A desperate need for speedy and ruthless justice

As a nation we are impotent. We make up this deficiency by talking till cows come home, making promises we can't keep

So much has already been written about the murky abuse scandal which involved numerous children in Kasur, that all I can do, at this point, is to add my horror and disgust at an episode that shocked those members of the community who still care about the protection of women and children. The prime minister made the usual noises about the scandal and said that the culprits will be severely punished. But they never really are, are they?

The National Assembly, which apparently has the odd member with a jaded appetite who was probably titillated by the details as the report unfolded, decided to discuss the matter. This is exactly what I was afraid of — the infernal speeches by the extremists guarding their role as the assembly’s plenipotentiary high commissioners when it comes to morals, the speeches by the more liberal elements in the PPP, aware of the fact that they are in a minority, and the silent freeloaders who just listen, without the barest whisper or finger wag of criticism.

The Godfather sense of menace so far as punishment is concerned exists among members of the thinking public who are sick and tired of the fact that nothing is ever done to the criminals or recalcitrant policemen. They have suggested a variety of punishments ranging from castration to burning alive to using the good old sword, which was in commission before the discovery of gunpowder. This is a democracy and even an open and shut case has to be investigated. But people know that nothing will ever be done. What usually happens in a country like ours is that policemen get suspended, rarely dismissed. And when matters have cooled down and the public is faced by another disgraceful episode, some influential MNA or minister ensures that the senior policeman who is temporarily in Coventry is relocated and has a better posting.

As a nation we are impotent. And we make up for this deficiency by talking till the cows come home, by making promises we cannot keep. The latest bit of comedy that entered Vaudville in Islamabad is the resolution made by the president and the National Assembly of Pakistan that they would uphold and implement the principles and teachings of the Quaid-e-Azam.



On August 11, the Yahoo home page pointed out that an Asian girl had been raped for six hours by 30 men in Birmingham. Among the rapists were a father and his son, who was still wearing his school uniform. The actual nationality and racial profile of the rapists was not given. Just that both the rapists and the girl were of Asian ethnicity. A report delivered by Shaista Gohir MBE highlights the sexual exploitation and grooming of young Asian girls by Asian men that is happening in Birmingham. Sounds familiar? However, the point I want to make is that gang rape has been going on since Biblical days. Remember Rubens’ famous painting of The Rape of the Sabine women? CNN has a documentary, which points out that in the United States, the world’s second largest democracy, it is possible for a man to buy a female slave. Shocking isn’t it? Sexual predators are everywhere. Jordanian men, who have always carried the stereotype of impeccable manners and possessing sterling qualities, preyed on Syrian female refugees who had fled their war-torn country.

The difference between the Western democracies and the Asian variety, where influential families still wield a certain amount of influence, is that when the former want to catch the culprits, they catch them and the punishment is, at times, quite severe.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16^th, 2015.

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