How the British dealt with barbaric religious practices

On October 21st Walt noted the beginning of a trial, in Canada, of a Muslim man, his second wife and son, on charges of killing his first wife and three of their daughters. The four women were inside a car which was allegedly pushed into the Rideau Canal by a second car driven by one of the accused.

Why? "Honour" of course. The three girls had been behaving badly -- wearing western clothes, interested in boys and suchlike -- and brought disgrace and dishonour on the family. As for the first wife, she was apparently barren and just kind of in the way.

Honour killing is part of Islam. It is sanctioned by the Qu'ran and practised all too often in Muslim communities around the world. To the Western, Christian way of thinking, it is a cruel and barbaric practice, a relic of the dark ages. Just like the Hindu practice of "suttee" -- burning widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands.

Why do I mention suttee? Because I was just reading (in America Alone by Mark Steyn -- worth reading twice!) a quote attributed to the impeccably multicultural General Sir Charles Napier, a governor of India in the days of the British Raj.

"You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."

Agent 3 is keeping Walt updated on the honour killing trial. The strategy of the defence is not yet clear. If they argue for a finding of not guilty, or a reduced sentence at least, because respect must be given to Islam and the religious sensitivities of "new Canadians", Walt hopes the Crown will read Napier's dictum to the jury.

Will there be a hanging in the event of a finding of guilt? Not in Canada. Execution is OK for victims, but not for the killers.

Footnote: The accused father, Mohammed Safia, married the second wife without bothering to divorce the first. Bigamy and polygamy are supposedly illegal in Canada, but the government looks the other way in the case of Muslims. Wouldn't want to offend anyone's religious principles, dontcha know.

Further footnote: Let's not hear any of that fuzzy, we-are-the-world rhetoric that Muslims will assimilate, once they've lived in Western society for a while. The Safias have been in Canada for many years, and the father was a successful businessman, living in Montréal. But assimilate? Fuggedaboudit.