Once more into the fray… (Into the last good fight I’ll ever know) Live and die on this day! Live and die … on this day!!! The reported rape and brutal murder of all the lovely minor girls and boys only denote the lack of collective sentiment in our society and hence challenge our qualification to deserve having children. While the bidding to comprehend the menace writhing all around us, parents like me also remain engulfed within a sense of insecurity that has become a haunting fear by now. Our only remedy lies in first daring to recognise the presence of the plague within our society instead of letting it remain a taboo and there upon embattling with the insatiable perversions collectively. It is now than later that we collectively as a society must denounce the pervasive crimes against children, correct our narratives about factors leading to these crimes and work together to address the reasons that have contributed towards these crimes. This piece will attempt to discuss the prevailing narratives with regards to child protection and abuse/violence crimes against children in our society in a quest to invoke a collective response. Firstly, let’s not shy away from accepting that the subject of child protection from crimes and abuse is not a western agenda as it has always been known here. I have long been working with organisations that mandated mass education of societal behaviours in favour of promoting a child-sensitive society where the children should live their lives well protected and celebrated. Not even my closest friends and family members ever believed deep into their heart that our society was quietly suffering from a serious illness that needed some major treatment to qualify to have children around us. We always have been defying the child protection agenda on the pretext of identifying it being the western phenomenon without realising that how badly we too were needing espousing this and that it could have been a panacea to the illness of child abuse/violence. We always have been denying having ostensible traces of child abuse in our society until it became a ferocious monster. The evidence-based studies, however, indicated a red alert for the sizable prevalence of abuse and violence against children within our society. Denial of this ordeal prevailed across most of the segments of our society. Even interacting with various cleric factions active in our society, I always observed that the clerical mindset not only denounces it blatantly but also keeps its eyes closed in the matters of child molestation pervasive within their organisational cadres. Despite recent barbaric acts against children related to Madaris, we seldom see any of the cleric leaders coming forward to acknowledge, let alone condemn, the presence of widely pervasive child abuse/violence within Madaris. Some studies clearly maintain that in our homeland, prisons and then Madaris are the most horrific places for children, where the magnitude of child abuse/violence is highest frequent respectively. Also, we all travel through public transport and are well aware of the fact that most of our bus stands, especially in the main towns are the hubs of child prostitution. Despite recent barbaric acts against children related to Madaris, we seldom see any of leading clerics coming forward to acknowledge — let alone condemn — the widely pervasive child abuse in seminaries The time has proved that child protection is not recognised as an agenda that someone has out-posted here. It is us who have failed in safeguarding our children and giving them protection from such crimes. It is the time that we should embrace the shame of accepting that, let it be a school, street, madrassah, bus stand or any other possible social setting, our children are not safe here. It is our problem and not that a westerner agenda! Secondly, the narratives around the factors leading to heinous crimes against children need more serious critical thinking. In the aftermath debates that spurred on social media in pursuits of explaining the reasons of barbaric acts, the arguments seemed to culminate within a deep black hole of dark clerical mind-sets. The discussions ensuing the recent scourging incidents seem to promote three main ideas. The foremost idea belongs to the people who are waging hard to maintain that protection of children is the responsibility of the parents and children themselves. While agreeing partially to the proposition in the context of a state structure that has failed in protecting its children, the parents alone could not be held solely responsible for safeguard the children. We live in a social setting, where the children will always be required to interact with outside the family other people too. Parents cannot accompany children in schools or all other places at all times. Children too, cannot be held responsible for their protection as they are naturally curious learners and attracted to diversified ideas. It takes them longer to learn to assess risks and/or avoid such complex hazards expounded out of someone’s cleverly infested sick mentality. Also, they were never born with their assent to take up this responsibility either! The second idea in this narrative is more elusive and inexplicable. This idea attempts to find refuge in stigmatising the society for embracing modernism and distancing from the core beliefs. This idea does not denounce the use of modern communication and computation technology, achievements in the medical science and developments in surgery that has brought great relief to the humankind. This idea, however, attempts to accrue modern clothing as a factor leading to crimes of violence against [these little?] girls. To me, this is a royal example of Stockholm syndrome. This idea fails to explain that what clothing of male children then had been inciting to their rapists. This simply seems incomprehensible for any thoughtful person to assess the level of (in) sensitivity that could seek solace in blaming the victim and attempting to search excuses for the perpetrator. In terms of thinking about the idea of distancing from core beliefs, we have grown seeing the increase in clerical symbolism along with fast dying the subtle forms of art and culture. We have seen the decay of music, cinema, literature and sports here. I, therefore, fail to comprehend that what the proponent of this idea actually means by a) identifying our society being distant from the core beliefs and b) cursing our society fast enduring the modernity. I am not sure what it actually means but one thing we seem sure agreeing on is that the level of barbarity on display indicates the demise of values and ethical codes in our society. The amplified chanting of ideological narratives is already so loud in our society that hardly the core beliefs could be seen endangered. However, our societal dispositions are undoubtedly endangered. Belief in the core ideology is very well displayed whereas the belief in collective goodness seems long demised. So let’s correct ourselves by acknowledging that while the evident increase in the symbolic clerical manifestations; the values espousing collectivism seem long forgotten. The third main idea of this narrative professes that the acts of such barbarity are either indiscrete incidents of individual’s illness or the matter of organised crime; whatever it may be, but these incidents are not specific to our society only and that these criminals do not belong to us. Right! But yet these criminals reside amongst us. How come the families of these criminals are so comfortably unaware of the sinful acts their sons are casting over the society? The mother and relatives of Zainab’s suspected murder didn’t come forward to confess that they immediately realised by watching the first aired video clip of security camera that it was their wicked progeny. The case of 400 child pornographic videos in Kasur surfaced in 2015 actually succumbed to ride indefinitely. There must be a battery of professional cameramen and IT guys who would be forming a traceable supply chain for making money out of this sinful employment. They all must be living around us, but no one concerns what these men have been doing to earn a living. We keep everything under the carpet. The clerical leaders of Sargodha, who eventually achieved the highest emblem of their career for having the chief minister visit them, did never find it relevant to share any shame for leading to a people of the area that is known for airing around 1200 child pornographic videos. Where have the lifelong mass soul-purification endeavours of these mystical leaders drained if the societal outcomes are so unpleasant? Child rights activists have long been indicating the prevalence of abuse against children within our society, which most of the social quarters have been tirelessly defying. We opted to conceal the sickness until it became a tumour that now needs immediate surgery if we wish not to be afraid of having children anymore. Otherwise, let’s take our children away from these monsters, who live all around us or let’s not have children anymore. We cannot accept, and we must not allow the exhibition of bewildered predatory behaviours in our society. A social setting ought not to be self-detrimental at all. A society rather intrinsically is a setting that promotes collectivism both in approaching rights and responsibilities. Let’s open our eyes people. Let’s be the collective guardian of all the children and collaborate to prevent any chance of our children befall victim to either indiscrete illness or organised crime, whatever it may be. The writer is a citizen’s voice Published in Daily Times, April 25th 2018.