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Quake survivors choose death over âdishonourâ
 SHANGLA: With bitterly cold winter about to heap more suffering on earthquake surivivors camped in this mountainous region of Pakistan, Abdul Hameed faces a stark choice: death or dishonour. Hameed, who lost his home in last monthâs devastating temblor, says he would rather his family die from the cold than descend from the 10,000-feet high peak and risk being exposed to strangers at relief camps in the disaster zone. In the deeply conservative rural and tribal villages where women strictly adhere to wearing a âpurdahâ, or veil, it is considered a sin if they are seen by people they do not know, even rescue workers. âWe are Pushtoon people. For us, the womenâs honour matters more than life,â Hameed, 28, told AFP at Meira tented camp, which is believed to be the biggest in Shangla district. âWhat will I do with life if our women are dishonoured down in the valley? Clerics told people up in the hilltop that there is no respect for women (down there),â Hameed said. He said his mother, wife, and sister remained in the mountains. âWe feel safer with them in the hills,â he said. A cleric told the survivors on the peak that fleeing the disaster-hit areas was âun-Islamicâ, 35-year-old Bakht Taj, a survivor at the tented village, told AFP. âI am not coming down simply because our womenâs dignity will come under threat. I know winter is very harsh. I have lost my home to the quake and I know it is not possible to live in a tent in harsher cold weather,â he said. âBut this is not question of life. This is the question of our womenâs honour.â Posted by: Fred 2005-11-19 |
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