Now, serve justice

• It is our job to not only identify that demon but to also kill and bury it

A simple death sentence would not do. We all agree to this. The whole nation is demanding an admonitory punishment for Imran Ali, the monstrous rapist and murderer of seven-year-old Zainab and seven other minors. But without identifying all root causes of such incidents justice will remain as incomplete as the culprit’s name sans the mention of his name title ‘Naqshbandi’, as mentioned on his business card that went viral on social media soon after his apprehension. While this mention does not mean to target any particular sect, it is expected to serve the purpose of making us, the naïve masses, identify the masks behind which these culprits hide their faces.

Discussing religion has become so impermissible in our society that questioning the widely differing interpretations and methods of practice presented by uncountable mullahs who are at odds with each other is now equated with blasphemy. The distance that has been created between preacher and follower in the name of venerating religion is what has resulted in unfathomable consequences. The original purpose of religion was to mend our ways of living and guide us in our transition from human beings to humans. The journey, however, was interrupted midway by our animal instincts that sometimes seem to have never departed even by a slightest degree; we are today where we were centuries ago. Making religion highly complicated has made clerics extremely exalted that has, in turn, given them the right to exploit people in whatever manner they want. One such manifestation of this blind faith was the trust that this particular psychopath had gained from his neighbourhood by being celebrated as a ‘Punjab-famous naat khawan’. No one could have possibly fitted this man’s figure in the silhouette of the alleged culprit. Why? Because he is a bearded naat khawan who is known for distributing candies and sweets among children of his neighbourhood.

The recent wave of paedophilia that does not seem to stop spreading its fangs any time soon has brought our society on the verge of an abysmal future to counter which revisiting our criteria and principles of sanity has now become a necessity. What punishment would serve justice to such a miscreant who sells religion during the day and robs minors of their childhood at night? What penalty would be sufficient for a criminal who bags respect by keeping a beard and chanting poetic verses in praise of the Prophet PBUH and simultaneously practises violation of fellow followers’ children? Should this not be eyed as an undisputed case of blasphemy wherein a tongue is preaching the opposite of what hands are doing? Not all blasphemies are verbal or written; many exist in our actions and thoughts as well. The day we, as a nation, will comprehend this fact will be the one that could be equated with a ray of light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.

Victimising women irrespective of their age was savvied defendable by putting the blame on place, time and clothes, no matter how erroneous and faux the justification. But this emerging mind-set that convinces a mature adult to take advantage of children’s innocence is absolutely beyond comprehension

Serving justice to Zainab by making an example of Imran Ali Naqshbandi does reflect our emotions and surely is the need of the hour, but we better foresee and harness the venom before the poison spreads and leaves no choice but to amputate all organs one by one. One long-term strategy demands psychoanalysis of these felons so as to decode the encryption scripted in the fissures of their brains. Their minds should be examined microscopically to understand what makes them resort to such means. The entire psychology of such human beings must be extensively studied in order to gauge their mental stability given that they function as normal humans and concomitantly feed the monstrous beasts living inside them.

Victimising women irrespective of their age was savvied defendable by putting the blame on place, time and clothes, no matter how erroneous and faux the justification. But this emerging mind-set that convinces a mature adult to take advantage of children’s innocence is absolutely beyond comprehension. In what ways can the advocates of the-fault-lies-in-women ideology rationalise the alarming increase in paedophilic incidents? A child whose smile harbours all the happiness of this world, whose eyes sparkle with high hopes for future, whose soft skin cannot bear scars caused by even a thorn is conveniently kidnapped, taken to an isolated place, subjected to sexual assault, and the corpse thrown on a heap of garbage. All these steps are flanked with adequate amounts of time in which a potential culprit can revisit his intentions and withdraw from committing transgression. But what keeps him calm, steady and fully convinced throughout the execution of crime is what demands our immediate attention. Imran Ali Naqshbandi is cent percent right in saying that he is possessed by a demon who compels him to commit such heinous crimes, and that demon is nothing but his lewd instinct. It is our job to not only identify that demon but to also kill and bury it.

Yes, make him an example. Yes, punish him with the worst so as to make him a warning for others. Electrocute him, throw his corpse on the same heap and let stray dogs notch every part of his, or hang him publically a hundred times, or torment him as much as he tortured those eight angels, but the real justice will be served only when we are successful in kerbing sexual violence against children and eventually bringing it to an end. Those who are not killed have their souls living in traumatised and stigmatised bodies till their death, for there is no debate as to what is better – killing after assault or letting the victim live.