far from it. The author covers unflinch­
ingly the struggles of women who deal
with harassment and violence, cyber­
bullying and blackmail and the suicides
that often follow these. Qandeel’s hei­
the open secret of Qandeel’s identity is
revealed in the media that the community
nous murder at the hands of her brother, begins to pressure her brother and he
in the name of ‘honour’ is also dealt with feels forced to act. Till then, he was com­
unsparingly. The ugly ‘tradition’ of ‘hon­ fortable accepting her money. Qandeel’s
our-killing’ was so endemic in Qandeel’s ‘sin’, it seems, was not what she did, but to
hometown that “every second or fourth become so famous that her family and her
day some girl is killed and thrown in the hometown could no longer ignore her
river”. But this wasn’t just some girl and ‘dishonourable’ behaviour.
some murder. Her death is noticed and
But even in her death, Qandeel could
the culprits are eventually caught.
not be ignored. Within three months of
her murder, parliament legislated to pre­
N writing of Qandeel’s brother and her vent family members of pardoning those
murder, Maher deals deftly with the convicted of ‘honour killings’; now they
notion of ‘honour killing’, showing how can only pardon the death penalty handed
it is linked closely to other people’s to a killer and not his imprisonment.
opinion rather than actual behaviour. Her Qandeel helped make this possible. O
brothers as well as her parents were
(The author is a columnist with Dawn
aware of what she did, as were many of
newspaper and a television host based
their fellow villagers. But it’s only after
in Pakistan)
I
18 June 2018 OUTLOOK 67