Members of the Shura Hamdard Karachi have unanimously called for swift action against those who were involved in a sexual assault against a woman at the Minar-e-Pakistan, Lahore.
The demand was made at a monthly meeting of the Shura Hamdard held online on Wednesday. According to a statement, the online talk was titled “Rise in Assaults Against Women, Causes and Prevention”. It was presided over by Justice (retd) Haziq-ul-Khairi. He and Mrs. Sadia Rashid, president of Shura Hamdard, attended the meeting from Hamdard’s corporate head office.
The guest speaker, prominent social worker Nargis Wahab Rehman, said: “The sudden rise in physical assaults against women in Pakistan raises serious questions about the sanctity of our society. These violent incidents indicate a serious problem of a patriarchal mindset which has been prevalent in the country for many years.
“Pakistan is among the lowest scoring countries in the world when it comes to talk about Women Development Index. The tragedy of Minar-e-Pakistan has exposed the true state of affairs of our society. The police must be held accountable as to why they failed to protect that girl in time.”
Anwar Siddiqui said: “It is time to admit that our society is ill. We have to find the root cause of this misogyny and take concrete steps, including swift justice, women empowerment and strict law enforcement. The fear of law is now needed more than ever.”
Shamim Kazmi said: “This is a dangerous trend that women suffer physical assaults in public now. The criminal mindset backed by ignorance and illiteracy has made it more difficult for anyone to challenge this wrong narrative against women.
“The government must enforce capital punishment regardless of possible repercussion and international reactions. It is irony that despite having most of the culprits on video, police have so far failed to apprehend them all. Speedy justice is the only solution to prevent such incidents from happening in the future.”
Tanveer Khalid said: “The honourable Supreme Court should take suo moto notice of the Minar-e-Pakistan case. The government should introduce various initiatives to empower women on all levels. Booklets on women’s rights should be distributed to the general public to create awareness.”
Haziq-ul-Khairi asked why people were indifferent towards these horrific crimes. Dr Rizwana Ansari said victim-blaming was one of the reasons for the rise of crimes against women in the country. Col (reted) Mukhtar Butt, Prof Muhammad Rafi, Zafar Iqbal and Justice (retd) Zia Pervez also spoke.
Source: The News
