The horrific rape and murder of tiny Zainab in Kasur, the outburst of public anger and protest and the usual brutality of the police once again put into sharp relief the rotten nature of our society and our polity.
As a social scientist I would like to draw attention to an inherent bias in our way of perceiving crime and guilt. Quite naturally the person (in social science called actor) who committed that heinous crime should be punished as severely without mercy as our laws provide. There can be no two opinions about it.
Nevertheless, in social science there is vast literature which draws attention to structures — the arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of social systems: in simpler language the whole gambit of socio-economic, cultural-ideological and political power relations obtaining in society and circumscribing human relations constitute structures which circumscribe our behaviour.
Understandably structures are far more complex, abstract and impersonal to be identified, tried in a court of law and punished for a crime. Therefore, the legal system and our focuses only on actors because they are real, tangible human entities while structures are not.
Structural change along with therapeutic treatment of odd and unacceptable behaviour of individuals can to a large extent help us bring violent crime such as rape and murder down to a very significant level
Structural analysis suggests that human behaviour is largely though not entirely determined by the circumstances in which people are born, socialized, and raised. This includes the family, the locality, the schools and the larger society. Therefore, if human behaviour is increasingly malevolent and dangerous then changes in structures are needed to curtail or reduce such behaviour, though no societal intervention will ever eliminate completely flawed and dangerous attitudes and behaviour. Some individuals are congenitally crime-prone and violence-prone. They have to be isolated from the rest of society because they are dangerous.
However, the general assumption of social science is that human beings by and large are amenable to change for the better. For that to happen changes must be wrought in the structures in which they are placed. Therefore, while crime will continue to be associated with actors or individuals and groups of individuals, it is the structures which need to be changed for people to behave in a normal and acceptable manner.
Let me say that in neighbouring India some cases of rape and murder have been exceedingly chocking. Instead of one person a whole group has committed such crimes and that two in Delhi, the metropolis of modern India. Therefore, rape and murder in the present form has something to do with deep structures which need to be identified and replaced by better ones.
I remember meeting an old friend who was a rich farmer on one of the occasions when I was visiting Pakistan. He told me frankly with a glee that he employs only those women on his farm who are willing to render him free sexual services. On another occasion I learnt to my very great shock from my younger brother who was posted in southern Punjab that when he was posted in a small town there he caught in the very first morning when he got up three young men trying to rape a goat which was groaning in pain. He had chhittars (old shoe bottoms) inflicted on their bare bottoms as punishment for such obscene behaviour, but those fellows pleaded that in their social milieu bestiality was considered a rite of passage to demonstrate that a boy has come of age and become a man.
Another fellow I met in Stockholm who now goes around claiming that he is a judge of the Stockholm High Court (whereas he is merely a member of jury nominated by a Swedish political party who under praxis of legal procedure sits along with the judge and other members of the jury on the same bench) that in his village and those around it was a value to prove your manhood by committing some theft: mainly cattle-lifting and things like that.
For us town dwellers these are odd customs and practices but most young men and women of lower middle class and middle-middle class in the urban areas experience severe sexual repression too and privately resort to all sorts of outlets to relieve themselves.
And if we remember that since independence the towns and cities have been swarmed by the huge influx of young men from the rural areas one can imagine the anomie and alienation they feel in the urban areas. Sodomy which is not the same as homosexuality is one outlet which people resort to it and it also results in frequent and recurring rapes.
Now here is the problem: nature renders us biologically active from very early age, while society inculcates in us norms and rules about responsible behaviour so that the social being takes over the biological being.
In the past people were married off when they were in their teens. My father’s first marriage took place when he was in the 8th class. We are native Lahoris since as long as my elders can remember. That sort of arrangement is over and passé in the towns and cities. Even in the villages such a practice is decreasing quickly because agriculture does not provide enough means to establish a family.
All this leads to violent sexual behaviour. A lot of rapes take place, very, very few are reported; most take place within the four walls of a house and the culprits are overwhelmingly close relatives.
We can’t continue to be the proverbial pigeons who can close our eyes and imagine that the predatory cat is not out there. It is, and it is real and ready to pounce on us any time. It is time to openly debate the need for a more relaxed relationship between males and females. Even sexual relations considered odd need to be studied and understood in the light of scientific theories and knowledge.The roots cause is segregation and we tend to blame actors but condone structures. Culture is another serious problem. So-called honour killing deriving from biradarism, false and hypocritical piety and so on destroy lives.
The old structures are worn out, obsolete and redundant. We must create a healthier, more honest and humane social order if we are ever to be honest to ourselves and to our younger generations. Structural change along with therapeutic treatment of odd and unacceptable behaviour of individuals can to a large extent help us bring violent crime such as rape and murder down to a very significant level. Understandably we would need to consult experts on ethics and morality to find solutions which can be advanced in an overwhelmingly Muslim society.
The writer is Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Stockholm University; Visiting Professor Government College University; and, Honorary Senior Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. He has written a number of books and won many awards, he can be reached on [email protected]
Published in Daily Times, January 15th 2018.