* x * . . . A t h e n ii x . . . * x *: x~There is no Such Thing as Honour~x

x...Welcome to Athenix...x

It's been 7 years since I first started to attempt to make my dreams of being a journalist come true. I was 9 years old and was still attending Primary School at the time. It was this year that I started my first magazine, "Black Cat", named after my favourite character in Spiderman - which I was hooked on at that age.

I don't remember where my exactly my inspiration had come from but I know that my inspiration changed throughout the years. One year, it was Chloe Sullivan from "Smallville", (who risked her life to get a story) the next it was Andy from "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days", being forced to write unimaginative articles, finding the man that she loves and then earning the right to write whatever pleased her - yes, alright, this inspiration was rather unusual, but it kept me going and kept the want to become a journalist alive.

Now that I am 16, I have realised that celebrities have not affected the dreams of becoming a journalist. My sisters are now what inspire me. My eldest sister, Sarawjeet, is as successful in her family life as well as successful in her career. My second sister, Arminder, has worked hard all these years and has an amazing talent for words and writing. My third sister, Ranjit, has a gift for art and design, as has her husband, and has recently published a book of her photographs.

I hope to one day show that I have inherited even a fraction of the talent that my sisters have shown. But until then, I am happy improving my writing, and starting from scratch.

Amandeep Atwal was stabbed to death by her father for having a relationship with a Canadian boy.

Anita Gindha was strangled to death in front of her baby son for refusing an arranged marriage.

Ayesha Baloch was mutilated two months after her marriage on the suspicion of premarital sex.

D. Kannagi was forced to drink poison in front of witnesses, then burnt for marrying outside her caste.

Hatin Surucu was shot for “living like a German!”

Banaz Mahmod Babakir Agha disappeared from her home in London in January 2006. Her body was later found in a suitcase – she had chosen to end her arranged marriage.

Each one of these women were supposedly “stepping out of line” and rather then forgiving them, these women were killed in order to protect the honour of their families. The numbers of these honour killings are endless – at least three quarters of the world know someone or has heard about a victim of honour killings. But there are still thousands of women whose births haven’t been registered, nor their deaths. No-one would even realise that they have mysteriously “disappeared”.

Honour killings are global and they happen on a regular basis. Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Uganda, Turkey, Afghanistan, Brazil, Iraq, India, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Ethiopia. These are just a few places in which honour killings occur and what’s worse, is that half of the murders in these places aren’t even noticed or reported – it is considered to be a “private family affair”. According to the UN’s reports, every year, at least 5000 women are murdered for honour. When will it end? When will equality between men and women be granted? When will women stop being shown as the inferior sex?

In a lot of circumstances, it is the father, brother, son or even the husband that is kills women for honour. Every so often you hear of the woman’s mother doing it! Women killing women! How many more women must die because of honour? According to Indian writer and publisher, Urvashi Butalia, Heshu Yones was 16 and in love with her fellow college student. When her father found this out, he slit her throat – killing her. The young man belonged to a different religion to Heshu and the two were planning to marry against her father’s wishes. Urvashi wrote that before Heshu ran away, she wrote a note saying: “Me and you will probably never understand each other, I’m sorry I wasn’t what you wanted but there are some things you can’t change.”

A lot of murders that occur are due to religion or race. Why? What is so different between a black man, and a white man? What is the difference between a Sikh and a Muslim? Is there any? Aren’t we all human beings? If you are for or against honour kills, please comment and send in your opinions!

By Gurpreet Kaur Sihat

x...Wall of Photography...x

My dad used to own his own Photography Studio called "Dev Studios" in Southall. I've been interested in Photography as a hobby for some time but only really experienced it over the past few months. I had forgotten to return the school camera before the Easter Holidays and in those two weeks.

I have taken over 2 thousand photographs of a million and one different things - my cat, Tigerlily, who modelled for me for 20 minutes before getting bored; a Robin who was exploring the snow, who also got bored of me after an hour; the beautiful Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport; and naturally, my gorgeous friends and family who all modelled for me in a variety of ways.

Hopefully, one day, I will find out that one of the things that I have inherited from my dad was his talent not only the love for photography.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: Honour Killings are WRONG! I think that people who say that they are killing for honour are just plain murderers! They should be the ones to be killed not the innocent ones - an life for a life!; 8 August 2007 at 08:57
Anonymous said...: Great article, and a really good topic to chose, not many people realise wat is happeing with so callled honour killings. they're hardly honourable!; 8 August 2007 at 08:58