Never forget

It took the sexual torture of 280 children, and 400 video clips of the acts committed on them and which they were themselves forced to commit, to awaken our conscience about the perils faced by children in our society. Now that the story from Hussain Khanwala village in the district of Kasur has become widely known, we see some action finally being taken, years after the series of abusive events began.



The Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court, Justice Manzoor Ahmed, has sought the report of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) set up by the chief minister to probe the incident. Meanwhile, seven more suspects have been presented in an anti-terrorism court on physical remand, raising the total number of those being held to around a dozen. Naturally, anger runs high among villagers and the provincial police chief, who was sent on a visit to the area by the chief minister, had his car surrounded and pelted with stones before he was able to take shelter in a public school building and escape the wrath of the victims’ families. About half a dozen policemen have been suspended for their failure to act in the matter or their collusion with the accused and this process seems to be continuing.

What is most important is that we never forget what happened at Kasur. Our memories tend to be short; today, even the massacre at the Army Public School in Peshawar in December last year seems like a distant memory. The most important step to be taken is to ensure there can never be a repetition of such an incident that has already taken place. In the National Assembly, Federal Minister for Information Pervaiz Rasheed has stated the government is in the process of tabling laws to better guard the rights of children. A National Child Protection Commission is one suggestion as well as amendments to criminal procedure laws. The unfortunate aspect is that we have failed to implement the laws already in place to protect children. What happened at Kasur is an eye-opener and reminds us that we simply cannot afford to fail again. The government and society at large must take every possible step to ensure this.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th,  2015.

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