Allegations of sexual abuse of a child by a nationally known religious leader in a madrassa are now hotly debated in Pakistan. The incident raises the question of why sexual abuse occurs in the South Asian country's madrassas, and why the incidents are not brought to justice.
The latest incident took place in the eastern city of Lahore, Pakistan, Mufti Azizur Rahman, leader of Jamiatul Ulema Islam, was accused of sexually harassing a teenager named Sabir Shah. Sabir told Deutsche Welle that Mufti Azizur Rahman, leader of Jamiatul Ulema Islam, an organization of Islamic educators in Pakistan, had been sexually abusing him for more than a year.
The latest incident took place in the eastern city of Lahore, Pakistan, Mufti Azizur Rahman, leader of Jamiatul Ulema Islam, was accused of sexually harassing a teenager named Sabir Shah. Sabir told Deutsche Welle that Mufti Azizur Rahman, leader of Jamiatul Ulema Islam, an organization of Islamic educators in Pakistan, had been sexually abusing him for more than a year.
Such incidents are not new in Pakistan. A video of a Shia cleric sexually harassing a minor has surfaced on social media following allegations against Mufti Aziz. Many still remember the news of a nine-year-old boy being raped by a Maulana in Pak Pattan in 2017. Allegations that a madrassa teacher in Lahore sexually abused a child in 2018 and a 13-year-old girl with a disability in Multan in 2019 also sparked a backlash.
{tocify} $title={Table of Contents}The child's weakness ...
The total number of registered and unregistered madrasas in Pakistan is around 36,000. And there are more than 2.2 million students in these religious educational institutions. Lahore clinical psychologist Nayla Aziz told Deutsche Welle, "I have seen many children who have been sexually abused by the Maulanas."
He thinks that madrasa teachers have a lot of work pressure and intense frustration about sex. That is mainly why they sexually abuse children. According to him, children are weak, hence vulnerable, and adults don't tend to believe them. And the madrasa teachers take ‘advantage’ of this weakness and helplessness of children.
The political identity of religious leaders
According to social analysts, many madrassa teachers have no accountability, cause of their political power. Nasreen Jalil, the former chairperson of Pakistan's Senate Committee on Human Rights, told Deutsche Welle that well-known religious leaders in the political arena had called to demand an end to the investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against madrassa teachers. Nasreen Jalil also said that due to this, the MPs closed the investigation of many incidents.
Pressure on parents
In most cases, the victim's family faces the opposite pressure when it comes to seeking justice for the sexually abused child. Nur Mohammad Fazli's niece was sexually harassed by a local Maulana in Punjab's Chakwal district. The man was accused of sexually abusing four more girls. The accused also admitted all the allegations, even then, due to the pressure from different sections of the society, the person was not punished.
The only forensic lab in the country
A female police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Deutsche Welle that the lack of forensic labs is one of the main reasons why children are sexually abused in madrassas. She said there is only one forensic lab in Pakistan and they don't get to use the lab whenever they need it.
Naturally, many victims of sexual harassment withdraw from the case without forensic examination and the accused also get through.
Author: S Khan (Islamabad) / ACB
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