A while ago I read a heart-rending report in an online newspaper that a 12 year old girl had been raped and then burnt to death in the south of the country.
In the past few years we have seen people being slaughtered and their heads used as footballs, bodies being blown apart, and now the latest is burning people. If we take a look at the past, this is one of the oldest crimes. It was mostly done to women who did not bring dowry or were a ‘burden’ on the family. From there on we have had cases of women being burnt with acid because they went out without a niqab, refused to marry someone, or due to some family enmity.
Unfortunately in recent times, burning has happened for different reasons altogether. And these reasons have gone a step further – like instances of people being jailed on charges of blasphemy and then being pulled out of their cells to be burnt alive.
ISIS burning a Jordanian pilot; a girl who was raped burning herself in front of the police station after failing to find justice; a couple thrown in a brick kiln for allegedly desecrating the Quran; Christians burning two Muslims after blasts on Churches in Lahore; an afghan woman burnt recently in Kabul after being stoned and now a 12 year old child raped and then burnt to death.
I don’t know how many more stories of such crimes exist in the world today. Each one of them has a gory tale to tell. But what hurts me most is how people pick and choose events to record their protests or highlight an issue.
When the victim is from the minority, human rights groups pick these cases and highlight it on social, national and international media. While those who are from the ‘mainstream’ never care and on the contrary complain that these groups malign Pakistan with hidden agendas. And in cases where the majority starts highlighting an issue and those very human rights advocates start putting up excuses for not supporting or start citing reasons for shying away from it.
One of the best examples for me is that of Sharmeen Obaid Chinoye. After her documentary rose to the limelight with the Oscar triumph many people said she was working on a foreign agenda. Why is that so? When will we realize that everyone’s life is important? The fact that these events happen away from your eyes does not mean that they don’t happen. Even if there is one case, why should it not be talked about? Who gave anyone the right to destroy one’s face, appearance or life?
When the Christian couple was burnt alive no one took a stand for them apart from the human right activists; but when the Christians burnt two people after the blast in Youhanabad, we saw severe backlash from all quarters. There were people who wanted to kill those who were guilty. Then there were those who endorsed what happened to the Christians. And if this was not enough there were those who said we will attack their worship places in retaliation.
Even though international events are not directly related to Pakistan but if we can feel for Palestinians, Kashmiris, Charlie Hebdo and 9/11 why can we not feel for the woman who was burnt in Afghanistan?
Do we even realize the seriousness of these issues? What are we leaving behind for the future generations?
This child was raped because someone could not control their hormones and possessed a sick mind. But what made them burn her is beyond my understanding. But the majority will be silent, may be the tweeting brigade will tweet and retweet it and that would be the end.
As it is not as much fun as Army bashing here they would have to ask their democracy to provide her justice, which it can’t unfortunately. She is not Afia Siddiqui, the ‘daughter of the nation’ nor is she Benazir.
She is just an ordinary girl who we don’t know. She does not have a beard as those Muslims who were lynched. She was raped and then burnt for being a girl and helping her mother earn a living.