I can visualize a little innocent girl writhing in pain, screaming, making twisting movements like a landed trout. I hear her piercing cries. I can’t sleep. Everything I eat tastes bad. I struggle to find words to express my pain but I find nothing. Zainab, I am sorry, I am helpless!!!!!!!!! Just a few days ago, an angelic faced Little seven-year old Zainab was ruthlessly raped multiple times, sodomized and brutally killed by strangulation in Kasur district of Pakistan. Then the dead body was dumped under the heaps of trash behind a Bus stand. This horrible tragedy has raised many questions which demand answers from everyone who is anyone in our society. We know blazes are waiting in the hereafter for such brutes whose hands are imbrued with the blood of such victims but we also necessarily need to think about the prevention of such heinous crimes because they are not unusual now. It is said that Zainab Ansari was on her way to Quran recital when she was kidnapped. Her rape and murder incited outrage in Kasur, Punjab and simultaneously this brutal incident sparked widespread voilent protests across the Pakistan in which two people lost their lives in police firing and scores injured. The CCTV camera coverage showed Zainab led away by an unknown man on her way home from a Quran class. Her parents had gone Mecca to perform Umarah and Zainab was with her aunt in Pakistan. This is not the first case, many such cases are reported there when little girls went missing and later their bodies recovered from abandoned places. All the victims were between the age of five and eight. Such incident is not unique in its nature and has not happened in Pakistan only, but similar types of brutal incidents occur more often in India also. Unfortunately, nothing serious and concrete is done to stop such brutalities. We have seen this type of horrifying crimes committed here also. So nothing new in Kashmir. Every sensitive soul needs to think seriously over the causes which are responsible for such dreadful events. Allah says in holy Quran:You who believe! Enter perfectly in Islam (by obeying all the rules and regulations of the Islamic religion) and follow not the footsteps of Shaitan (Satan). Verily! He is to you a plain enemy. (2:208) “Magr asy che doun krhawan peth rozith”. We behave like a cat on dog’s birthday party. Ironically, we are on one side fulminating against these incidents but on the other side observing all those obscenities which provide impetus to the vulnerability of women, the incongruity can be seen as an example of human hypocrisy. Hazrat Sheikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani (RehmatullAllah e Alihe) said, if any one of Islamic laws (God’s immutable divine laws) is breached then know it ‘Fitna’ entangled you and Evil plays with you. (Means you are put to trial/test). You must immediately resort to Shariah and cling to it. Repel your unlawful desires because anything which Shariah does not approve is false (Baatil). As I said in the foregoing lines that: “Asy che doun krhawan peth rozith, gara hour te gara yor!” Running with the heir and hunting with the hound. On one side we claim to be Muslims and on other side we cling to Western culture. We need to readjust our conceptual lenses. Niether we adopt the complete Islamic code of conduct as per the demands of Islam nor we completely follow the model offered by the West. As a consequence, we are hanging in the balance. We pretend to be Muslims and having virtuous character and religious beliefs while in real sense we practically do all the nonsense and immoral activities which absolutely clash with what we pretend to be. This is purely the contrivance of a false appearance of virtue or goodness and concealing real character or inclinations. In the literal terminology this very type of character is the precise definition of hypocrisy.Success lies in holding the sword of Towhid with one hand and the dragger of Shariah with another and stay alert at the door of our heart and guard it so that nothing besides Allah goes inside. Sex is a biological need. On the onset of puberty this biological urge bothers and troubles a person and he or she seeks satisfaction of his sexual needs which we call sexual drive. So either arrange the marriage as soon as the boy or girl is grown up as per the requisites of Shariah or toe the line of West and impart the sex education from 8th class on the pattern as is in vogue in Western countries. (And if you have crossed all the limits of immodesty) then better to educate them about safe sex also when mutually consented (as West is doing it). Either make ‘Nikah’ simple as envisaged in Islamic code, stop extravagant wedding functions and fulfil sexual urge in lawful ways or go in Western way and allow grown up boys and girls to share room mutually (what has become the custom and regular dealing in Western countries. There sex is deemed just an act to quench a thirst for lust); in that case better to erase the word like ‘bastard’ and ‘illegitimate’ from your dictionaries because that kind of “offsprings” are natural outcome from such “cultural privilege” and enjoyment. What an irony, not parents but the media has taken the role to educate and train our children. Whether a silken dressed magnate or a ragged beggar, a man or woman, a sinful or a monk, all are holding a mobile in their hands where they are free to watch any damn porn clips and exciting pictures. Males and females sit together in colleges and universities, and both “Career conscious” men and women do not marry until they cross thirties. So when a guy or gale starts sensing mutual attraction they often cross the “limit”. We shut our eyes towards these damn realities and expect moral miracles from the society. Perhaps, we think some type of Santa will come and protect our old and young from all evils and purge impurities from our society?We devalued our Islamic scholars and religious minded people, as a consequence, little is left there to warn and terrify us from the torment and wrath of God. We deem Islamic punishments inhuman while lack the deterrent penalties to stop crimes. So what we face or experience cannot be termed not unexpected. Not long ago, I read a report about a similar incident that happened in Iran. I reproduce it here, may be there is some lesson in it for us: “Atena Aslani, a seven-year-old Iranian girl went missing in June 2017 after walking away from her father. Her disappearance prompted concern among Iranian’s. It started debate and rage among the people who eagerly were waiting to know where she had gone. The police managed to get their hands on the culprit, a 42-year-old man who raped and murdered the girl. The execution of the culprit was shown in a video broadcast on state-controlled TV in September 20, 2017. Several thousand people, including women and children watched him hanging live and on their television sets. Why was he hanged? The authorities could have jailed him for life or served him with any other punishment. Was his execution necessary? Yes it was! It was crucial to restore citizens’ sense of security and relieve their troubled minds. Trouble they had thinking where that little girl had gone, what could have happened to her, why isn’t she home yet? Trouble they had thinking the state had failed in providing them security and that their little angels aren’t safe outside. The execution of the girl’s rapist and murderer was the best decision that restored people’s sense of security. People took a sigh of relief as they realised their toddlers were being taken care of. They knew no one would ever bat an eye on their children because they wouldn’t want to lose their life if caught”. Just condemnations do not serve any purpose. We have to rise above from our personal interests to safeguard the interests of our society and endeavour to moralize the immoral society. Yes, everyone who is anyone of our society has to play a role for it. I have a suggestion for parents to meticulously plan the future of their children in accordance with the Shariah and check their activities intelligently. In spite of being instinctively conscious about the sensation of good and bad touching they must be taught what parts of the body not be allowed to touch by anyone especially the hip, the chest, the thighs and other sensitive parts. Admonish the people who cup the faces of kids or pinch their cheeks or rub them. He who does it, motion him sternly to desist from such unethical actions. Train your children in self-defense and ask respective school authorities to arrange trainings in this regard. Children need to be given some necessary sex education, but that must be entirety different from what is imparted in America and Europe. There sex education means the lessons of sexual intimacy and copulation, which, of course, manifest in serious repercussions. Proper dressing too plays a vital role in the safety of children while seductive dressing stimulates the opposite sex. I don’t believe in evolutionary science, but it sounds interesting and to some extent relevant too, that the two prominent scientists of evolutionary science named Palmer and Thornhill said, man is born rapist. An American researcher commenting on this theory of these scientists says:“That rape is “a natural, biological phenomenon,” Thornhill and Palmer emphasize, does not mean that it is justified or inevitable. But to be effective, preventive measures must take into account rape’s evolutionary roots. Young men should be taught “to restrain their sexual behavior.” Young women should be told the truth: “that sexual attractiveness does . . . influence rapists,” that provocative dress “can put them at risk,” and that they should be careful about being alone with men. “As scientists who would like to see rape eradicated,” say the authors, “we sincerely hope that truth will prevail” over the “politically constructed” notions about rape now in vogue”. In the foregoing paras I have offered you some suggestions, it is now up to you whether to pick them up or kick them up?I can take a horse to water but cannot make him to drink.
Nazir Jahangir is a Freelance Writer and columnist
