I would like to request the media to refrain from telling the public about such pointless and absurd statements
LAHORE: The news of the horrible child abuse being carried out in Kasur is nothing short of a disaster. It is a large-scale national tragedy, which has affected hundreds of children and families and should be treated as such instead of being downplayed for being an isolated and insignificant incident. However, that is exactly what some politicians are trying to do and this is nothing short of disgusting. Recently, in the 9pm headline news, I saw a statement by PML-N parliamentarian Talal Chaudhry. Since his government has rightly been blamed for not being able to stop this, he has taken a defensive approach and said that these incidents happen in all provinces — in an attempt to downplay the impact of the tragedy. Needless to say, there are various problems with his statement. First, his party is in power at the centre and it has been there for over two years. If his claim of such incidents taking place regularly in all provinces is, indeed, true, there is no one else in a better position to control these than his party. If he feels that making such statements will make people forget the Kasur tragedy and start focusing on other provinces, then he is wrong and it is nothing more than a cheap attempt to deflect attention from the tragedy and from his own party.
Moreover, even if such incidents happen in all provinces, is that some sort of justification or an attempt to play down the scale of the tragedy in Kasur? Words cannot do justice to describe the sorrow and pain that the victims and their families must be going through. Such irresponsible statements will do nothing, but enrage them further. Instead, an apology should be issued and a promise made to catch the perpetrators. If these things cannot be done, then the best option is to stay quiet. Saying things like such incidents happen frequently, serves no purpose whatsoever and should be avoided at all costs. As an end note, I would like to request the media to refrain from telling the public about such pointless and absurd statements. The fact that such statements are given so much importance by being featured in the headlines, speaks volumes about the irresponsible manner in which our media works. The bulletin would have been just as complete without the inclusion of this statement.
Taha Abdus Samad
Published in The Express Tribune, August 15th, 2015.
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