Fatal lesson

The eight-year-old child beaten to death by a cleric at his madressah-plus-tuition centre in Karachi will never benefit from the lessons that he was sent to learn. His tortured body, marked with multiple wounds suggests that he had been beaten over and over again. The practice is not uncommon at seminaries, tuition centres or schools, despite the fact that corporal punishment is illegal in the country. Perhaps the true tragedy also is that the case has been virtually forgotten only four days after the boy was buried. Unfortunately, while Sindh passed a stringent child protection law last year, banning corporal punishment at schools and workplaces among other offenses, the beating of children remains a compoundable crime. This means that parents or other guardians can claim blood money for the death or voluntarily forgiver the killer. Fortunately, in this case the police have moved ahead and registered a case against the perpetrator, who is currently in detention awaiting trial.

The problem of attitude and approach is a flawed one. Many adults in the country still believe it is necessary to beat children in order to make them learn. We need a mass campaign to raise awareness about the dangers inherent in this notion so that children can be safe at their schools, seminaries and tuition centres. Training for teachers, including the clerics who impart Quranic education, is a must. The lack of attention given to the education sector over the years is one of the reasons for our failure to develop pedagogy and ensure that teachers are equipped with the knowledge and technique required to truly enlighten children and add value to their lives rather than snatch life away from them. The tragedy that occurred in Karachi has taken place over and over again in our country. In 2016, we heard about the young child left bedridden and paralysed after being physically abused at the Cadet College he attended in Larkana. The child mercifully received help to obtain treatment overseas, though the emotional scars will remain forever. Many others receive no such assistance. There are cases dotted across newspapers of children so badly beaten that they are disabled for life. The poor are of course the main victims, unable to fight back or go for expensive court cases or even to voice their grief. Implementation of laws is crucial to their success. The loopholes which prevent that need to examined and amended, alongside developing a campaign which makes all the stakeholders aware that physical violence in the learning environment is a heinous crime.