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How many of us remember the three-year-old girl who was kidnapped, raped and thrown in a sewer, or the 13-year-old boy from Korangi who was gang-raped on Eid-ul-Fitr last year, or the five-year-old girl who was raped, strangled and later recovered from a garbage dump at a ground in Gizri?
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s (HRCP) Annual Report 2009:
“968 children, 285 boys and 683 girls were sexually abused. Around 1,404 women murdered, including 647 in the name of ‘honour’. Around 928 women were raped and some 563 committed suicide.”Another survey, conducted by Sahil, an NGO which raises awareness regarding child sexual abuse and exploitation, paints a haunting image:
“Out of a total of 1,216 cases reported in six months, 331 boys, whereas 885 girls had been sexually abused, and the percentage of the female cases was 72 per cent as compared to 28 per cent of male cases.”Rape is grossly under-reported in Pakistan. The culture of silence and shame has been one of the biggest hurdles victims face. It is then a pity that the few, who choose to overlook cultural barriers and gather the courage to come forth, are forced to go through the ordeal for years before justice is served. In most instances, alleged rapists are acquitted due to loopholes in our judicial system, while sometimes the victims are pressurised to withdraw their case. The role of police in such cases has been extremely notorious. For instance, take the case of a 10-year-old boy from Lahore; despite medico-legal reports proving rape had occurred, the police was reluctant to file an FIR against the accused pedophile.
In Khipro, a student of class X was given sedatives and gang-raped but her ordeal wasn’t over. The heinous crime was filmed via a mobile phone camera and the video posted on various websites. In the aftermath of the incident, parents of more than 100,000 students have stopped their daughters from attending schools and colleges.
Even more shocking are reports of an alleged gang of blackmailers comprising boys and girls, from ‘respectable’ families, who have sexually assaulted girls, recorded videos of the victims and used it to blackmail the victim’s parent or posted it on the Internet.
What kind of people would commit such an atrocious crime, film it and upload the videos on the Internet is beyond me. Unfortunately, this is not new phenomenon, such incidences have been reported before. In March 2009, a teenage boy was gang-raped in police custody and the footage distributed over the Internet. Child porn continues to be accessed throughout Pakistan and now, rape videos have also joined the league yet we see no outrage by these 'upholders of morals and justice.' The lack of coverage and public outrage at such incidents is extremely disturbing and worrisome. But then our priorities have been distorted for quite sometime. It is a pity that we live in a country where hundreds will march on the streets, calling for an all out ban on social media platforms because of an isolated incident, while horrifying stories of abuse do not merit our anger. If alarming figures from the HRCP reports and the increasing incidences of rape and abuse of women and children does not bring us back to our senses, I don’t know what will.
* Cover design by Eefa Khalid/Dawn.com
The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
Sana Saleem is the co-founder of Bolo Bhi & Stories Beyond Borders.
She's on the board of advisory for Courage Foundation, Edward Snowden's legal defence fund.
Read more
On DawnNews
Comments (117) Closed
Nov 11, 2010 08:18am
Aqil,
I am a professor at a wellknown university here in Islamabad.
Not more than 2% or 3% None of the people want to get educated, and they are mocked by the rest as being "teachers pets" etc.
The Students are there to get a DEGREE not an EDUCATION and will do anything/everything possible to avoid getting an education.
The Management support this attitude as well becuase they are there to get a paycheck not to teach!
I am sure there will be someone out there pointing to some exception they found but as a general rule no one wants an education here!!
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Nov 11, 2010 08:09am
Farha
I do not support Pornography but rape is a psychological issue. it is a Control issue rather than a sexual issue.
Please do go and read about rape and recovery from rape! use this internet to educate yourself.
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Nov 08, 2010 07:17am
Extremely shocking. But we need to realise that, as a nation, we have crossed our limits, boundaries too far, lost our values, ethics, respect to people etc.
I appreciate Sana Saleem's courage & effort in bringing the brutal stories on the lime light in a summary form and hence increasing awareness of the masses.
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Nov 20, 2010 09:02am
I'm glad to see people who are actually talking about the taboos of Pakistani society. I just don't understand why most of us feel reluctant to register the offence (as extreme as child sexual abuse or rape); we hide the facts, thus making the abusers more confident on their offence; allowing them to commit this crime again with other children. The social problems would not be resolved unless we talk about them. The phenomenon of curbing the social ills starts with the Identification of the issue, its causes and short term and long term effetcs on the victims, offenders as well as the society as a whole. So, I would like to appreciate the writer's efforts in this regard. I'm sure, she would be facing a lot of criticism from different segments of the society as we are a silent nation and we DONT talk about issues. All the very best.
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Nov 05, 2010 11:48am
It is the matter of fact that advanced technology is more often used in committing a crime or covering it, but not for developing the restrictive measures to avoid deterioration in the moral values of the society. We are inclined to use technology in l ines with the developed, but we are not sensible enough about individual rights and no laws/forums to restrcit such heinous acts.
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Oct 29, 2010 08:51pm
Every two min a woman is raped in usa and of which .37% are reported not a single international NGO shed light on it and make mess of them why us ? Ps remember Dr mukthra
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Oct 29, 2010 11:33am
well said bro!
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Nov 03, 2010 06:15am
The best solution to each and every problem is that rule of law at each and every front is fully observed;
It's not that we don't have laws em-placed, the laws are very much there but only require implementation
There is no doubt about saying that as a society, as a nation, and hence as a ummah we are mostly polluted and getting worst day by day but individuals reaching to their own judgment and punishing the criminals according to their own desire (as was witnessed Sialkot
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Oct 29, 2010 09:12pm
The biggest reason, true, is shame. On top of that most of the times innocent girls and women are blamed for their rape. Zia ul Haq was the main reason behind it when he introduced Hadood ordinance. It was barbaric. In that case a woman who was raped was convicted of sex if she complained against rape and was unable to produce evidence. Many families got destroyed because of this law. People took advantage of this law and women got long time jail punishments after they were raped. These maulvis made a fun of our religion.
