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"I have been running from pillar to post to get justice for over the past two years," Ali told IOL. |
QUETTA — Rolling up his pants, Nazim Ali was all set to prove his innocence.
As the tribal lord waved a flag, Ali put his right foot on a 12-foot trench filled with burning coal and walked over it hurriedly.
"I didn’t believe in such customs being a literate person, but I had no choice," the 40-yesr-old Pakistani told IslamOnline.net.
"That’s why I chose to walk on burning coal."
In the southeastern province of Baluchistan, the centuries-old practice of walking on burning coal is still alive as people avoid going to courts to settle their disputes.
Ali, from the town of Azizabad, was engaged in a bitter dispute with his brothers over a property their father left
He accused his brothers of depriving him of his share.
The tribal chief in their region first offered Ali's brothers to walk on burning coal to prove their case. They turned down the offer while Ali agreed.
Surrounded by hundreds of his relatives, friends and common tribesmen, Ali put his feet on the trench under which dry wood was burnt for over two hours.
As he finished his walk, he was immediately taken to a pot filled with the blood of a slaughtered goat to dip his feet.
According to customs, the judgment is announced after 12 hours.
If Ali's feet gets pustules, he will be declared a liar.
Ali, whose feet were unharmed, was declared innocent.
"You are ordered to give him his due share in the property," the tribal elder told his brothers.
"I am very happy that I got my right," said a jubilant Ali.
Delayed Justice
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| "This is simply a crime," insists Mufti Naeem. |
Ali says he walked on fire because he had no other option to get his share of the property.
"I have been running from pillar to post to get justice for over the past two years. But every time, the court gives a new date (for hearing)," he explained.
"I had neither money nor access to higher officials. Therefore, I lodged my complaint with the tribal lord, who immediately summoned my brothers."
Experts link the presence of such customs to the complicated and lengthy process courts take to resolve even minor cases.
"No doubt this is illegal and inhuman," Z.K Jatoi, a senior lawyer, told IOL.
"But you can't abandoned such customs unless you provide speedy justice to the people."
"A rich person can get justice somehow because he can afford the best lawyers, who are even seniors of many judges. But the poor, who make up the majority in Pakistan, can't afford that," regretted Jatoi.
"Therefore, they resort to such inhuman and illegal ways to get their rights."
The senior lawyer called for immediate reforms to the judicial system.
"The current judicial system is obsolete. It needs immediate reforms not only to make the court procedures speedy but affordable too," he insisted.
"If speedy and affordable justice is not ensured to the people, soon you will see such Jirgas and courts in every street of the country."
Un-Islamic
Ali claims that being a devout Muslim, he was not afraid to walk on fire.
Part of the custom is that verses from the Noble Qur'an are recited before a person walks on fire.
But scholars vehemently condemn both the practice and the use of the Muslim holy book in the process.
"This is simply a crime, and the perpetrator should be dealt as per the law," Mufti Mohammad Naeem, a prominent Karachi-based scholar, told IOL.
"Qur'an is not meant to be used for such purposes."
He insisted that the absence of speedy justice is "no excuse" to resort to such customs.
"Even our Caliphs did not decide anything in this way, who are those tribal lords to do that?
"Magicians and wizards have no place in Islam, which is a very simple and practical religion," Naeem maintained.
"Even if someone flies in the air, he has no right to replace the courts."
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