Pakistan Press On Combatting Sexual Assault and Gendered Response to Policing: New Age Islam's Selection, 28 September 2020
By New Age Islam Edit
Bureau
28
September 2020
• Doctrine, Policy, and Strategy: Combating
Sexual Assault in the Land of the Pure!
By Saad Masood
• Gendered Response to Policing In Pakistan
By Anum Pasha
• War and Displacement
By David Vine
• Good Reading
By Dr A Q Khan
-----
Doctrine, Policy, and Strategy: Combating
Sexual Assault In The Land Of The Pure!
By Saad Masood
September
28, 2020
Pakistan
has been plagued with child abuse, rape and sexual assault cases for years and
yet nothing much of substance has been done to curtail this social
degeneration! The recent episode being the rape of a woman driving late at
night with her three children from Lahore to Gujranwala. Her car ran out of
fuel not much far from the posh locality of Defence Housing Authority (DHA)
Lahore. She called the police, and while she waited for assistance, two men
broke through the driver’s side window and dragged her and her children off the
road. The woman was raped multiple times, and to add insult to injury, in front
of her children! The family’s torment didn’t stop there! Even when the police
started investigating the case, the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore
seemed to be further rubbing salt in the wounds by blaming the victim and
asking why she was travelling late at night without an adult male companion and
why didn’t she ensure she had enough fuel for the journey. At one point the
CCPO suggested that maybe the lady thought that Pakistan was as safe as France
because purportedly she had lived in France. Though, the CCPO has apologised
for his insensitive remarks since but perhaps not before revealing that this
mindset seems to be prevalent in a large part of the society as is!
The media –
frontline and social – is up in arms and hashtags calling for justice and
accountability are circulating widely. There is seething anger from all
quarters at the lack of safety and protection and the flagrant disregard of
legal and societal values. But wait – we have been here before! There have been
many similar incidents in the past where the response was as livid as it is
now. These names should ring a bell – Dr. Shazia, Zainab, Farishta, Rimsha,
Faizan, Kainat, Firdous – the list is endless! Will the outcome be any
different this time around? It must! Or else we will be here again in some
months’ time adding a new name to the list!
The golden
rule of policy execution: short term corrections only provide a breather to
inculcate long term change!
After this
recent event, everyman and his aunt has jumped in with suggestions to remedy
the situation. People’s emotions are laid bare especially in the biosphere of
social media. While it is good to see everyone reacting strongly to this evil,
it is equally important to ensure that changes are not knee-jerk at best and
short-lived at worst! The Prime Minister reportedly has also supported the
notion of public hanging or medical castration. Also note that this view exists
even after the recent legislation passed by Parliament which awards life
imprisonment or the death penalty to the person who kidnaps, rapes or murders a
minor. Will implementing these extreme positions help? In the short term, yes
it can but not in the long run. In the psychological world it is said that fear
is a good motivator to temporarily stop bad behaviour but it can’t be used to
encourage and continue good behaviour. That is mostly because as humans we tend
to normalise all extreme circumstances – recall the aforementioned list of
victims? Need I say more?! Therefore punishments that instil such level of fear
will only provide a small window of respite where good behaviour needs to be
established and encouraged. And that is where the long term rectification of
this heinous scourge needs to be sought.
For that,
one needs to leverage extracts of the previously recommended national security
framework for Pakistan. Discussion within that thesis suggested that national
purpose – borrowed from the Pakistani constitution – must ensure that Pakistan
is a democratic state and society based on Islamic principles of social justice
and equality. And that the state will strive to achieve affluence and happiness
for all through the values of democracy, freedom, equality, and tolerance.
Extrapolated from the national purpose was at-least one national interest which
was relevant. This stated that Pakistan should become a secure state especially
with regards to its territory, citizens, and constitution. It was deemed so
crucial that it was linked to the survival of Pakistan! Then a pertinent
national security policy objective was stipulated which ensured transparent
writ of the state to protect its people from all internal and external threats.