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Oct 29, 2010 06:45am
no it will be changed! do not loose hope, try to do something. Myself can not damage this mess up but at least I am going to spread awareness by writing, speech and casual gathering. Things will be changed! InshAllah!
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Oct 29, 2010 06:48am
At last you have come back with nice topic! A topic which is forgotten by everyone here including media, government and even us blogger.
I just want remind media to revise their policies, they should not come with news just as announcement. There should be some entities who actually take issue from start to solution.
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Oct 29, 2010 11:09am
Writing against the atrocious act being comitted in the society for correction can be term as Jihad bil Qalam. To practically observe and see it being implemented or have influence on the ppl mind & character in the society, a careful, deep analysis is a must, pointing out the root causes / divergence from the injunction / behaviour of girls/boys lead to; and future corrective measure's that has to be adopted to curb, if not curb completely, alteast diminishes/reduces such acts/attempts, will always bear some fruit /result. By merely siting the occurrence/happening without proposing the corrective measures/learning may not at time be heard/considered. This is one of the factor which is very much induced in our society in the shape of fashion designs & getting increased day by day where as per instruction, norms /customs face to be opened others to be hidden well & proper to break the shape & size from the greedy eyes of a man.
However, I praise the writer to have take up a very noble cause of corrections/ luring attention of the society on this aspect and wish her all the success for this noble cause.
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Oct 29, 2010 10:57am
Well said, we are caught in the spiral of self-denial for long and only accuse 'West', 'liberals', and 'Media' for all the wrongs in our society at large.
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Oct 29, 2010 10:54am
Only we can help ourselves.
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Oct 29, 2010 10:26am
Sana,our society still considers rape a taboo and so many cases of child abuse are not reported due to victim and their family being socially abused by our society and a sick legal system.We need to completely change the way our society operates and encourage and educate children to report any act which they feel sexually abusive to their families and families should not hush up the matter.
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Oct 29, 2010 10:13am
totally agree... the police needs to be refactored, remodeled and rerecruited
we need educated people in the police force- people with morals and ethics- people who can answer the simple question asked by their lord "you were given the roles of guardians and what did you do?"
but sadly where will we find such educated people- the youth? cmon we all know the youth is already looking for shortcuts and what not- and its being injected into their minds from the very first day of school- when we drive them to school and park in the middle of the road without care for others- when we drive them to school and go the wrong way of the road- we are all culprits here
so first we need to stop turning them into running after money- we need to educate them- what is taught in schools and colleges and universities is not education but just training- we need to teach them how to distinguish between right and wrong
just my 0.02
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Nov 03, 2010 07:59am
Sana once again strong words for struggling nation. Coming to your post, it feel really shame and feel fear living, and also worried about our family members too. This should be stop and teach them about the real Islam, aware these people what they are doing one of the greatest sin in Islam. When reading these kind of act I feel shame to call myself Pakistani sorry to say, and heart cried off.
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Oct 29, 2010 10:04am
So, what's the solution?!!!
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Oct 29, 2010 06:49am
Islamic society? Look around you sis we are not more under Islamic society.
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Oct 29, 2010 09:44am
Yet again, a great post Sana. Brave of you to pick on such a sensitive issue.
And i'd not agree with a few of the comments. There is no time to blame this and that. Its seriously time to wake up and DO SOMETHING!
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Oct 29, 2010 09:58am
They say "If you want Peace,work for Justice".....if justice had been served to most of the sexually abused kids,then we would never have seen a rise in the percentage of rape and abuse cases...the criminals/rapers would always have had a fear of being penalized for committing this evil crime...but then like many said "This is Pakistan"...you hardly get what you wish for!
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Oct 29, 2010 09:58am
The primary reason for inaction is that people at large don't find much wrong about such incidents; i.e., unless it happens to one of theirs. And, if it happens to one of theirs instead of using the incident to arouse awareness they opt for honor killing. It will be naive to expect anything different from a society where a significant portion of the population gets no formal education except from the religious preachers who just inculcates in them an attitude of holier-than-thou, to save face than face realities, and to interpret the holy religious text to fit their parochial selfishness. And, the rest who are fortunate to go to schools find all their hatred channeled else where, and their knowledge coloured by history not supported by scholars at large.
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Oct 29, 2010 09:11am
Take care and protect the minorities and weaker sections. AUtomatically, everything will improve.
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Nov 04, 2010 02:47pm
Please write more sana......
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Nov 04, 2010 08:52am
Shameless !!! is that what we are ? I wonder why we have all these situations around us? May be we are missing something as a nation.... Lack of education, lack of knowledge, lack of awareness no that's not the case or is it?. I reckon we have been sliced into pieces as a nation in the name of religion in the name of culture and in the name of modernization. All we do is talk talk and talk ....Face talk on the TV, blogging on the net. Is that all we can do as a nation or we can come out to change our fate not on behalf of any political org...but for the sake of better and prosperous Pakistan...which I am sure is not on the agenda or any of the political parties......Female are the most beautiful thing every created by the Allah SubanahutaAla.
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Oct 30, 2010 03:21pm
Looking from outside I cannot understand the huge rallies in Pakistan for reasons which they cannot make any difference. How can I change/effect the Kerry Lugar bill by burning a tire on a main road in Islamabad? Shouldn't I be protesting against or joining huge rallies for the killings a innocent civilians in my own city?
