Junaid Ali Malik |
Such a reprehensible act happened again in Kasur. Child sexual abuse is rising. Zainab lost her life and the tragedy pointed out the negligence of the rulers. The poor girl was abducted for about five days and the police could not do anything. For a moment, one might feel that Kasur is a no-go area where these crimes are the part of life. After so many dreadful crimes, this really seems to be factual.
There are a number of mishaps that have occurred in the land of the great Sufi saint Baba Bulleh Shah. The case of six-year-old Zainab is a brutal truth to acknowledge and explores a sorry state of being for the entire nation including the leaders. This incident was the 12th one near the victim’s house within a year. Crimes kept on happening again and again, and the protectors kept on ignoring them.
Nonetheless, I am afraid that before justice is served, another incident might have happened and society including media and state machinery would have forgotten this one.
Kasur, unfortunately, has become the hub of child abuse where things remained irrepressible for the police primarily owing to its own impulsiveness. The Kasur child abuse scandal of 2015 is enough to give one goose bumps. Hundreds of children, at least 280, were disgraced when they were not only physically abused but their videos were recorded to pressurize their kith and kin not to open their mouths.
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A rough assessment clarifies the situation prevailing in the city. More than 700 cases of child molestation were reported in Kasur since 2015. The figure is quite ghastly, and I am sure there are many more that went unreported owing to certain factors including the prevailing social taboos.
The recent heart-wrenching event has once again showed the bona fide face of the system we are living in. Police that should be the name of trust and security is causing more havoc in the naive nation of Pakistan. Instead of finding and nabbing the culprits, it killed two protesters and two others got critically injured. A crooked and smutty system that cannot protect its citizens should cease to exist.
Moreover, justice and accountability through it are the two most vital factors mandatory at this moment. Let’s wait for the moment when the killers of Zainab will be brought to justice and the rate of such crimes touches the lowest point.
The reality is that most of the cases of sexual abuse go unreported. In most of them, the children do not even share the bad touches that some predators have on them in certain occasions. It is owing to reason that the children are too shy to explicate it with their parents. Other times, the parents are afraid of the honor of their family.
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Candidness and lack of friendship with parents is causing more damage to our society, and they are the reasons events like these are happening on daily basis. The grief-stricken families that tried to pursue the case have to wait for justice for an uncertain time period. It was through social media that this matter got hyped. The trend #JusticeForZainab is still hitting Twitter and its promoters are asking the rulers to take action keeping in view Zainab as their own child.
The hype that this case got on media is commendable, but certainly this is not going to last longer. With the passage of every day, our society is getting brutal; the savages are protected and the gap between rich and the poor is mounting.
The father of the departed soul portrayed the impotency of the system when he demanded justice either from the chief of army or from the chief justice of the apex court. Primarily, it should have been demanded from the police or from the local political leaders. This is the lack of trust over the politicians and the police who are paid through the taxes of the poor nation and collect financial and non-financial resources. Indeed, they have nothing in consideration for the masses.
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The hype that this case got on media is commendable, but certainly this is not going to last longer. With the passage of every day, our society is getting brutal; the savages are protected and the gap between rich and the poor is mounting. With happy-go-lucky leaders, society cannot attain serenity and tranquility.
Moreover, justice and accountability through it are the two most vital factors mandatory at this moment. Let’s wait for the moment when the killers of Zainab will be brought to justice and the rate of such crimes touches the lowest point. Nonetheless, I am afraid that before justice is served, another incident might have happened and society including media and state machinery would have forgotten this one.
Junaid Ali Malik is a professional writer. He considers writing is the sole purpose of his life. He has done masters in Commerce and History and holds PG Diploma in International Affairs. He is an entrepreneur by profession. He can be contacted at alimalikmalik627@gmail.com or @junaidalimalik1. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy.