Published in DUJES Vol. 28, March, 2020 Issue Honour(ing) Existence, Resisting Honour: Exploring The Pakistani Bride as the testament to establish and exercise Khudi1 Abstract This paper intends to interpret the concept of 'Honour' and how it affects the life of a woman in an honour-based community focusing on Bapsi Sidhwa's novel The Pakistani Bride (1983). The story revolves around the escape of a Pakistani girl from her in-laws which is considered a cardinal sin in honour-based societies. But Sidhwa here foregrounds the idea of self-will or 'khudi,' which becomes the nucleus of the feminist resistance to patriarchal agencies of oppression like the concept of 'honour' and consequently helps the female remain defiant, and achieve her freedom. This paper also purports to explore Sidhwa's deft observation on the honour-based communities and the lived experience of the struggling women whose primary struggle is for existence rather than any feminist ideal that is confined to a discursive liberation. Keywords: Honour, Khudi, Patriarchal Agency ** ** ** ** This paper starts with citing some newspaper headlines of some incidents of India and Pakistan and consequently tries to focus on a crucial socio-cultural problem based on community codes that violate the basic human rights. 1. "Pakistani woman paraded with a blackened face and shaved head for eloping". (20 June 2016, NDTV) 2. "Pakistan 'honour killing': Karachi teen lovers 'were electrocuted'". (14 Sept. 2017, NDTV)
Published in DUJES Vol. 28, March, 2020 Issue 3. "Andhra Man kills daughter allegedly for falling in love with a boy of other caste". (4 Feb. 2019, The New Indian Express) 4. "Telangana town tense after murder of Dalit man in front of pregnant wife". (19 Nov. 2019, The New Indian Express) The above cited news of killings have occurred in different places but are intrinsically connected with the common theme of controlling and punishing the defiant for disobeying the social codes in the name of 'honour.' In reality, Honour-based violence erases the political and/or religious borders of the countries and situates them on the same plain ruled by certain patriarchal social codes. In fact, India and Pakistan both fall within the geo-cultural zone of South Asia where they share same socio-political and cultural specificities. But, the concept of 'Honour' and honour-based violence is not limited to the socio-cultural matrix of South Asia. They occur all over the world especially in honour-based societies and communities. The concept of 'honour' is a construction in accordance with some strict codes of socio- cultural norms. These codes are religiously maintained and controlled by the traditions of the community. The binary of honour/shame is part of community codes. Women who deviate from the codes are stigmatized and held as source of shame. This 'honour' and 'shame' dialectic is determined in terms of power and women are easily susceptible to 'shame' or 'dishonour.' The patriarchal imperatives restrict the autonomy of the women through the discourse of 'honour.' The Iranian and Kurdish Women's Right Organization (IKWRO) describes the concept of 'Honour' in the following way: So-called