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Oct 30, 2010 03:41pm
I am in Iraq. I am really sad to see the response at a sexual assault case in Pakistan.
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Oct 30, 2010 03:07pm
This is Islam! helping the oppressed and bringing the oppressors to justice. We should have our own website of wikileaks against the oppressors who are powerful and can buy justice because our police are sometimes part of the crime. Dawn is doing quite a good job in allowing our journalists speak for the nation. Thanks Sana!
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Nov 04, 2010 06:30pm
One of the ways Pakistan can help herself is to create awareness of people among themselves. The system itself is not going to change anytime soon. Does this mean children, in the mean time, need to suffer? No. Create awareness among neighbors... regardless how good the neighbor is, never leave children unattended out on a street. Create a hotline phone number where neighbors and call and seek help before it happens as a proactive measure. Report suspicious people, lookout for unusual activities. You folks probably hate West but atleast pick up good habits and system that neighbors put out for themselves. It is the neighbor who monitor the situation and not the police to make their areas as safe as possible from perverts.
Remember, police comes out when a damage has already taken place. Lets put ourselves in place and report immediately before crime is taken place.
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Oct 30, 2010 02:58pm
I am sick and tired of seeing people blame 'lack of education' for any wrong thing that has happened in society.
Suicide attacks: lack of education, Mob-lynching two kids: Illiterate people, Rap and women molestation: uneducated youth!! So simple for the educated lots to shift blame on uneducated.
FACT is: Society as a whole is sick. Educated are not 'pious' either; one cursory look at the profile of people accused of such acts will confirm this. Educated 'mullah' incite violence and hatred, leaders of political parties(educated or not) wink-agree target killings, Many well-educated have/are involved in terrorist activities.
Society: A victim of 'rape' is not treated as rape but as 'guilty'. Her family is ashamed of her, society take her as loose-character, Rapists are taken as guilty but of secondary order, it must be girl's 'wrong-dress' or 'behavior' that prompted the rape!! Irony.
Even the most liberal, tech-savvy, internet warriors (and hence educated) defend the full-body burqua for girls-- it is the appropriate dress and only for her own good, Lack of burqua means girl is 'easy',
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Nov 04, 2010 08:47pm
no problem with that. however, please make sure that exposing someones misdeeds must be verified 101% before publishing it. and also the intent should be to bring justice to the victim, and not just villify the perpetrator as that does no harm to him/her. people with sick mind needs to be dealt accordingly. very strict guidelines has to be in place before induction. you do no want this tool to be another means of rivalary between the varying groups.
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Oct 30, 2010 02:02pm
the only way evil can succeed is when the good people dont stand against it.
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Oct 31, 2010 03:25pm
Unfortunately our Judiciary is more interested in fighting with the executive branch of Government on high visibility issues to gain more power for itself rather than spreading the rule of law for the benefit of the poor citizens. It seems everyone in our society's leaderships is looking for more power rather than working to solve the problems of the common Pakistani with whatever power they already have.
Pakistanis should expect and demand SERVICE from its leaders instead of bikkering, fighting, complaining, grabbing power and self promotions!!!!
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Nov 04, 2010 09:45pm
There are many women who are sexually abused either by their family members, close relatives or by the people where they work at , and many women are raped in house robberies as well.
The social and cultural construction of our society has developed a concrete mind set of people which does not let us digest the bitter truth a) that rape is and was always common in our culture and it is not just a western phenomenon b) the mental health of a raped woman is a lot more important than the honour and reputation of the family c) we do not have enough moral and social support for the raped women in our society . I wonder how many men are ready in our society to come forward and marry a raped woman or accept her child if she gets pregnant ? Very few I guess ,they are not ready to marry a divorcee or widow woman , if few men who really keep a soft corner in their heart for such women and would like to support these women , their mothers and other family members would not never allow them to do so.
Asma
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Nov 04, 2010 04:27pm
It is really sad, as a nation we are so down as far as Values are concerned. Not only doing a sin and making it published for public, shows no fear of law in our mind. We are not afraid of the consequence, as we believe that we can break law and nobody can stop us, not even the law of this land.
I think we need to identify, either we have to put a question mark on judicial system or the lack of proper legislation is the root cause. May be the social stigma attached to the accused person is the hurdle to eliminate this problem, or the "Thana Culture". Why there is less number of incidents in the countries having strict punishments like Iran, KSA?
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Oct 31, 2010 01:11pm
It is very important to keep an eye on children and also educate to our children about all good/wrong. Self education is more important than school/College education. Every parents mut attend his/her children and give time on daily basis.
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Nov 03, 2010 01:50am
It is good effort to share critical issues our nation is facing such as moral decay-it was one Jinnah, whose effort yielded Pakistan- it was team of honest, dedicated people. Now it is our responsibility to charge up and help our nation. Western World, like USA high school students contribute their time to serve the humanity and work towards serving in various capacities. The USA colleges then reward their and elect those who are more proactive and shown a leadership than who were not. At this kind of effort from every institution is very much needed. Our mosques, schools and our social service units get together, and render utmost effort and support those who are suffering. I am sure there are many police and military and school retiree who are willing to help- someone who is rich, passionate about our nation, organize the effort and promote harmony within the needy and those who could have the resources to support. Mr. Chief Justice should not only focus to challenge the corrupt or the government, he and his team and the people in back jackets should make the law transparent and available to all at equal merits. People in black jacket and tie, must open free services where these kind of serious cases come to the court. These abnormalities only abrupt when the law is only available to rich.
