Deplorable…..Pakistan’s Punjab province has ‘declared an emergency’ against increasing number of rapes and abuse against women and children. Four to five rape cases are being reported in Punjab Province alone everyday. It is not only Pakistan’s Punjab but violence against women is widely reported all over Pakistan every day.
Imposition of emergency against rapes in Pakistan’s Punjab is unprecedented in history of the world but is not a surprise. The abhorrent incident of hundreds of men collectively molesting a female Tik-Toker in Lahore’s Iqbal Park on 14 Aug 2021 is still haunts everyone. The perpetrators filmed the shameful incident on their phones and no one came for help.
Not only inside Pakistan, its citizens bring significant ignominy for their misogynist and pervert actions abroad too.
In Turkey, a movement called “Pervert Pakistanis” / “PAkistanis Get Out” has caught up following a number of incidents of stalking, filming and harassing of Turkish women by Pakistani men. There is an outrage in print, visual and social media against Pakistanis in Turkey. Turkey, a friend of Pakistan where children sang “Jiwe Jiwe Pakistan” is now shouting “Pakistanis Get Out.” Why did Pakistani men do what they did in Turkey has been examined in Pakistan too. Many blame it on the rudimentary, regressive and backward type of thinking prevailing in Pakistani society where misogyny gets exacerbated by the retrogressive education system. In addition, successive governments toed the line of powerful Mullah lobby and kept education system rudimentary and women suppressed. Resultantly, women rights never flourished and male chauvinism kept growing. In Global Gender Gap Index 2021 rankings, Pakistan ranks 153 out of 156 countries. Natural opening up of a society also could not happen leading to rise of predatory mentality of the male dominant segment. When men of such skewed, backward, primitive and misogynist society go abroad and see modern culture, their sexual frustration, moral corruption and lecherous subconscious mindset comes into action.
Mr Sheikh Rashid recently brought out on TV that Pakistani image in the world is pathetic. Pakistanis are denied seats in international airlines even when they are available. Pakistanis have to humiliatingly wait for long time for clearances on airports abroad. Every Pakistani is treated like terrorist during checks by security officials. In 2018, Pakistani actress Ms Saba Qamar cried on television, while bringing out that Pakistanis face utter indignity for being Pakistani on foreign airports. She brought out that Pakistanis have no respect abroad.
While Pakistani government sponsors terrorism in neighbourhood and abroad as a state policy, its citizens face disgrace abroad. Pakistanis are looked down upon due to the state sponsoring of terrorism by Pakistan. Pakistanis run restaurants with Indian names so that they can get customers. They find it difficult to get homes on rent. They face verbal abuses in offices, schools and public. They become a butt of jokes on the social media.
The predatory tendencies of Pakistanis also have a foot print in Kashmir Valley. Exploitation of women by Pakistani terrorists in Kashmir often gets unreported but is gradually surfacing as things are normalising. In Feb 2022, The Diplomat Magazine published a detailed article named “Rape and Silence in Kashmir’s Jihad - Kashmiri women drop the veil on years of systematic rape and abuse by islamist militants in the kashmir valley.” The article has testimonies of sexually abused victims in the hands of terrorists. There were sections within the society in nineties that even encouraged women to provide bodily pleasures to the so called mujahids (terrorists). Such cases happen even today but are unreported due to fear. The intelligentsia, separatists, social media warriors and politicians in Kashmir do not talk about these cases but when it comes to kindling the fires of allegations and rumours, they work overtime. Sadly, no non-government organisation or social group dares to touch the issue of oppression of women by terrorists. There are organisations that have the gall to throw acid on women not dressed as per religious rules but they do not raise their voice against sickening injustice meted out to Kashmiri women by terrorists.
Progressive education system, adoption of modern democratic values and gender equality are essential for any country to progress. However, in Pakistan, the hope for this transition is bleak because the country is at a precarious economic and political juncture and any Government will have to toe the line of Mullahs and Military to stay in power. The doom of Pakistan was written on 14 Aug 1947 when it came into being based on flawed two nation theory and ambitions of one leader....when disparate groups of people were made part of a nation based on religion. Since the birth was unnatural, Pakistan will keep getting punished for that one moment when it came into being.
ye jabr bhī dekhā hai tārīḳh kī nazroñ ne
lamhoñ ne ḳhatā kī thī sadiyoñ ne sazā paa.ī