Unless culprits are taken to task, violence against women will not be curbed. It is time to take some strict measures. You! takes a look…
Some two weeks ago, an ugly incident took place in Lahore which shocked everyone. It was appalling to learn that a Tiktoker girl was assaulted by a mob while she was filming a video near Minar-e-Pakistan on 14th August. This horrific incident has left everyone in dismay. Every now and then we read about cases of violence against women but this particular case has surpassed the rest. Imagine 400 men tossing a single helpless girl in the air, tearing her clothes and molesting her. How disgusting it was! One wonders what has happened to our nation. Do we have any morals or ethics left? How can we stoop so low? Why are we going backwards instead of going forward? Are our women safe in this society? What kind of message are we giving to the world?
These are very disturbing questions. The Minar-e-Pakistan incident has sparked a wave of anger and resentment across the country. Every law abiding and sensible citizen of this country demands justice. These ghastly incidents of violence against women should be stopped and this can only happen when the culprits get punished. Many celebrities took to Twitter to demand the higher ups to serve justice to the victim including Osman Khalid Butt, Farhan Saeed, Mansha Pasha, Mahira Khan, Imran Abbas and many others. “Another day, another incident, another moment we find ourselves collectively hanging our heads in shame. Action, not just condemnation. Bring the perpetrators to justice,” tweets Osman Khalid Butt. “Disgusted, Furious, Heartbroken, Ashamed! Ashamed of being a man today, ashamed that the men of this country keep doing these horrible acts every other day, ashamed that the law of my country does not hang these predators so that this doesn’t happen again,” tweets Farhan Saeed.
This week You! talks to members of the civil society in a bid to know why such incidents happen and what should be done to curb such heinous acts of violence against women.
“I think the 14th August incident is perhaps the most horrific incident that has taken place in connection with patriarchal violence in Pakistan. So many violent incidents have been happening in the last many months but the reason why I find this particular one the worst is because here it is not one man or two men or four men involved – here we see that there are hundreds of men involved and that is what is most terrifying! It reflects the collective mentality of the Pakistani male, how easily they can get into the barbaric and savage mob mode of behaving,” laments Sheema Kermani, a renowned human rights activist and founder of Tehrik-e-Niswaan.
“What kind of reaction it was, I fail to comprehend. Has our youth lost all moral veneer?” ponders Anis Haroon, a leading women rights activist. “They have no values to live and let others live,” she adds.
Anbreen Ajaib, a known women rights activist, sees this incident as an attempt to malign Pakistan’s image. “It has contributed to strengthen the international voices which propagate against Pakistan being a dangerous country for women.”
“This incident is yet another jarring example of how we have plummeted down in terms of ethics and morals. More than those who did it, I am appalled and shocked at the bystanders who saw all this happening and did nothing,” comments Farahnaz Zahidi, a writer and journalist.
According to Dr Rakhshinda, an activist and proponent of women rights and gender equality, this incident is a slap to civil society. “This incident is shameful and tragic. However, there is no dearth of such incidents where women (trans women included) not only felt unsafe but actually faced verbal and or physical abuse. I live in Islamabad and, years ago, while walking in a famous park I faced a threatening situation and had to run as fast as I could to reach my car,” shares Dr Rakhshinda.
Why violence against women has increased in recent years instead of the fact that we live in a modern, digital age? To answer this question, Naeem Sadiq, a ubiquitous social activist says, “We use neither any modern methods nor digital techniques. Our rating on E-Govt is 153rd in the world. Our ZARRA agency which was to be established as a result of 2020 Zainab Alert Act has still not been formed. Our appeals for a single 3-digit nationwide emergency Helpline have fallen on deaf ears. Leave aside violence against women or child abuse data, our 60 per cent children do not have a birth certificate or registration. So we handle each tragic event as an isolated case and make the same standard noises.”
Khalid Anam, a well-known actor and thinker, opines that living in a modern digital age is different than being modern and being savvy enough to get the right stuff from digital/social media. “Sorry to say majority has not learnt anything positive from all the technologies around. It's the same as an underage or an illiterate person driving a bus after getting the license through bribing. We have had air crashes costing lives at the hands of unqualified pilots. We have the technology but is anyone anywhere teaching people what to do with it? These kinds of people have a genetic disorder. We are a bunch of primitive Neanderthals. Having a smart phone doesn't make you smart,” notices Khalid.