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Nov 01, 2010 04:00am
NFP has said this repeatedly. The sense of outrage of the Pakistanis is shamelessly distorted. The whole country has gone crazy over the supposed ill-treatment of Afifa Siddiqui, 'daughter' of the country, never mind that she divorced her husband to marry an Al-Qaeda operative but barely a peep is heard over the outrages that are highlighted in this article.
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Oct 31, 2010 08:30am
I fully endorse your views. On the other hand we must make young students our eyes and ears because they can locate anti social elements easily. But the problem will be whom they should report- police or mulla,politicians or the government agencies- all are the same.Think about the solution.
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Nov 01, 2010 05:21am
@Farooque- i totally second that...only we can help ourselves.....as the saying goes "precaution is better than cure"......women and children need to be made aware of such heinous crimes so that they may take their own precautions to prevent such happenings..i being a female know what it is like to be verbally harassed on roads....No one can be trusted in today's society....It is the survival of the fittest....."Self defence is the best defence"!!!!!!
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Nov 01, 2010 05:36am
Its really horrific and terrifying that cases linger on for years,We dont see a ray of hope.It appears that we are at lowest ebb of our civlization where such henious crimes go un noted.A complete change from top to bottom is required, May be its the uncontrolled frustration because of social and financial constraints which is leading our society to down trends.A proper counselling at individual and national level is required to cope us out of this increasing trend of rape and social violence.Education appears to be the only way out. We have to come out of this silent mode and lodge our disliking openly if we want to cut this out.May be we have to start it right away we dont have much time to spare.
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Oct 31, 2010 04:18pm
If a man has "GREEDY EYES" do not blame the woman for her dress, blame the man for his greedy eyes. If the man still feels greedy than may be he should NOT have those greedy eyes and the society should remove those greedy eyes from the face of the greedy man. THINK ABOUT IT?
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Oct 31, 2010 06:53am
There is no simple solution to such a problem, these are very serious crimes and in some cases it is more than murder.
We have to forget about the police reform even now the convicts are being recruited in the police force so what is the solution.
The solution is another crime, people have to come together and when they find such person whether is from powerful elite or from the police is need to be punished severely.
The robbery became less when people started killing the robbers in different part of country, there is only one punishment and you know what it is.
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Oct 31, 2010 06:17am
The ugly face of our society.
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Oct 31, 2010 02:26pm
Our memories are weak and we are no more a nation of pride.
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Nov 01, 2010 07:24am
It is a good post for all of the viewers to get an idea what sort of society we are living in - in fact i feel ashamed of calling it a society anymore - because of very simple reason that we as Men have decided and for more practicle reaons are taught (day and night) with reference from legal , moral and why to leave Religion behind in this race that Woman is an object for s..x and she is of no other use.
Time has come - where Men and Women needs to voice together for equal rights and push back the concept of Man Dominance. Women should be seen and given equal rights as given to Men in eye of the Law (religion should not be involved in it) we all know who takes advantage of it one-way or the other.
Sana - keep it up... this ill-society needs braves voices like yours..
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Nov 01, 2010 07:13am
ya obviously its very important issue and i m extremely sorry all of this we strongly condemn
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Nov 02, 2010 09:32am
leave religion out of this please. Let us first be humans. The children do not deserve this treatment in any state, failed or otherwise. Don't blame religion or lack of it. Look around you - do people check criminal tendencies intheir youth in families, or laugh it off saying "garm khoon hai" or " boys will be boys"? Wake up and change values inside homes.
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Nov 02, 2010 09:38am
Sana's article made me pause and also think - do we as a society teach and inculcate respect for women amongst the boy-children? The answer is possibly a no. Too much is made of macho stuff by men/husbands and by the male members of society at large. Too little is done when small mistakes are caught/observed - "boys will be boys " excuse.
Can we introspect and change how we teach values? Easy to blame the woman, but difficult to change the man? Looks like this is the difficult one. And children are easy targets for such boorish men then.
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Oct 31, 2010 03:04pm
really very well sketched article, thumbs up to you. Im not an article reader for sure, but this one for sure is a phenomenon of a nation who is going nowhere. We sould ask just one question from our selves that do we really love our country?
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Nov 03, 2010 10:38pm
Great article. Unfortunately our poor justice system which has been manipulated by corrupt politicians is to blame for this. We call ourselves Muslims and yet do these heinous crimes. I'm certain that there must be many other similar incidents which are not reported at all. We all heard of the sialkot incident and Mukhtar Mai's story but I guess these stories were kept hush hush!
We see Pakistan's name mentioned for the large crowds pouring out for some minor stuff across the ocean but yet nobody voices concern for these innocent women and children. All I can do is pray for our nation and hope that Allah gives us the courage to come forward to help and defend the innocent from these criminals.
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Oct 31, 2010 12:53am
This is the problem with us (Nation is too busy). We always find excuses not to take any actions against the ills of our society.
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Oct 31, 2010 02:43am
Giving due publicity on electronic media including TV of rape cases, publishing pictures of rapists in electronic media, internet and newspapers, recruitment of personnel in law enforcement agencies from Karachi, restoration of local governments who should also have their courts to try cases without the requirement of an attorney, establishment of summary courts under the supervision of retired judges to try only rape and abuse cases, create awareness among children how to protect themselves through precautionary measures, what to do what not to do dealing with unknown people, how to seek help if young kids are trapped in such criminal acts, arrange open discussions of parents at mohallah levels in mosques and schools and provide them guidance how to protect their kids from these social enemies, are few suggestions if followed will keep these instances of abuse and rape in check.
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Nov 03, 2010 05:01am
So whats your point ?
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Oct 30, 2010 10:07am
The solution would be the death penalty for those found guilty of committing rape. Unfortunately the Human Rights activists would be the first to condemn such punishments....
