The horrifying viral video of a woman and her husband being shot in cold blood on the outskirts of Quetta, allegedly on the orders of a tribal Jirga, has once again laid bare the archaic realities of Pakistan’s parallel justice system.
Such tribal assemblies continue to function as de facto courts, dispensing summary “justice” based on medieval codes of “honor” and patriarchal control, with the state offering little more than lip service to the rule of law.
This is not the first time the cruelty of tribal “justice” has jolted the nation. As far back as 2002, the world watched in horror as Mukhtaran Mai, a woman from Punjab’s Muzaffargarh district, was gang-raped on the orders of a village council in retribution for her brother’s alleged behavior. Her courage in speaking out exposed the depth of rot in systems where power decides between right and wrong.
Over two decades later, jirgas continue to operate with impunity across Pakistan, particularly in rural Balochistan, interior Sindh, and tribal areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. In many cases, they are responsible for “honor killings,” child marriages, and forced exchanges of women to settle disputes, blatantly illegal practices under law but permissible under tribal custom. Their legitimacy rests not on constitutional authority but on the absence of it, as the state repeatedly fails to enforce its writ.
In recent months, some quarters within the federal and provincial governments have proposed reviving jirgas as a means to “negotiate peace” with militants in KP. There is no denying the need for dialogue, but entrusting peace-building to a mechanism that inherently lacks legal accountability and operates outside the bounds of civil rights is a dangerous bargain. It could well achieve temporary calm, but would do so at the expense of justice, especially for the vulnerable.
Defenders of the jirga system often cite its speed and local familiarity—advantages born not of jirgas’ strength, but of the state’s weakness. Pakistan’s judiciary has routinely failed to deliver timely justice, its functions riddled with delays, backlogs, and corruption. For most citizens, quick fixes from jirgas are preferable to court rulings that can take years. In the presence of an efficient judiciary, the need for jirgas evaporates.
Pakistan must not abdicate its responsibility to tribal councils. Rather, the country must reaffirm its commitment to constitutional law and ensure exemplary punishment for not only the perpetrators of “honor” killings but also those who “order” them. The writ of the state must extend to all corners of the country. Justice must be blind to tribe, class, or gender. Most importantly, those who see women’s lives as bargaining chips for a man’s “honor” cannot be arbitrators of justice.
Enough is enough. Pakistan must reclaim its authority—not outsource it to relics of feudalism.