Right under the Minar

It appears the investigation into the sickening assault on a woman at Minar-e-Pakistan on Independence Day is widening. While the final police report on the incident is still awaited, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has already ordered a committee to investigate whether the Parks & Horticulture Authority bears any responsibility for the catastrophic security failure. The Punjab Police chief has also ordered an internal inquiry into whether or not there was sufficient security at Greater Iqbal Park, whether the immediate police response was appropriate, and why it took three days for the police to register an FIR.

While a dozen or so alleged participants of the mob have already been arrested using footage and cell phone data, it remains to be seen how many of the speculated 400-plus man mob will actually be arrested and what they can realistically be charged with. Do they deserve exemplary punishment? Of course. But simply making examples of them is not going to stop such crimes. While the example may deter some potential criminals from committing such acts in the future, the mindset that leads to such crimes will remain. Fixing this mindset will require a cultural shift, which is something that we are unwilling to do. As the murder of Noor Mukadam showed, far too many men want to blame the victim and feel that any woman who dares to venture outside the four walls of their father or husband’s home is automatically inviting violence.

Some of these men are walking the halls of parliament. Others proselytise on TV news and talk shows every day, accusing women who venture into public spaces alone of being misguided or immoral. But such accusations only betray these men’s own immorality and perversion. The truth is that almost every woman who has been out in public in Pakistan, whatever they were wearing, has been subjected to catcalls and ‘eve-teasing’. Those who have ever made the mistake of trying to enjoy their favourite musicians at a concert, listen to their political leaders at a rally, or just go shopping in a busy market, will instead have left the event with the trauma of being groped, or worse.

Women have every right to be in public without being harassed, not because they are ‘someone’s sister’ or someone’s mother’, but because they are someone.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2021.

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