Notice the phrases in the excerpts of all three tenets of the national security
framework? Islamic principles, social justice and equality, values of freedom
and tolerance, secure state especially with regards to citizens, write of state
to protect its people! Let alone the common masses, even governmental ministers
may never have thought of a strategic response to this brutal problem in these
terms, and there within lies the rub! Society needs to be educated in terms of
equality and respect towards all but that education first needs to be
established, then disseminated and only then made into belief! The correct and
relevant execution of the troika of national purpose, national interest and
national security policy will go a long way in making that possible.
The golden
rule of policy execution: short term corrections only provide a breather to
inculcate long term change! This is exactly the case this time when the country
grasps for solutions to these repeatedly asked difficult questions. Imran Khan
must heed Ronald Reagan’s warning, “governments have a tendency not to solve
problems, only to rearrange them”. This is neither a time for complacency nor a
time for pushing the problem down the road, the long and short of combating
sexual assault must be discussed and implemented if we don’t wish to be at the
same juncture again!
----
Saad Masood is Director Programmes for an
international ICT organization based in the UK and writes on corporate
strategy, socio-economic and geopolitical issues
https://dailytimes.com.pk/671602/doctrine-policy-and-strategy-combating-sexual-assault-in-the-land-of-the-pure/
-----
Gendered Response to Policing In Pakistan
By Anum Pasha
September
28, 2020
The recent
motorway gang-rape incident calls for retrospection on the absence of a
gendered response to policing. The serving Lahore Capital City Police Officer’s
(CCPO) victim-blaming in response to the incident brought disgrace for all
ranks of Pakistan’s police service community and shattered the public’s trust.
The CCPO’s
apology cannot repair the Pakistani police’s damaged image. The government of
Punjab’s claims related to reaching the culprits within 72 hours could also be
perceived as a self-serving tactic to shift public perception and rebuild the
lost credibility of the police force. Both the police and the provincial
government simply cannot restore the public’s confidence or win accolades for
claimed efforts.
The
incident occurred near the provincial capital of Punjab, enraged Pakistani
citizens, and became a media spectacle, thus inviting the government and police
force’s immediate investigative attention. If the rape had occurred in a rural
backwater’s village targeting a marginalized female villager, as has been
common in Pakistan, it would have been more complex and possibly never reported
– just dismissed or inaccurately recorded. A previous study in a 2012 report by
the Asia Society’s Independent Commission on Pakistan Police Reform indicated
that a woman’s class and residence (rural/urban) are the primary factors of a
police official’s response to their complaint.
While notions
of masculinity and patriarchy are obvious in the police’s rhetoric which
stressed that this incident occurred due to the female victim’s fault of her
own, it automatically gave protection to the male perpetrator and normalized
rape as a consequence of women’s actions. It is also interesting to observe the
senior police leadership’s self-confidence, carelessness, and callousness in
releasing the manipulative statement. This confidence is intrinsic as well as
systematic – it reflects the wider unequal power relations between men and
women which contribute to women’s subordination in society and stifle their
voices. It stems from a deep-rooted patriarchal mindset, which discourages
women from seeking justice, creates distrust, and significantly lowers reporting
of sexual violence cases and conviction in Pakistan. The police are an absolute
last resort in most cases.
Pakistan
police’s inability to swiftly tackle sexual violence and abuse cases involving
women is evident. In this case, the survivor’s chosen actions and behavior
became the center of national discourse to disguise the poor quality of
investigation and accountability as well as failure to swiftly respond to the
women’s call for help. Gender discrimination and cultural bias pervade police
investigation and lower neutrality. The prevailing narrative supported by
law-enforcement agencies allowed space, freedom, and justification to the
perpetrators for their heinous crimes.
There has
also been an ownership problem given the occurrence of blame-shifting between
police departments as efforts were made to steer clear of responsibility and
jurisdiction and dismiss exposed inadequacies and mis-coordination.
