I know that I can light a fire even with a stone but I deliberately let darkness dwell in my homeland to keep the ugliness and horrors of the ground in a peaceful state and the Kings and Queens in good health. It is history that the “light” had only brought problems and constraints for the highly sophisticated and noble people. Today, I might offend some tender and pious hearts, for that I don’t apologize and am certainly not ashamed to bring forth the deploring facts of our naked society.
Politicians, entertainers, social workers, and people more or less from all fields have condemned the brutality committed in Kasur by a seven-year-old. The incident has moved our nation, caused protests, and debates on news channels, and might also be in offices. Parents have become grimly concerned for their children’s security. “Big names” are giving “big statements” on this criminal offense. So the motherland is shedding tears and mourning day and night on the disturbing loss of an innocent girl “Zainab”.
The causes of these pedophilic acts are not always traceable. That is often because the epistemic community seems not to be really interested in working in this domain. There are some factors that could be considered responsible for pedophilia such as poverty and cultural short-sightedness. I will not include illiteracy because our educational institutions have also failed to provide security not only to children but students of all ages.
Ignorance or deliberate blindness could be one of the strong reasons, not in terms of information but our national ignorance to sympathize and help the humans specifically children living or let’s just say dying on the streets. In Zainab’s case condolences were made, because there were people to receive condolences. But what about the children, who suffer as much as Zainab did once, every day, and in bus stations at night in return for a place to rest. Zainab died, maybe due to the fact that she had people to complain but these runaways mostly orphans are left alive because they are vulnerable and serve as toys of pleasure for the rest of their lives. They are sometimes paid and on others, their innocent bodies are served as a free meal. No “big name” is seen or heard to make “big statements”, to extend to which it has made in the Zainab case, for the rights and safety of these homeless “hands”.
No Ima’am of Masjid, no religious leader has ever considered this matter important. They might have left the matter in the divine hands (to Allah Al-mighty). Our politicians and leaders talk of progress and development but what developments can be made in a place where more than four million children are tied up in labor at a very early age out of which one and half million are on the streets, who suffer and die like silkworms.
In 2014 a documentary was made in Peshawar by a foreign news agency that brought to light an ugly side of a place where “parda” is at its extreme. Out of 10, 9 street boys were reported victims of rape. Bus drivers were shown to be the mainstream criminals in this offense and they are not ashamed of it due to an excuse that it is their physical need and they have no other choice.
In addition, to make laws to punish rapists or pedophiles, people of such trade where traveling is required should be, by law obligated to take their wives with them. Marriages should also be made easier. It is not really possible for the law to help much in this matter but religious leaders could be a great help. Our Prophet (SAW) has emphasized marriage as soon as a person is capable of it. It is not in terms of his wealth, wealth has really little to do with this matter. The ignorance of wealth will bring some consequences, but it will, at least decrees the ratio of child abuse and rape on a considerable scale.
We as a nation are not blind but rather deliberately blind. We are standing in darkness with a candle in one hand and a matchbox in another. We are scared to lit and see the reality because we know from where the cloak is torn and where the bruises are deep. What happened with Zainab was certainly brutal and can never be excused but let’s see it as divine justice, that every day we pass by these helpless individuals on the streets, closing our car’s windows at them, frowning, giving them a gesture of disgust, shooing them away and never bother to stop a while and ask them how they are.
The writer is the editor of The Asian Mirror.
