Malik M Aslam Awan
ARE we rapidly returning to Stone Age that there is not a single day in our civilized life when our ears don’t hear a heart rendering crime of child abuse, gang rape or the cruel and gruesome murder of a minor girl after rape. Print and electronic media day and night clamour about the gravity of alarming situation of rape attempts and the ever rising number of victims of heinous crime. We try to forget the ultimate fate of Quom-e-Loot, who in toto were grossly indulged in the most maligned crime, even the day of punishment came and the angels of Allah Almighty revealed themselves to the Prophet Hazrat Loot (AS) and delivered him the message of God Almighty that the day of punishment has come with the Divine will. Hazrat Loot (AS) weresked by the angels to quit his home. The pious angels erased that city with their wings and took that slice of land to immeasurable heights and threw that back to earth, in moments the whole nation of Loot (AS) perished from living souls to none entity. It is a pre-destined nature and habit of the criminals that they pay a deaf ear to warnings, even severity of punishment.
We feel proud enough living in a progressive and civilized society, but amazingly we are losing etiquettes, norms, principles and above all Divine injunctions to refrain from the heinous crimes which completely annihilate the walls of civilized living and the society, as a whole, become vulnerable to crimes and criminal’s assaults. Why criminals do not harbour fear of severe punishment, is mainly due to the prevalent speculation in general public that they will purchase law and law enforcing agencies and the crime will be deleted after passage of short span of time. They are somewhat justified in their perverse thinking that the law and law enforcers are purchasable, but they certainly forget the glazing fact that the police department is not completely shorn of diligent, efficient, hardworking, honest, patriotic officers. Certainly there exist a large number of police officials who facilitate the criminals in lieu of cumbersome gratification but it is unbelievable that justice is loosing efficacy and ground to have stringent grip on the neck of criminals. Despite all pitfalls, loopholes, drawbacks and vacuums in efficacy of law, justice system is not so helpless, so long as glowing stars of police service are hell-bent active to curb crimes and criminals. People know a lot of police officers who endeavour hard to eliminate crimes from civic structure and their existence in police service is a sliver lining in the gloomy atmosphere of looming large crimes of child abuse and gang rape. The purpose and mission of a police officer must be to curb crimes but, above all, of it should be so friendly with the masses, that people may shed the fears that police always misbehaves with the victims. For police officer common helpless citizens are just like his own children. His compassionate behaviour might encourage and develop friendly, cordial relationship amongst police and masses. Although Police is at frontline in battle with criminals, yet masses provide backing power to the police in their struggle against crimes.
Those police officials involved in facilitating the criminals after commission of crime must be dealt an with iron hand having stringent clutch of law on their neck. State as well as Police authorities are expected to hold public seminars to develop confidence between Police force and public. Public backing is the highest need of the hour for police force. Police force is from amongst society and society is duty bound to intimate higher echelon, where their direction is in the negative. People are often right when they complain that Police officials exercise misuse of official powers. To stall misuse of powers Police Order 2002 has been promulgated but it is rare to note that Police Order Section 155C is amply exercised. Those at the helm of affairs are incumbent to ruminate over this grave issue. It would be a grave injustice to ignore the worthy comments of Kishwar Naheed, a famous poet and social activist, that TikTok’s shattering trends have made our progeny to dream like “Arzoo” of Sindh who at the age of 14 years claims to be of 18 years and yearns to let her go with her spouse. She rightly declared that this is due to deadly effect of TikTok, third class drama’s being displayed on TV screens. She further enumerates: Patras cried to rescue him from his friends but I say not only me, save the whole country from media. Orea Maqbool Jan a well-informed intellectual and former bureaucrate expressed himself: that this is the dilemma not of a single family or person but that of the whole community. Elder ones of family shed tears at nights enveloping their mouths in cushions and do not speak a single word due to fears of being ridiculed and defamed in society.
Last but most potent factor is the ill-gotten money, on whose dint the ill-educated girls, having derived perverse way of living from abroad demand unbridled freedom to satiate their polluted whimsical motives. Society is losing the norms of equity and justice and the motto to earn short-lived name and popularity is defaming and black painting the Muslim society and homeland, which is the sole country created and built on Islamic ideology. Islamic values are our endeared asset and we will have to make hectic efforts to make it safe from the assaults of perverted progeny, promoting ill-bred culture and faith. In the stone age savages led naked life and were shorn of shame and principled living, norms and equity. Savages never cared what they do is right or wrong. They copulated with each other like animals, they had no motto of their life, nor they were aware of the day, when they would stand answerable before the Creator of the Universe, Who will give rewards for good deeds and punish for misdeeds. Are modern trends – of ill-bred progeny – making the civilized society to return to Stone Age?
—The writer is a freelance columnist and independent analyst based in Lahore.
