گوشت کی دکان

Horror in Lahore as a woman driving along the Motorway with her children stopped as the car broke down, called for help, and before help arrived was accosted by several men who gangraped her. The horror of that is bad enough, what is worse is the response – of the police, of the politicians, of every man, really – that she should not have been driving alone. This was her misfortune. Her fortune is that she is a woman from a wealthy family, otherwise no one would have known or cared.

The title of this post is from Manto, and it means ‘butcher’s shop’. The full extract is:

ہم عورت اُسی کو سمجھتے ہے جو ہمارے گھر کی ہو ، باقی ہمارے لیئے کوئی عورت نہیں ہوتی ، بس گوشت کی دکان ہوتی ہیں۔اور ہم اس دکان کے باہر کھڑے کتوں کی طرح ہوتے ہیں جن کی ہوس زدہ نظر ہمیشہ گوشت پر ٹکی رہتی ہے

We only consider her to be a woman who belongs to our own home. The rest are for us like a butcher’s shop and we are like dogs standing outside that shop, with our lustful eyes forever fixed on her flesh.

Any girl or woman in Pakistan, regardless of age or dress or appearance, will know those eyes.