Sindh police tasked to hunt jirgas

It may be mentioned here that the jirgas are continuously being held in various parts of Sindh despite a ban imposed on this parallel judicial system by Sukkur Bench of the Sindh High Court in 2004.

After High Court verdict, the feudal lords and tribal chiefs had shifted the venue of the jirgas to Balochistan for some times. But later on, these jirgas were frequently held in various areas of Sindh under the security cover of police and other government senior officials in government Circuit Houses.

It may be noted here that former Sindh Chief Minister Dr. Arbab Ghulam Rahim had also presided over a jirga held in Sindh Chief Minister House Karachi that aimed to decide the tribal feud among Mahar and Almani tribes which started after free will marriage of a couple belonging to both the tribes.

The reports collected by civil society organizations disclosed that more than four people, including three men, were killed daily on an average in Sindh while a woman lost her life every second day on the pretext of honour killings during the first half of this year 2008.

The reports also showed that in most cases, the victims are murdered by their close relatives on the pretext of Karokari.

However, the accused were mostly male members of the victim’s family like husband, brother-in-law, father, brother, cousin and in rare cases mothers-in-law were directly or indirectly involved in the murders.