Flogging in Pakistan

A video of a Pakistani woman being flogged was circulated recently, raising anxiety that the Peace Treaty giving the Taliban control over the Swat area in Pakistan was a mistake. The current story is that she was flogged March 7^th on the charge of consorting with an electrician as an unmarried woman, but the stories have ranged from leaving the house unaccompanied by a male to denying the proposal of a Taliban official.  Regardless of the reason, she was held down in public and whipped 34 times regardless of her screams and pleas.  These acts of brutality against women are egregious.  Furthermore, with the Taliban controlling the area as of February, they are only to get worse.

Mr. Afridi, the Peshawar lawyer, has described the Swat Valley since the treaty in the following way: “The most fundamental rights are violated every second of every day. People are being ejected from their houses, courts are closed, 300 schools have been demolished.  More than 900 police officers had deserted the force of 1,600 in Swat, and now the Taliban were on the verge of taking over the neighboring area of Dir.”

Many people were critical of the Peace Treaty because they feared these exact consequences and suspect that the Taliban will us this to continue to gain power.  The flogging itself was horrible, and further incidents like it will only continue without regaining some control over the area.  The Pakistani government should revisit the decision to make the treaty to see if it was really in the country’s best interest.