The Noor Phenomenon

When a brutally horrific cold-blooded murder happens in your neighborhood and involves people who could well have been your acquaintances, you are shaken to the core of your existence. You grapple with feelings that range from disbelief, fear, anger and deep, deep sorrow.

Noor’s murder has done just that but on a scale that is truly unprecedented. Not only the whole of Pakistan, but Pakistanis abroad have felt chills down their spine as if the murder happened in their own street. Her case has gripped the world, setting social media abuzz with all and any details of the horrific crime. One wonders why?

Is she the first girl to be murdered brutally anywhere in the world or in Pakistan? Not to be callous, but she is not.

Countless women have been burnt alive, shot dead or beaten to death by the male dominant patriarchal society that is Pakistan. Religion is used all too often to excuse the femicide with the girl being blamed for bringing disgrace to family, or being too outspoken, or not obedient enough to her husband or in-laws.

But Noor’s case is different for many reasons. Not least it has opened a pandora’s box of issues that the Pakistani elite carefully guard — drinks, drugs and casual sex. Among the elite families in Pakistan, this is something they all engage in either one or both or all three, but they don’t talk about it. They have…