Citizens demand seminaries be made abuse-free

Good governance – the way forward
June 18, 2021
Are we promoting child abuse?
June 24, 2021
Demand seminaries be held accountable and made abuse-free.
While, physical, sexual and emotional abuse of children is rampant at numerous work places, its scale, acceptability and continuity is endemic in madrassas and seminaries. The state and the citizens speak of this well recognized curse with bated breath and only after looking over their shoulder.
Is it true that no parents, regardless of faith and politics, would like to see their children undergo abuse and violence. Can the citizens come together to demand that the following actions be taken by the state.
1. Identify the exact number, name and location of each and every seminary in each district, town and village of Pakistan.
2. Identify name, age, NADRA registration number, parents’ CNIC, contact number and home address of each student.
3. Identify name, age, CNIC, contact number and home address of every teacher, Moulvi, Mufti, administrator or worker who is associated with the seminary on part time or full time basis.
4. Undertake a medical and psychological test of each student. Take legal action against perpetrators where a child was found abused.
5. Issue a standard syllabi that should be taught at all seminaries, which includes physics, chemistry, maths, English, biology etc. Those not in compliance ought to be closed.
6. Establish a well publicized, prominently displayed, signed by all teachers and periodically read out to students, child protection policy for all madrassas (and also schools), that describes dos and don’ts of child abuse and who to contact in case of help. Ideally it ought to be a National 3 digit Helpline such as 911 – promised 3 years back, still awaiting realization.
Naeem Sadiq, Farhana Mowjee, Nusrat Vohra, Khawar Mehdi, Sadaf Hamid, Aftab Ahmed Jabbar, Shimaila Matri Dawood, Azeem Meo (DG Sindh CPA), Seema Qadri Khan, Zaheer Kidvai, Ayesha Chowdhry, Farah Afridi, Abdul Basit Khan, Dr.Sajjad Ahmed, Maria Razzaghian, Rukhsana Najm, Siddiq Baig, Asim Rizwani, Almas Mehmood, Mushtaq Chhapra, Zafar Ali Akbar, Sabeen Khurshid, Alif Ain Seen, Salahuddin Haider, Nusrat Jamil, Mumtaz Lakhani, Dr. Azra Ahsan, Khayyam Durrani, Azra Raza, Shaiyanne Malik, Danesh Khambata, Tallat Azim, Jamil Syed, Asif Saeed, Javed Ashraf, Mazhar Islam, Zaffar A. Khan, Dr. Naseem Salahuddin, Noreen Mirza, Shehzad Gul, Khawaja Shujauddin, Fehmida Saad, Percy Gazder, Saman Siddiqui, Ghouri Ashfaque, Mohammad, Shaheen Faizi, Lubna Saied, Aysha Habib Khan, Sarah Merchant, Rukhsana Hasan, Sabiha Sultan, Aiman Saroor, Farhat Anis, Samreen Jamshed-Ali, Meher Afshan Khan, Amina Nadeem, Samreen Shahid