WE are living in times when our world is exploring new worlds in this universe.

Technological advancements are being made on a daily basis. It is the time we talked about freedom, rights and awareness.

And suddenly, we come across breaking news that a girl has been burnt alive in Abbottabad for helping her friend to leave the village to marry of her own free will.

It is an earth-shattering incident. No one has the authority, whether it is any individual, parents or so-called Jirga, to kill someone.

This kind of act is neither lawful nor according to the basic teachings of Islam. Moreover, the right to life is the fundamental right according to the Constitution of Pakistan.

This is not just one incident, we can find many similar cases around us. We all need to remember that we are living in a country, and not in a jungle. We must understandthat a jirga is not above the constitution.

When the constitution considers and accepts our rights, we should not violate them under any immoral and unlawful custom. Killing someone just for the sake of wish is a sin and a crime and it does not solve any problem. We need to understand that life is precious and we should protect it.

To quote Pope Francis: `The right to life is first among the human rights`.

Varsha Arora Rawalpindi