A fact-finding mission of Human Rights Commission, Pakistan on Kasur scandal of child abuse in 2015, in which, 280 children were abused in forced pornography, concluded that business since 2010 was the main agenda behind it rather land-dispute and a report of 2016 was published by SAHIL, an NGO working on Child Abuse, which widely appeared on every press and at each TV channel, it stated that child sexual abuse had increased ten-percent in the year across the country with 4139 cases reported, leaving unreported cases aside because of defame and so-called honor, which becomes 11 cases per day and same alarming reports were being published since 2012 with intensifying alarm.
These were sufficient to worry the government institutions and the people to take any step to resolve this emerging threat but in 2017, its cases despite alarming were not halted and made highlights of the news, every day.
Though this is happening across the country, there are some factors for this violent crime that are more common in Punjab followed by Sindh, KP and Balochistan due to a huge population of former and division of classes under the absence of traditions and modern rule of law or a strict legal system, in general, in all federating units.
It is much contradictable that a moral lesson of compassion by elders with children is consistently being replaced by child sexual abuse.
Pakistan had no violent religious extremism, its people got used to it. It had no such sectarian conflict, it is now facing normally. There was no any blast in the previous century in the country, nowadays is a routine news, even but still, these have been administrative and security loopholes and at least, a normal social life has been the beauty of its society, having a collective life with norms of loyalty, hospitality, brotherhood, truthfulness, respect and numerous other moral values but unfortunately, we have been gradually losing these, too.
Forty million children are living under poverty lines, there are 12.5 million of children doing child labor in Pakistan, and the social set-up of society, where might is right and the elites are exempted from civic responsibilities, whereas, majority people remain silent under pressure as imposed social responsibility, is a dilemma to be considered.
The sexual abuse is the most serious among other worst child abuses as highlighted in a research article, child sexual abuse in Pakistan – A factual analysis published in April 2017. This status-quo is, probably, leading us towards the devastating end and then the government would be no more able to maintain people under a threshold out of their anxiety.
Institutions are weak on one side, and society is becoming on another and if these are combined will, surely, abolish the very root of society.
Probably, the human life is completely inter-linked within its different aspects but its impact on social life is a vivid indicator. It is equally true that government, running state affairs, is a socio-political-economic means of protecting its citizens’ ends for existing in a collective human life but how can a government be nullified from a society and vice-versa?
The inhumane, insane and immoral incident of late-Zainab cannot be condemned with empty words. It can only be done, to some extent, if nature of being the supreme creature is not lost and at least, some development for justice in this entire realm is seen and these social odds in future are prevented, at the same time.
Only closing this chapter of the book would be dealing with a single case that has, of course, for some time upraised the voices whole nation but there are still thousands of similar unreported, unnoticed and unvoiced cases, either pending or have lost their worth.
Having unnatural death is a human failure, one should admit and work to minimize, at least.
Whoever is involved, whether a common person or gang as perpetrators or some immoral business tycoons, in illegal human or organ trafficking, should be punished but this case should not be closed unless every pending victim, obviously in thousands, get justice that should be given in any welfare state of the world and should be made a lesson forever, so that, individuals of this society do not outlay a hope in social life, as presently, almost, have lost in state institutions.
A society avails its objectives, when it is strong enough in every aspect, socially, politically and economically. It is a military that physically secures human life from an external adversary but that is collective efforts that guarantee human security within and fulfills the purpose of collectivism of humanity.
A Christian couple was mercilessly set on fire by violent-extremists, people raised the issue and they were engrossed in their lives, soon after. A young student was lynched by a violent mob of undergraduates, in day-light within a boundary of a modern university, people were got silenced within a week and now this unexplainable incident with an innocent life of just seven years old child, is rather worse than acts of beasts, and how people would be silenced tactically, is yet to be seen.
If it ends on this case, it will further worsen. This pungent-smelled well should be dug even deeper, the dirt must be thrown out and the society has to be cleaned-up otherwise, turn-by-turn, everyone has to face this day to be awakened then.
Not a single common citizen is, this time, secure from any angle but the elites, obviously are.
There could be no justification made to defend such acts and there cannot be any apology to finger out this issue as a global challenge, which no doubt it is, but people of this country have to be concerned about their own issues, which now are becoming social, what else worst can be more than that?
In terrorism, Pakistani society lost many lives including of children but if the statistics of child abuse is analyzed, it is losing much more than the former and the institutions with people should think over this in-depth.
Activists of Child Rights Movement, a platform of twenty-five like-minded NGOs, concerned over increasing violent incidents against children, in October 2017 but yet no fruitful outcome has been celebrated. Civil society has played its tremendous role by highlighting such grave matter but the government has not shown any serious development, obvious from both process-based approach and outcome-based approach.
A question that worries is, if it was really child sexual abuse, it could have been stopped even by police but some of the news involving white-collars, as in Kasur scandal of 2015, indicates this as a planned business of human trafficking or digital-earning and should be dealt, accordingly. Whatever it is and whoever is convicted and guilty if not restrained, it could rust any iron society.
Every small odd assembles for a shocking bigger impact and Zainab’s case is part of such chain that has added one more bitter lessons in many others but when we, as a society and nation, would learn is a question to be pondered?
The writer belongs to Quetta and He is Studying Defence and Strategic Studies at QAU, Islamabad. Area of Interest of the writer includes Politics and Socio-economics developments of Balochistan, South Asian Politics, Non-State Actors, Terrorism and CT strategy, Globalization and Cyberwarfare. Follow him on Twitter @Saddam_Shah98.Email: [email protected]
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are those of the author and Balochistan Voices not necessarily agrees with them.
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