Priorities, Priorities

Pakistan has been in the news lately for some completely horrific human rights violations, including one last week, where 70 Ahmadi worshippers were killed in their mosques in Lahore, allegedly by the Tehrek-e-Taliban.  So, you would think that the Pakistani authorities will be using all of their police resources to ensure that these types of attacks against civilians are prevented.  Suicide bombings have killed dozens of Pakistani civilians in 2010 and hundreds in 2009.  It’s really hard to imagine living in a place where you could be killed at a market while shopping for groceries.

But, apparently, that is not as important for some as a couple’s sexual orientation and what they do to celebrate their lives.

Indeed, we learn (according to CNN), that police in the capital of the Northwest Frontier Province, Peshawar  (the area which has borne the brunt of the war between the Taliban and Pakistan) have arrested two people (a man Malik Muhammad Iqbal and a woman born as a man, Rani) on the grounds that they were trying to get married.  The two deny it, saying it was a birthday party.  But, the police chief has noted that “our investigation shows this man likes these people more than women” and that it is for some reason something that a police chief in Peshawar ought to be involved with.  What type of investigation did Police Chief Shoukat Ali do to come up with this piece of evidence?  Why is it so important that these two people that they needed to be arrested and put in jail, awaiting trial for a “crime” that carries a 10-year prison sentence?

I’d say that the Peshawar police chief has his priorities all messed up.  The Peshawar police should release the two individuals and let them live their lives as friends, lovers, or whatever.