The
high-level verdicts that followed the incident were shocking too. Prime
Minister Imran Khan launched an impractical wish list and desire for public
hanging of the criminal, whereas he could have advocated for police forces to
improve oversight, adopt tech for criminal investigation, and enhance gender
sensitive policing to address the security needs of women and children. He also
blamed “Bollywood” for Delhi becoming the rape capital of the world. Why did
the premier not say that rape happens simply because of the rapist?
This kind
of public discourse on rape led by the political leadership only serves to give
more confidence to perpetrators. Quality essential justice services must
protect and support Pakistan’s GBV victims. Police officers are responsible for
dealing with victims with high levels of dignity and respect since this does
impact the investigative decision-making. Empathetic policing in investigating
rape and assault cases is critical for first responders and senior police
personnel. The police’s radical portrayal of the incident was flawed and did
not account for the victim’s trauma. It also reflected indifference, compassion
fatigue, and burnout.
Reporting
sexual assault and domestic violence is severely insignificant in Pakistan
because of several factors – including the expectation that police involvement
will further aggravate the problem. Female survivors/victims of abuse are
hesitant because the process of lodging the First Information Report (FIR)
itself is complicated and grueling. Women face several constraints including
mobility restrictions in reaching local police stations. The very moment a
Pakistani woman decides to step up for herself lodge a complaint, and enter a
police station, she is bombarded with societal judgement, scepticism, privacy
invasion, and antagonizing attitudes of police officers. She does not see any
women police officers who could potentially relate to her predicament.
This is why
Pakistan stands at a low three percent conviction rate in rape and sexual
assault, according to news reports.
The police
force is dominated by men as gender stereotypes still pervade law-enforcement
institutions and male power continues to be reinforced. It is not surprising
that female representation is shockingly low in provincial police departments.
At present, 6899 female police officers are working throughout Pakistan against
the 465,035 sanctioned strength of police, according to statistics from the
National Bureau of Police.
Women’s
recruitment in decision-making authoritative roles in the police force is far
and few in between. There is global evidence that women as leaders and decision-makers
in policing can be role models for the community and respond effectively to
women complainants. However, attracting more women to policing careers is
impossible unless there is widespread gender sensitization and a revamped
public image of the police which is genuine and not a mere stage performance.
The
government’s ongoing efforts to effectively cater to complaints of women,
transgender persons, and other vulnerable members of society, such as the
establishment of a women’s helpline or a women’s safety mobile application,
will not have adequate results unless there is supporting mass public
awareness, gender sensitization, and community-level dialogue.
Outreach
and publicity should not only be donor-driven and limited to savvy reports,
high-level press statements, websites, and campaigns executed in silos. There
is urgent need for more than just conversation on mainstreaming gender in
policing. Women must be at the epicentre of institutional level police reforms
to drive a gender-balanced perspective on policing. The reforms must account
for perspectives of female victims who have experienced police hostility.
There
should be intense focus on sensitized approaches towards policing practices and
specialized training which give officers insights into dealing with GBV
survivors and humanizing the investigative process. A conducive environment
should be created in police departments where women can perform, and their
posting should be linked with performance and not their gender. Women-only
desks should be established in all police stations to cater to the increasing
GBV crimes in Pakistan. Further concrete action beyond stakeholder dialogue and
hotel roundtable conferences needs to be taken so that policing can cater to
women and not just men in Pakistan.
-----
Anum Pasha is a communications and government
affairs expert and Chevening scholar who studied at the LSE, London.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/721162-gendered-response-to-policing-in-pakistan
-----
War And Displacement
By David Vine
September
28, 2020
Over the
last week, considerable debate arose around a calculation I helped produce
showing that the wars the US government has fought since the attacks of
September 11, 2001, have forced at least 37 million people – and perhaps as
many as 59 million – to flee their homes.
As a
co-author of the underlying report, produced for Brown University’s Costs of
War Project, I was encouraged by the attention in the media – which ranged from
the New York Times to Fox News – because it has generated interest in the
millions of people displaced by the US ‘global war on terror’. My American
University co-authors and I note that no one inside or outside the US
government has previously calculated how many people these wars have displaced.
