Pakistan: Singer murdered in honor killing

She was killed either for engaging in the un-Islamic practice of pursuing a singing career, or for engaging in the un-Islamic practice of divorcing and remarrying, thereby sullying her family's honor.

"Female Pakistani Singer Killed In Peshawar," by Kristin Deasy and Sharifa Esmatullah for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, April 29 (thanks to Pamela): sharia

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Ayman Udas, a rising female vocalist in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province, was shot at her home, allegedly by her own brothers.

Her death has rattled the city's jittery artistic community, as local musicians and dancers in Peshawar -- a city renowned for its vibrant artistic life -- face increasing pressure as the region falls under greater Taliban influence.

Some attributed Udas's death to the Islamist militants, but her husband told reporters that his wife was killed because she broke family traditions.

A beautiful woman in her early 30s and mother of two, Udas recently remarried after a divorce. Her two brothers, Alamgir and Ismail, disapproved of her divorce, remarriage, and her artistic career, all of which disgrace a family's name in conservative Islamic society.

Note to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: "conservatives" don't generally murder their sisters who divorce, remarry, and pursue singing careers.

The honor killing, an ancient tradition in which a male family member kills a female to "save" the family name, took place on April 27 at the family's home while Udas's husband was out picking up milk. He immediately took the case to the authorities, who have made no arrests but raided several locations in search of the suspected killers....

Meanwhile, Artists are coming under direct threat in Taliban-controlled areas. In January, a dancer's bullet-ridden body was left in the center of Swat Valley's capital of Mingora -- not far from where Udas grew up -- with a note warning locals that "un-Islamic voices" will no longer be tolerated.

Are they all Misunderstanders of Islam in Mingora? Is there no Muslim there able or willing to raise a protest against this in the name of the authentic, peaceful Islam that we all must believe in in the West on pain of charges of "Islamophobia"?

Pamela Geller has added Ayman Udas to her haunting gallery of photos of victims of honor killing. These women must be remembered, and decent people must stand up and say, No more.