Pakistan continues to fail its children, in many ways than one. Consider the dilapidated condition of government schools, the dropping enrollment numbers, the increase in child laborers across residential and commercial areas both. Sounds pretty bleak doesn’t it?
Its one thing that these poor kids have to grow up with no promise of a better future. If that wasn’t bad enough, these children are subjected to all sorts of physical and mental torture, be it in their homes, places of worship, at factories, and just about anywhere. How does one recover from a trauma that has no end?
Recently, a clip went viral over social media, which shows some kids in a mosque being abused by a maulvi (preacher).
Note: Viewer discretion is advised as some may find the following clip disturbing to watch.
https://twitter.com/MRaffaeV/status/1073519257550577665
What we just saw is a wanton display of sadism being dressed up as ‘disciplining kids.’ What sort of lesson are you hoping to impart to children where an authority figure threatens to kill someone? That all problems can be solved with violence ala Khadim Rizvi-style?
These children will end up growing with a pretty poor opinion of themselves all their lives, making them ripe for being exploited by others. If ‘disciplining’ children looks like this, then we shudder to think what outright punishment looks like in this case.
According to UNICEF, 35 percent of Pakistan’s population consists of children under the age of 14 and an estimated 3.6 million work predominantly in hazardous and exploitative conditions
And you know what the sad thing is? These abused children grow up to become serial abusers themselves. All the violence that has been meted out to them, it becomes an ugly part of them. Unfortunately, this seems to be going unchecked here in Pakistan, with no social safety or welfare network at either government or private levels.
All of us remember what happened to poor Zainab. All of us also remember what happened to poor Tayaba. All of us even remember dear old Kinza as well as Shazia Masih. And these are just a few of the known cases. Imagine how many of such cases go unreported in our society.
Some high-profile cases of child abuse in Pakistan
- Zainab, 7, was raped and brutally killed in Kasur, with her body being found in a garbage dump days later. Her murderer was caught after a DNA test and was put to death.
- Shazia Masih, 10, was tortured by her employer who worked for the President of Lahore Bar Association. She suffered 17 injuries throughout her body and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
- Tayaba, 10, was battered, bruised and bloodied by a district sessions judge and his wife at their home where she worked as a maid. She was lucky than most as she escaped and her case went viral. The couple went to jail for a limited time, and now roam free.
- Kinza, 11, was employed as a servant at a house belonging to an Army major and her husband in Chaklala. She regularly underwent torture, prompting her to escape to a nearby neighor’s house. Her injuries and ordeal was filmed by a conscientious citizen and she remains safe now.
Pakistan is home to 1.5 million street children, 90pc of whom have been abused as per Sahil, an NGO that works for uplifting street children.
Coming back to the recent incident at a mosque in Hyderabad, it seems that the culprit has been arrested by the Sindh Police. It remains to be seen if this is the end of this case.
As per @sindhpolicedmc he has been arrested https://t.co/FiciGQJrXU
— Zarrar Khuhro (@ZarrarKhuhro) December 14, 2018
The Holy Prophet (PBUH) himself did not raise his hand on children. His kindness and restraint ought to be an example but sadly its not the case here.
Perhaps one day, people here can understand the crucial difference between disciplining their children and outright violence. One can only hope this day comes soon.