The report
conservatively estimates that eight of the most violent ‘counterterror’ wars
the US government has engaged in since 9/11 – in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya,
Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, Syria and Yemen – have produced 8 million
refugees and 29 million internally displaced people. The 37 million total
displaced is more than those displaced by any war since at least the start of
the 20th century, except World War II.
Critiques
of the report cantered around the degree to which the US government is
responsible for displacement in all eight of these countries. People agreed
that the George W Bush administration launched the wars in Afghanistan and
Iraq. However, some have said that the other countries we include in our
estimate – Libya, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen – are
incredibly complex conflicts in which the US government has been a less central
combatant, making it hard to say what role, if any, the US government has
played in creating displacement.
Yet the
purpose of our report is not to assess relative responsibility for displacement
among different actors. Our report says clearly, “We are not suggesting the US
government or the United States as a country is solely responsible for the
displacement.” The Taliban, Iraqi Sunni and Shia militias, the Islamic State,
Al Qaeda, the UK government and other U.S. allies, and Bashar al Assad share
considerable responsibility along with other combatants, governments, and
actors.
Instead,
our goal, in keeping with those of the broader Costs of War Project, is to shed
light on the often unacknowledged costs of the U.S. government’s 19-year-long
‘war on terror’.
Our study
focuses on the eight countries where the US government bears significant
responsibility for wars it has launched (Afghanistan and the oft-ignored
overlapping war in Pakistan triggered by invading Afghanistan, and Iraq);
escalated as a major combatant (Libya and Syria); or intensified through drone
strikes, battlefield advising, logistical support, weapons sales, and other
military aid (Yemen, Somalia, and the Philippines).
Of course
these are complex conflicts in which many actors – in many cases not primarily
US actors – have committed the violence that has displaced people. Still, we
include countries beyond Afghanistan and Iraq in our count because the US
government has played an undeniable and deep systemic role in these ‘other
wars’ through the ‘war on terror’s’ combat troop deployments, contributions of
military support, the rhetoric of ‘counterterrorism’, and the trillions of dollars
that have supported these efforts. Reckoning with the effects of the entirety
of our ‘war on terror’ is a responsibility US citizens cannot ignore.
With Syria
in particular, many readers of the report have rightly noted the difficulty in
assessing the US role in causing displacement. Again, we are not blaming the US
government alone for the displacement of the 7.1 million Syrians we include in
our total. Deep responsibility lies with other combatants who have played
larger roles during the Syrian civil war (2011–present). They include Assad and
the Syrian government, the Islamic State, Syrian rebel groups, the Russian and
Turkish governments, and other outside forces.
As a result
our methodology for calculating displacement linked to US involvement in Syria
was conservative. We began our calculation in 2014, when the US military
started fighting in Syria, but we could have included larger numbers displaced
due to US support for Syrian rebels since at least 2013. Some would argue that
we should include all of Syria’s displaced (likely more than 20 million people
since 2011) given the role of the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in
destabilizing the Middle East and creating the Islamic State and other militant
groups in the first place.
Our
calculation also focused narrowly on Syrians displaced in and from five of
Syria’s 14 provinces where US forces have fought the Islamic State and operated
from military bases since 2014. This is how we derive the figure of 7.1 million
displaced, which is well under half of Syria’s total displaced people.
----
Excerpted from: ‘The U.S. ‘War on Terror’ Has
Displaced 37 Million People’.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/721163-war-and-displacement
----
Good reading
By Dr A Q Khan
September
28, 2020
Some books
of value that I read: the first one, full of valuable information, is titled
‘Ishque Mustafa’ by Maqsood Ahmad Islahi and printed by Chisti Kutub Khana,
Lahore. The proofreading, we are told, was done by Allama Mufti Muhammad Mansha
Tabish Qasuri.
