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Rights of minors is not a ‘minor’ issue

The number of attacks on women and children has increased in Pakistan. With no one charged or sentenced to death or hanged there is no deterrent to these crimes. The gang rape of a 5 year old girl in Lahore and many more such crimes has baffled the country. Complete inhumanity was displayed when the futile search for the perpetrators of the rape began. The criminals had been caught on CCTV , with a sketch in hand of a man sporting a moustache, bereft of modern investigatory resources and inadequate training and a corrupt judiciary, the police set out on a mission to apprehend the guilty and ended up with a string of faulty arrests! And the only moral backing they get is from hoards of human rights committees and demonstrators practically screaming down their throats demanding justice.

The trail had gone cold when a man, detained for possession of a weapon, confessed to the rape. Had he not confessed the police would still be wandering round in circles. But who is to say that the alleged offender will be brought to justice or even if he were, will act as a deterrent for others from engaging in such heinous crimes? Maybe not, because the law itself is not streamlined enough to hinder such crimes. The National Assembly has yet to pass pending bills for the protection of minors. These include the Child Protection (Criminal Law Amendment) Bill 2009, the National Commission on the Rights of the Child Bill 2009, the Charter of Child Rights Bill 2009, the Prohibition of Corporal Punishment, the Child Marriages Restraint (Amendment) Bill 2009 and National Immunization Bill 2009. One wonders why there is so much delay in protecting our children while bills that suit the elite are passed at 3am (middle of the night) to connivance the rich?

The State should take responsibility for what is happening in the country, statements of “taking notice” are not sufficient anymore, we the common man want results and changes! The state must dedicate resources to the police to come up to the rest of the world which is using forensics and fingerprint , our NADRA data base needs to be completed and all Pakistanis must have an NIC card and their information should be available otherwise finding criminals becomes impossible.

Once a criminal, such as a rapist or terrorist is caught the legislation should move quickly to sentence them and hang them publicly! We need the above bills passed urgently to safe guard our children. The rulers have made sure that their children are safe but the common man has no safety or justice provided. The Sharif brothers should take action before this becomes an avalanche and roles down their government which has already broken all promises made. Justice must prevail or all will be lost!

MOBEEN IMRAN SHAH,
United Kingdom

The Nation