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Nov 03, 2010 05:12am
Solution is to begin utilizing our energies and potentials in some creative and rewarding activities, solution is to not let ourselves, in specific my youth be the slave of lust and dreams rather be pragmatic to spurs of life!! solution is to know our religion, to know what Allah says in Quran, solution is to know the worth of human life so that we respects it!! Solution is knowledge, and not information!
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Oct 29, 2010 06:21am
first of all i would like to appreciate you at your research. according to my point of view such wicked incidents are the result of our ignorance about islam and islamic values. today we have many schools, colleges and universities of well civilized education system but unfortunatey we have no system which gives us education about islamic values and its importance. we have some madrssas but they have also no proper system to educate the young ones because there are also some issues about their way of work. rapes, kidnapings, abductions and all crimes can be demolished only by making our localities concious about moral and islamic values.
we have a fake judiciary system . no law only lawlessness is on top.
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Nov 05, 2010 07:34am
its very unfortunate that when such crimes are reported a media hype is created and then the story dies down. In the past some of the most heinous crimes like burial of women in Balochistan and the infamous case of M. Ali Hajino who used to take away girls from cars in defence ans clifton and rape them and had admitted murder of a eunuch near South city hosptial near BBQ tonite waits for justice.
Our civil society is equally at fault. While they raised slogans against both the above cases, they seem to care the least to pursue the cases. If its difficult in courts at least they can raise their voice on the media. If that's not (financially or otherwise!) viable for media they can still use the power of emails/text messages/ blogs, etc. but everyone of us sees least interested.
No wonder we just encourage and invite the criminals.
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Nov 04, 2010 03:19pm
The nation Lack Morality, Nothing provided them morality, Religion, Culture and Education Fails to make good human being, i dont know and i am wondering what will it take to create a moral and ethical human being. Perhap? Good Parenting?
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Oct 30, 2010 10:54am
A very factual and brave blog Sana. Please keep raising other aspects of this issue and other similar wrongs in our society. We, the Pakistanis, are caught in the self-denial of many wrongs in our society and need to admit these exist in our society and should not blame only 'West' or 'Liberals' or any outside factors. Although I admit that there may be a slight role of these factors, the real root-causes lie in our society, be it our education system, culture or social norms and pretending that we are better morally and ethically because we are 'Muslims' and can't be lesser that the 'West' and 'non-believers'. Only labeling one as a 'Muslim' does not make one morally and ethically a good human being but rather cultivating and practicing the universal values such as social justice, equality, merit, rule of law, human rights and freedoms is a way towards becoming true human beings and Muslims.
These are the real issues of our society, please keep writing on these!
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Nov 01, 2010 05:37am
All four points agreed but one inclusion in point 1 that all kinds of pornography must be stopped..!!!!!
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Oct 30, 2010 08:19am
1) Cyber Security laws to stop child pornography being published on internet.
2) Judiciary should also work to remove the loopholes in the law regarding rape/sexsual abuse
3) Culprits should be made examples i.e public hangings (if they are found guilty)
4) Awareness created among boys and girls so they can be saved from such accidents
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Oct 30, 2010 08:26am
HI Sana;
You have raised a very important social problem which is always put into the closet...I hope such writings start a window of discussion so that people start realizing the problem.After that we can look for positive steps to cater it.
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Oct 30, 2010 08:50am
Child & woman abuse and rape exist in all societies
Each society deal with this problem according to its own social/political/cultural stage of development
In some advanced democracy, it is being dealt with by the institutions (police,judiciary etc) set up by the system with little intervention of the civil society (even though civil society still has its role to play)
In some less developed democracy, the civil society (where it is alive and listen to) has a prominent role to play to pressure the government and institutions to act
In a country where there is little or no democratic institutions and the civil society just don't care and can't move the government and institutions to act to protect children and women, OTHER AVENUES MUST BE FOUND
New ways of pressuring the government and institutions must be found
Effective and efficient ways must be found
However we dislike it, new ways must be found
Remember in child and woman abuse, NO COMPROMISE
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Nov 01, 2010 09:08pm
I am shocked at what I read about these criminal acts against children and women and society at large. A section of the society in Pakistan has become totally detached from Islam and its high moral and ethical values and standards of behaviour. They have sunk to the lowest of the low. This is time now for justice. Strict justice to cull this cancer within the society. If justice cannot be provided by the govt then a group must rise to dispence justice. Something has to be done, one cannot just remain silent and be guilty of inaction. There must be a group of vigilantes who dispense quick justice. The nation cannot wait any longer while the criminals carry on with more rape, killing and mayhem.
Come on Pakistanis where has your honour and respect and faith gone, are you bereft of all qualities which were left to you by your noble prophet pbuh.
May Allah curse the criminals and the silent spectators who do nothing, not even raise a voice. Some are in a position to act but are spiritually dead and morally corrupt.
Oh, Allah I beseech your help, either guide this society or eliminate it totally, and bring in those who shall live by the standards You have shown them.
One in pain and anguish.
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Oct 29, 2010 05:52am
gr8 work, I have no idea why these crimes are so common and we feel insecure in our so-called Islamic society ?
what we lack, Education, proper brought up, parental taining,........
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Oct 29, 2010 05:43am
Perperators of Child abuse should be Castrated.
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Oct 29, 2010 05:40am
I completely agree with the author. We, as a people, have ceased to be humans. I had my doubts before, but after the lynching incident in Sialkot in the month of Ramadan, I hold on to this viewpoint more than before.
The solution, according to me, should be a mix of top-down and bottom-up approaches. The judicial system needs to guarantee justice to the affected people in such cases. The society should raise awareness on such issues as well.
