Time for Sexual Harassment Committees at Madaris

Imagine watching a real life video in which an elderly man of a stature of Molvi or Mufti sexually abusing a male pupil! If that's one video we are looking at-what has been happening before that with many other pupils in that madrassa? what sort of frustrated future scholars out of these innocent pupils are in the making because of what is happening to them in today's time? Aren't these so called religious scholars defaming the name of Islam and are cause of Islamophobia? Are we fearing to raise our children in a country where writ of the state is meaningless infront of these so called religious clerks? 

The recently leaked videos on Twitter and also shared by people on WhatsApp of sexual violence within the madaris (religious seminaries) in Pakistan has brought so much anger and frustration among the public. Exploitations in the cloak of religion particularly raises many questions because it is an area of our lives where we expect not to be exploited but guided by good norms of life.

It is unfortunate that religion when becomes business; it leads to exploitation by some powerful people.

Can there be any way out of it?

Pakistan has the " Act Against Sexual Harassment at Work Places" which is implemented/implementable in office setups and other educational institutes. Many work places are successfully complying with it and now its high time to comply all the madaris with it. This is very helpful  for everyone to work in a dignified setup. The government needs to enforce reforms like these in these kind of setups as well. It should hold trainings on setting up of these committees for these madaris and make it possible by any means.

Whenever, reforms at madaris  were discussed in the past by governments; it has always been opposed by the heads of these madaris-why?  - because this will challenge the power to exploitation and wrong doings inside. This questions the writ of the state as well. 

The state needs to show its power over this kind of inhuman abuse, otherwise who will feel safe here?