One glance
at the book will make one immediately realize that the author is indeed a great
lover of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and the Almighty. This treasure of knowledge
consists of 843 pages. It had been the author’s long desire to write a book
that would give pleasure and satisfaction to the reader as well as give them a
sense of becoming closer to the Prophet (pbuh) and the Almighty. Unfortunately,
his parents, who were always praying for the completion of the book, passed
away before its printing. He himself required cataract surgery, which again
delayed the completion.
The topics
touched upon are as follows: Love for the Prophet (pbuh) in the light of the
Quran and Hadith; demands of love for the Holy Prophet (pbuh); how to develop
love for the Prophet (pbuh), his grand personality and the manner in which this
love and respect is manifested; the place for lovers of the Holy Prophet
(pbuh); the love of the Almighty and other prophets for the Holy Prophet
(pbuh); the love displayed for the Holy Prophet (pbuh) by Angels and Jins; the love
of Hazrat Abdul Muttalib, Hazrat Abu Talib and of his wives for the Holy
Prophet (pbuh); the love of the ‘Sahaba’, the ‘momineen’ and non-Muslims for
the Holy Prophet (pbuh); the love of the sky, earth, vegetables, fruits, etc
for the Holy Prophet (pbuh); ‘Hijrat’ in the words of the Holy Prophet (pbuh);
competition amongst the lovers of the Holy Prophet (pbuh); our behaviour
regarding our love for the Holy Prophet (pbuh); the success of the Umma founded
in the love for the Holy Prophet (pbuh); parents and children in their love for
the Holy Prophet (pbuh); the character of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) in the light
of history; manner of greeting for the Holy Prophet (pbuh).
The second
important and useful books is titled ‘Ibn-e-Karam-Mashaeqe Qadria Qatbihe’,
written by Pir Muhammad Tahir Hussain, published by Kitab Khana Ibne Karam,
Jhang and available from Abdul Waheed Qadri. It starts from Hamd-o-Naat and is
the result of hard work and research. The author has about 36 books to his name
and is still actively writing. The book has nearly 1300 pages and is a treat to
read. By writing this book, Mr Qadri has done a great favour to students and
teachers of Islamiat.
Within the
Subcontinent, the heads of the Qadiri order – the ‘Uch Sharif’s Gaylani Sadat’
are, for the first time, being comprehensively brought forward in some literary
form through this work. Hazrat Makhdoom Sayyid Muhammad Ghawth Al-Gaylani and
eminent successor and sage, Hazrat Makhdoom Sayyid ‘Abd-Al-Qadir Ath-Thani,
were not only those introducers of the spiritual path, but also became
profoundly renowned for their mystical feats.
Another
thing about this work is that it not only references their respective statuses,
but also their benefactors and representatives while other works have only managed
to highlight singular aspects. Some un-issued works and unpublished manuscripts
are also presented in this book. Also given is a detailed study of Qadir’s
beloved grandson and benefactor of teaching. This is encyclopaedic work and a
story of divine love that has been spread for fourteen centuries.
May the
Almighty shower His infinite blessings on both authors and their families for
their efforts in the cause of Islam – Ameen.
Note: Some
time ago I reviewed a book titled ‘The Holy Quran – A Continuous Miracle’,
written by Prof Dr Muhammad Akram Chaudhary. It has now been published in an
Urdu version under the title ‘Quran Karim, Ek Musalsal Mojza’ and published by
Darul Nawadir, Urdu Bazar, Lahore. It is available from Kitab Saraey, Urdu
Bazar, Lahore. This is a great opportunity for Urdu lay readers, students,
scholars and teachers to benefit from Prof Chaudhary’s knowledge. Only the
Almighty can reward him sufficiently for this great work on the Holy Quran.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/721164-good-reading
-----
URL: https://newageislam.com/pakistan-press/pakistan-press-combatting-sexual-assault/d/122965
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African
Muslim News, Arab
World News, South
Asia News, Indian
Muslim News, World Muslim
News, Women
in Islam, Islamic
Feminism, Arab
Women, Women
In Arab, Islamophobia
in America, Muslim
Women in West, Islam
Women and Feminism