Farahnaz is of the view that violence against women has always existed, but was not brought to the attention because of limited communication modes. Now, with the advent of social media and digital age, they are just more openly spoken about now – for instance mental illness, abuse, rape etc. “As for going forward, humans may have different tools now but have not really evolved as a species in terms of morals and ethics,” she observes.
Anbreen also supports Farahnaz’s argument. “Violence against women and girls was always there, the modern digital age has contributed in making it visible to the world. Now people report the cases, the media takes it up and talks about it, social media is helpful in projecting such cases and civil society is vibrant to take this up.”
Sheema makes a very pertinent point. “The youth looks towards their heroes, their role models and their leaders for directions. Here we see that unfortunately the heroes that the media shows are cruel and demean women, the role models that society creates are those men who have been accused of raping and harassing women and our leaders are the ones who constantly put the blame on the victims. So, given this situation it is only possible that the whole society instead of going forward will keep regressing and going back towards barbaric times.”
Agreeing with Sheema, Anis Haroon affirms, “We are regressing for quite some time. As an activist I feel Zia had done an unrepeatable damage. Powers are happy to continue with retrogressive policies. It suits their vested interest.”
While talking about the factors that are responsible for such shameless behaviour, Anis elucidates, “In a society where might is right; power comes through the barrel of a gun; religion is used for fooling and controlling people; when the whole edifice of a society is crippled; when there is ignorance and no moral values; what do you expect from masses? Of course, they behave in an absurd manner.”
“When religion is interpreted with patriarchal lens and a major proportion of culture, art, film, songs, literature and politics endorse misogyny and sexism such behaviours are the logical outcomes,” highlights Dr Rakhshinda.
Endorsing Rakhshinda’s thoughts, Sheema believes that it is the result of the kind of misogynist thinking that this generation of men has grown up with. “Since 1980 the ideas and values that have been inculcated by our education system and also by the media is much to be blamed and of course the most important factor is the imposition of obscure fundamentalist thinking which is totally male chauvinist.”
Khalid Anam strongly feels that bad upbringing, lack of education and deteriorating law and order situation are some of the factors that encourage criminals. “Everyone knows they can get away with blue murder. No one is punished here. Bails are granted left right and centre to all the criminals. What do you expect from a country who is in the top 5 of the ones browsing porn on social media? If shameful acts are committed in madrasas, mosques, seminaries and go unpunished so why would the common man not repeat it?”
According to Farahnaz Zahidi, the biggest factor that is responsible for such reckless behaviour is lack of answerability, whether it is because there is no rule of law, or because our faith in answerability in the Hereafter has dwindled. “Incident after incident shows that people get away with the most heinous crimes. It is also because religion is being put on the back burner. Those who claim to be religious focus more on apparent parts of religion but not on the moral and ethics religion teaches, and this is true for any gender.”
On the other hand, Naeem Sadiq emphasises that it is the responsibility of the state to ensure that people in public places behave in a manner that is not disruptive or harmful to others. “People behave because the countries design systems that ensure people behave in a certain manner. Rowdy and rich Pakistanis stand in a queue in USA, stop at a traffic light in UAE and do not bother a bikini-clad lady on a Dubai beach – not because they suddenly read books on civics, but because there are enough pointers, checks and balances in the system that ensure that this happens. Population, poverty, and misgovernance promote violence and abuse of all kind. Pakistan stands at the bottom of the world on these parameters. The elite is not willing to raise its voice on these issues,” he states.
“I strongly blame only one party; that is the state who is responsible to ensure protection of its citizens from all forms of violence,” stresses Anbreen. “If a mob attacks a woman, I don't blame the mob, I would rather blame the State and the government who has been nourishing this mob through promoting this sick mentality for years through manipulating the curriculum, restricting innovation opportunities for the youth, and promoting strict cultural barriers for girls and boys to develop healthy working relationships,” she elaborates.
– Anis Haroon
– Sheema Kermani
– Anbreen Ajaib
– Dr Rakhshinda
– Farahnaz Zahidi
– Khalid Anam
Erum Noor Muzaffar is the editor of You! magazine.
She can be contacted at iram29@hotmail.com
