Moin Khan: Former Wicket-Keeper, Current Wife-Beater

131 responses to “Moin Khan: Former Wicket-Keeper, Current Wife-Beater”

1. Ahmed says:

   January 18, 2007 at 11:13 pm

   Look on the positive side; the police acted on a case of domestic violence and it was reported in the press. That is progress.

2. Adil Najam says:

   January 18, 2007 at 10:48 pm

   By way of update, here is the editorial in The News today:

   The arrest of a former captain of the national cricket team in Karachi this week on charges of physically beating his wife has brought into focus the serious and vastly underreported issue of domestic violence in Pakistani society. At the outset, however, one would like to commend the cricketer’s wife for having the courage to call the police and also the latter for making the arrest and not brushing the matter under the carpet as a domestic or private matter as usually happens. In most cases of domestic violence, the victim often endures the physical and mental pain of the abuse for years on end and does not often report it to anyone. The deeply patriarchal nature of Pakistani society is such women are strongly discouraged from speaking up when they have been subjected to abuse of any kind — when they are made to feel as if the fault lies with them and not with the perpetrator of the violence. Hence, often it happens that a victim of domestic violence thinks it simply not worth it because of perhaps the impact it may have on the children or because she may not be financially independent. Also, families of married women and large sections of society as a whole often tend to frown on those women who try to show some independence.

   One good thing arising out of this incident is that it at least shows that some women can and do stand up against their abusers, even if they happen to be their husbands. It also reminds us that domestic violence is not something that only women from low-income and/or underprivileged backgrounds have to deal with and that it happens in situations where the husband and wife are both educated and the family is relatively well off. Domestic violence cases tend to go mostly unreported and are not restricted to husbands but can also involve fathers and brothers or even other male relatives. Also, while the police did arrest the offender in this particular case, the routine is to dismiss the victim’s plaint as a family or internal matter and to tell her to seek reconciliation. This needs to change if we are to root out this evil from our society. Also, families in general need to be more supportive of victims of physical abuse instead of asking them to forget about the abuse, as they normally tend to do.

   The government which has done something positive at least on the issue of discrimination against women by piloting the Women’s Protection Bill through parliament has spoken of further measures to safeguard women’s rights. It has been said, from the prime minister to the president of the ruling PML-Q, that new legislation is on its way and that it will outlaw swara, vani, karo kari and other kinds of misogynist customs and traditions. It is hoped that any such new legislation will also contain provisions that bring domestic violence within the ambit of the law. Civilised nations do not tolerate wife-beating because they realise that being a spouse does not give one unbridled authority to do anything with one’s partner. It would be good if our laws moved in this direction as well.

3. Akif Nizam says:

   January 18, 2007 at 6:06 pm

   My last post on this topic,

   To me, this story is about Moin Khan alone and whether this episode changes how I view him in the future. Here is a guy who regularly drinks, regularly beats his wife and regularly accuses her of cheating on him. In the context of the Pakistani society, that’s makes for a fairly aweful man. So my answer is that it’s going to definitely affect my opinion of him. I’m not going to crucify him and send him to the gallows because I believe in people’s ability to redeem themselves.

4. jinni says:

   January 18, 2007 at 6:02 pm

   How can a man beating a wife become a national disgrace? It is purely a matter for the law to take care off.

5. G.A. says:

   January 18, 2007 at 6:00 pm

   [quote comment=”29030″]Interesting discussion. On the issue, I totally agree. Wife-bashing cannot be defended on any pretext at all. We must all condemn it everywhere.

   Just did a little experiment. Interesting results.

   – Word ‘Islam’ is not mentioned in the post even once. It is mentioned in the comments till now 10 times.
   – Word ‘religion’ or ‘religious’ is not mentioned in the post even once. It is mentioned in the comments till now 22 times.

   I wonder why?[/quote]

   How could we avoid religion in a discussion concerning the ‘Islamic Republic’ of Pakistan?