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Oct 29, 2010 05:30am
Sana, you are wasting your time. This nation is too busy in other matters.
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Oct 29, 2010 05:07am
May Allah save the country.
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Oct 29, 2010 05:16am
The police recruits from villages and off the street. These people are not law enforcement quality. The government needs to change the SHO, Tahnedar culture and recruit from educated and middle class families.
The police force should be recruited from Karachi, where there is civility. All the police from other regions have shown to be narrow minded and brutal. Infact in karachi itself the police is all from all other regions other than karachi and hence the law and order problem.
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Oct 29, 2010 05:08am
Great Write-Up but things in Pakistan won't change!
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Oct 31, 2010 07:03pm
As long as the government and the judicial system are corrupt, we cannot expect any justice. Unfortunately, under these corrupt and immoral environment the only solution that actually will stop these crimes is a Zia-ul-Haque type government. Like they say, "Laton ke bhoot baaton se nahi mantey."
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Nov 05, 2010 06:02am
Is there anyway we can help out raped victims or such cases? cant v do nethin if we all try ? cant v bring change? is there any way..
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Oct 30, 2010 07:23am
Again a good blog Sana. God Bless You. I appreciate your blog on such heinous crime.
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Oct 30, 2010 05:20am
Things will only change if we take responsibility for our actions and MAKE others accountable for theirs. After 25 years abroad I came back to a Pakistan I do not recognize. Perhaps it is just me who changed, grew up, but it seems that the Pakistani people turn a blind eye to bad events...choosing not to see the news so they can remain ignorant, and we all know that ignorance is bliss.
The consequences for speaking out are far to great for this to come to anything. No one wants to see the evil so how can anything be done to stop it. The general public live in a habitual denial, it is just automatic to ignore all bad news.
People are always saying how wonderful it is here....but when asked to name something that is wonderful about Pakistan they give an example of , say, the green areas...(which are disappearing due to deforestation). No one can give me even a single tangible or intangible example of what is earning their allegiance.
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Nov 01, 2010 10:57am
agree with this, would be glad to assist in setting up such a movement.
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Oct 31, 2010 08:36pm
Sana, hats off to you my sis. Lambs are still silent even as the wolves prowl in their midst. Our only hope in this HUSH HUSH society is the voices like you saying it aloud. Say no to cruelty, injustice, superficial judicial activism, TRP driven journalism and insensitivity and say yes to voices like SANA. GOD BLESS YOU
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Oct 31, 2010 08:18pm
Was it ever?????
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Oct 31, 2010 07:52pm
In many ways, you are correct, but, can not take away the fact, that education does enlighten your mind and soul. As a society, we are sick,true, but, not only we have to eradicate our filthy mind set, we also need to do some educating. Punish those, who use their knowledge for their own benefits, and thus make poor and help less people suffer. Having said that, education, if prospered, will change the tide of this nation. Aqil Siddiqi
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Oct 29, 2010 08:48am
@Waqar - I cant say what action is being taken currently but if you or anyone is going to take the initiative agitate for free numbers to call for victims to report any abuse whether sexual or otherwise. Any victim who reports such a crime must be protected. Then starts the difficult part where the government has to pitch in and set up HONEST law enforcement divisions that will not only protect victims but punish offenders. Unfortunately our society never talks of such issues because it is a taboo subject -this mentality needs to change. In most cases of sexual molesting of children, the offenders are known to the victim and may be even be a relative making the whole issue even more difficult for law enforcers who find themselves fighting against families that would rather hide the incident than report the wrongdoer.
@Sana- I always enjoy reading your blogs and am glad you have written on it though I agree with the readers that more of such pieces should be published in all media outlets. There is an urgent need for people to talk about this issue. The problem with our society is this "izzat of the family" which is more precious than all the gold in the world as such they would rather hide such incidents than bring the perpetrators to justice. Meanwhile the victims suffers in silence...
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Oct 30, 2010 04:33am
the greatness of a nation, of a people is measured by how they look after their poorest and their weakest. That being the measure, then we Pakistanis have failed miserably.
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Oct 30, 2010 03:23am
Well Policeman raped the 5 yr old kid was punished for 10years,while drug peddlers for life time!!!
Think of parents whose kid it was......life time sobbing....
How to judge a Judge!!!
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Oct 30, 2010 02:14am
Great piece Ms Sana Saleem. Thanks. The culture of shame destroys the victims, and the great joy of the shameless predators, at times, spills over to some of the cops and some of the male doctors handling the case. Once we get over the knee-jerk reaction of saying "Castrate the predators" we have to ask our selves a few questions. What is the solution? What problem must it address?
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Nov 05, 2010 05:48am
As you see daily on TV channels, everyone blames each other and no one takes the responsibility for our social problems. Do you think "Angels" will come and solve our problems, I don't think so. I have experienced that power is in a relationship. Develop a positive and respectful relationship with each other in order to encourage those who really care about "Huqooq-ul-Ibad" and needs direction in our society. Develop a relationship in order to develop, implement and protect the laws by not allowing anyone surpass the law. Develop a relationship in order to eliminate injustices from all walks of our life and treat all human beings equally with dignity. Only and only relationship will compel our leaders to understand our problems, develop and enforce child abuse law in our society. You have to start from yourself by putting some efforts and forget about the future outcomes; leave the outcomes on the will of "Allah." Now a question arises, why I am too much focusing on children and a simple answer to this is that children are the most vulnerable members of our society. I hope my advice is not offensive to anyone who is reading this discussion and I hope this will bring all of us closer to one another in our ideas, thoughts and relationship.
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Oct 30, 2010 12:51am
Very well said. We need to organize on Muhallah level and form Neighbour hood Watch communities. It will difficult at first, but sooner people will see the power of Peoples strength and Evil will start to backoff.
