But, first my tribute to her: an instant symbol of hope for us all, particularly women, for victims of acid attackers waiting since long for plastic surgery, or those women who may have escaped it once, or those still under threat, and their families.
And also, Oscar winner Sharmeen has how become too big an image for the acid attackers to ignore. This may help minimise this practice to a considerable extent if not completely deterred.
For her noble cause, Sharmeen might need Islamabad’s help in the form of strict new laws against the acid attackers, sooner than later as the iron has now gone hot, adding compensation clause for the victims. Departments should henceforth actively coordinate enabling them to dispose of all the pending cases, be it in court or police department. This needs to be monitored on weekly basis in the press. Hopefully, some of our plastic surgeons would spare some time from their busy schedule to help Sharmeen, like the one from UK. The best part of my letter is my strong belief from nowhere that Sharmeen, once she is back in the country, would be invited by Islamabad and asked as what she would like the government to do for her.
Z A KAZMI
Karachi