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Oct 30, 2010 12:48am
This is what our older generation has made Pakistan into. Lets make a fresh beginning and get organize and educate the masses that a person who is raped, needs society's support other wise, one day their daughter, mother, sister or grand daughter will face the same fate. This is not what Pakistan we want it to become.
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Oct 29, 2010 11:18pm
Sana, keep it up. It is always better to say than to be silent and support the oppressors.
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Oct 29, 2010 06:37am
totally agree
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Oct 29, 2010 06:37am
Good write up. I wonder if access to all sort of informations through any kind of communication means need control in our society. I mean something like Parental Guide "PG". Can every TV program be watched by any age of person? OR do young age, immature kids really need high tech mobile phones?
Are parents spending enough time with children, educating them about goods & bads?. I remember visiting a remote, rural location of country, stopped by a poorly made, road side tea stall that did not have much in it but broken furniture, basic tea stuff, DISH & Color TV. The TV was playing any program with out any age or gender discrimination.
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Oct 29, 2010 02:25pm
Good job by a wonderful daughter of Islam; such heinous crimes have never been discussed by main frame media or Urdu press so that it can be brought to the attention of uneducated and uncivilized masses who claim to be Muslims. These so called Muslims have NO idea what Islam is all about. It is sad that not only our uneducated masses are involved in such crimes, even some of our so called secularly educated believe that an animal behavior or predatory sexual satisfaction is norm. I was invited to deliver a lecture at one of Pakistan
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Oct 29, 2010 08:27am
I will directly come up with solutions rather then adding to topic which lady summed up pretty well!!
we as a nation are growing mentally sick- we lack healthy activities!! all we want is to stay mum and numb and let few ppl do talking and acting on our T.V screen.
our creative minds are burried under frustration and lust!! and these frustrations surface one day in form of rapes, murders and injustice!! we need to grow as a nation, we need to appreciate our culture and tradition and then explore it. live it, enjoy it!!
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Oct 29, 2010 02:04pm
Well said.
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Oct 29, 2010 01:46pm
Yes I agree 100% david, waqar & humayun,
I never got the point when one says that it all came from West,
i passed few years in west for studies & frankly speaking i realized the real liberty, no sexual harassment, no fear while going out, in public places, in buses, etc
I used to work in nights for my lab experiments during studies, but here in our beloved Pakistan i could never imagine all values I enjoyed in west.
Then why we always blame, we must learn some ethics from them instaed of blaming.
I have no idea why westerns are so valued & cultural, having no thirst for even staring a girl,, & inverse in our society :(
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Oct 29, 2010 05:09pm
Sana,your column makes me sad.It is not more Islam,the answer.The answer is rule of law,enforcement.Both India and Pakistan suffer from less resorces more mouth to feed.The law enforcement was streached so much that it haS BROKEN DOWN.not breaking<it has broken down. There is no fear of punishment,justice delayed is justice denied.What is cure,I'm afraid ,NONE.Education,why?More people educated more unemployed,more frusteration,Am I not right?See,we were in hurry to replace one set of white tyrant with local ones,hence they are busy ammassing wealth,poor and helpless and woman be damned.Yes ,you will churn out a column once in a while,I will write a rebuttal across the space devide,you will go on to next priorty and nothing else would change,the cycle repeats,some will say more Islam,some will say more of the same,CARAVAN MARCHES ON.
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Oct 29, 2010 01:53pm
This is a serious issue and quite alarming one. It needs be tackled thoroughly. Good job Sana !
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Oct 29, 2010 02:00pm
This is response of a society which has become Sadist
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Oct 29, 2010 04:04pm
Well said, Sana Saleem. We protest about any real or imagined act of cruelty/insensitivity that occurs especially in Western countries but are completely silent when it comes to our own crimes. If anything, the protests should be bigger for these crimes that you mentioned because it is us, through our silence, that allow them to keep happening. We have the moral responsibility in this case to try make things better but we just don't care.
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Oct 29, 2010 07:47am
just posting figures won't change much.sana needs to do an article on the mentality of our society in which women are pigeon holed into narrow roles as a mother,sister or wife.Our society doesn't accept strong,independent women who earn their own money,don't beg their husbands,brothers or fathers for getting their things done.Our society objectifies women as sex objects primarily,only good for bearing their sons & following their husbands. when we stop attaching a family's honour to the physical chastity of its females,these rapists will have no power.
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Oct 29, 2010 01:31pm
May God Bless you, and His Mercy be with you and all the innocent girls, boys, women & in some cased men are the victim of this crazy society. I live in America, first I thought that it was just in the West that all these crimes takes place. But unfortunately, in our Muslim country, such as Pakistan. where these illiterate, ignorant, and ill hearted men go out, and commit these kind of crimes, it is a matter of shame. I always pray to Allah to have mercy on the victims, and punish these vulnerable criminals, who are involved in these dirty sex, rapes, etc. When I hear these kind of stories, it hurts, and I start to cry and ask Allah what is going on in this part of world.
May Allah shower His blessing on all of us.
Amen
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Oct 29, 2010 01:46pm
Alas somebody has found the guts to admit that what Sana has written has fallen on deaf ears. I agree that the nation is really busy on other matters.
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Oct 29, 2010 07:55am
The purpose of the peace is so we realize our problems rather than get demoralized and loose hope. Acceptance of the problem is the first step of fixing it. Again, a very well documented editorial, Sana I really like reading your work =)
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Oct 29, 2010 08:22am
i am ashamed and embarrassed on your behalf.
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Oct 29, 2010 12:07pm
i Read 1 of ur articles before as wel! about the atrocities of the policemen & other agencies in Pakistan itself!! realllyy appreciable!
MAY Allah bless you more! that you are enlightning such horrible & delicate issues in such a great way! without mishandling the facts! as Media does!!
Best wishes to you Sana Saleem!
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Oct 29, 2010 01:29pm
AOA.....
i agree with the aforementioned facts.....i think we will not get rid of this attrocity.....unless we act upon the principles of our religion........we are far away from our religion...resulting in such barbaric society
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Oct 29, 2010 07:43am
There is a high demand for improvement of judiciary system in our society. When the cases decided malafidely or justice will not be provide, then it become worse condition in society. The heinous crime will occurs.
The people feel free that they can do everything and did not be trial in any court. many examples in our society. But, much discussed no result there is need we start from ourselves for a better environment.
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Oct 29, 2010 07:06am
Things in Pakistan WILL have to change if it is to remain a country of millions of people. Articles such as this should be posted on our blogs and in the Urdu press, too. There should be one article each day in all the newspapers and a program each week on all channels that makes it impossible for people to ignore these things. The Government will need to start acting independently, not because some minister wants to be photographed offering his views to the victims or parents but because the Government needs to act swiftly and show its concern for this kind of crime.
Good work, Sana. Keep writing.
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Oct 29, 2010 07:31am
I think you are right, it is no more an Islamic Society. I am of the opinion that Muslim girls feel more secure to work and study in the UK.
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Nov 06, 2010 11:08am
thank god someone has written about it.the risng incidents & graph is getting higher .there is need to block all the pornography on the internet which can be easly done .why cant the govt take actoin..........please concern authorties get rational and stop human degradation...........please for godsakes do something............
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Oct 29, 2010 07:52am
Assalamo alaykum
I personally think lack of education and lost of our moral values have resulted this mess.
Everything has been taught in our religion, but since we have forget to read and practice it. One thing after another lead us to a situation that can we much below this or what.
More horrifying instance like such I remember when a father in Karachi I believe murdered her young daughters. I mean HOW, HOW ON EARTH we are living with a dead heart in a living soul. How long.
Until and unless we don't practice what Islam teaches us, we will continue to loss our sense of morality, dignity, honor and everything else.
Such big and great rights are bestowed upon us over neighbors, parent and elders. But we don't know or it's there at the back of the mind.
This simple thing if we take care of our neighbor as mentioned in Islam can change a lot of things. A small revolution to start, if we wanted to start it on our own. Take care of our family, make a simple life, take care of our immediate relatives and as many as possible our neighbors in terms of financial help, general help and otherwise.
Thanks for raising such issue, atleast today I can say after such a long time this dead heart started beating a little bit.
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Oct 29, 2010 11:50am
Hat off to you Ms Sana...........the way you discribed about these pathetic, heart cranching and extremly disgracefull actions and the ironic norms of our society is highly appreciated.......i am very much hopefull about the mental growth of our young generation and extremly optimistic about the well being of those mindless creeps and the black stigma of our society........GOD bless you all.
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Oct 29, 2010 03:15pm
Our priorities are indeed distorted. We get excited to hear if somewhere in the wold a small group of illiterate non-Muslim people call a bad name to the holy Quran but do not get excited when a small five-year-old girl is gang raped, killed then dumped in a sewer in our country, Pakistan. The press does not give publicity to the news of the atrocity, Police is reluctant to file a FIR and no processions or demonstrations are held in any place in the country. We have to think about it and notice as to what kind of people we are and what should be our priorities. It seems we like big, high visibility and highly emotional issues to get excited about. Once we find such an issue we get excited get out on streets in massive fury and perform some very destructive and irrational actions of burning tires, burning few cars and busses, breaking windows and destroying some property. There are always few clashes with the Police, the teargas is sprayed, people are arrested, some jailed and some demonstrators end up in our hospitals. However, we do not fail to demonstrate to the rest of the civilized World about our inability for a peaceful organized, non-destructive and dignified demonstration worthy of a civilized democracy we aspire to be. We also fail to pick up and demonstrate on real issues which, matter to us socially, economically and culturally. It is sad, very sad when we fail an innocent five year old girl who was raped, killed and dumped in a sewer and no one else cried or protested for her except her close relatives. I thank the author. Ms. Sana Saleem for writing on this subject effectively.
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Nov 02, 2010 05:49am
Number of rapes in USA doesn't justifies rapes in Pakistan
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Nov 03, 2010 12:34am
Unforunately Pakistan was created on the name of Islam, What we are as a nation today, someone's daughter/sister/mother is raped and majority of the people will say, This is not my problem, this did not happen to my family. we as a nation has lost our character, Character which was given us in the Book of Allah (Quran), which was demonstrated by Prophet Muhamad (PBUH). which was Carried and uphold with its absolute entirity by Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali (RTU). Today after reading such crimes, it only proves that we being a nation has gone to lowest level of moral, social and judicial values of Islam. Allah will not change the condition of nation, unless they want to change it. we will have to stand against every injustice regardless of gender/age of individual or groups. Destruction becomes the destiny of every nation, where justice is died. This is difficult but only path to remain alive with dignity or its a matter of time that destruction from Allah to fell upon us.
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Nov 02, 2010 07:39am
We are a shameless nation. We can gather in numbers in political rallies following the mob! Our so called mullahs carry strong protests on advertisements featuring women (particularly in northern areas) but I do not know a
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Nov 02, 2010 07:43am
The ugly face of our police as well.
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Nov 02, 2010 08:47am
Come on! Instead of rectifying our society we are comparing the statistics regarding unreported rape cases in the US? Our society is entirely different than theirs. Majority of the rape cases in the US happen during
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