The legacy of UK’s Pakistani Muslim predators
On May 8, 2012, nine men, of whom eight were of Pakistani background, were convicted at Liverpool Crown Court for a range of offences including trafficking within the UK, rape, sexual assault and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. They were part of a gang who had groomed vulnerable young girls in and around Rochdale, Greater Manchester. They were given prison sentences ranging from 4 to 19 years. Two distinct themes emerged from this trial; firstly, the perpetrators were by and large men of Pakistani heritage and the victims were young white women. On its own, there ...
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Botox, surgical revamping and the elixir of youth
Sequined, satined, bejeweled, and heavily perfumed, a female form came hurtling in my direction. “Oh Mariam, what a surprise! Where have you been all these years? Good to see you!” It was a classmate from medical college who had been in the United States for many years. She had recently relocated so that her children could be eased into Pakistani culture and make the transition from west to east. “You look great. What have you done? ” I asked enthusiastically. “Nothing major really, just surgery around the eyes, collagen fillers around the mouth, and laser resurfacing on the skin. You know it’s a constant ...
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‘No Baba, not her 18th birthday party, her wedding’
“Baba, I need to go to Mehek’s* mehndi tonight.” “Mehek’s sister?” “No, Mehek’s. As in, Mehek in my class.” My father lowers his newspaper, eyebrows raised. “Mehek in your class is getting married?” Yes, Mehek in my class is getting married. And I am cordially invited. Who gets married at 18? Apparently, a sizable chunk. I can easily produce a list of girls who have gotten married, will get married this year, or will be getting married in the next year or two. The list of girls whose possibility of getting engaged in the next year or two is exponentially higher. And this phenomenon is not ...
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Of Shab-e-Barat fun
What a blessed festival our Shab-e-Barat is – or was. Let’s forget the bloodletting going on all around us for a while and the games people play around it and talk about the colourful lights associated with the festival – about its phuljharis (sparklers), mehtabis (flares), anars and patakhas (crackers). But today the Shab-e-Barat characterised by these fireworks is no more than a memory. It’s a sign of the times that the festivals that used to bring fun and happiness to Pakistani children are now so devoid of joy. What little remains, faces an imminent threat of an edict declaring it ...
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Parenting the digital generation
It is normal now days to see very young children in Pakistan confidently operating technology, possessing cell phones and using social media. A seventh grader can multi tasking; constantly uses SMS to communicate, spending a lot of time online, staying connected with people through the social media and surfing the net and checks out brainpop.com to get homework help while simultaneously listening to his/her iPod. Many young people have blogs by the age of 13-14 years now. So, even if their essays or stories do not receive a good grade in class, or their ideas and thoughts are not entertained ...
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Airblue crash: No answers, no follow-up
Last summer, a commercial plane crashed into Islamabad’s Margalla Hills. This tragic event took the entire country by shock. It was heart breaking to learn that so many people lost their lives. The incident sparked several emotions. The accident and wounds still open, much discussion took place. Was the bad weather to be blamed for the crash? Was it human error in interpreting the signals from the control tower? Or, was it one of the conspiracy theories that took shape amidst the many debates a year back? As authorities resolved to investigate the matter, some dared to hope. Perhaps the black box sent for “expert ...
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Let’s talk about sex
While the Behavioural Surveillance Survey (BSS) found a vast majority of young people in Pakistan to be sexually active, another study showed that Pakistan is witnessing a rise in sexual abuse cases. Statistics released by an NGO, Sahil, in a report called “Cruel Numbers Report 2010,” reveal that victims of sexual abuse comprise 73 per cent girls and 27 per cent boys. These findings mock the belief that young people do not know, need not know, or, have nothing to do with, sexuality because they are protected by Pakistan’s culture and tradition. Abuse and violence shouldn’t be the only standpoints to ...
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Brainwashing: Fighting the Taliban and fools’ paradise
According to different sources, Umar Fidai, the would-be Sakhi Sarwar suicide bomber, was studying in eighth grade when he was approached by the “merchants of death” – the Tehrik-i-Taliban. He was systematically brainwashed to “find the path to paradise, instead of wasting life on worldly affairs”. Fidai was transferred to training camps in North Waziristan, and trained along with 350 bombers, including nationals from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan along with Pakistanis. Some reports said Fidai lost his father in an attack in Karachi. Others said he was told that he would be attacking a target in Afghanistan, but the destination was changed at ...
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Catch-22 for young doctors, resolved
The ethical debate over the ongoing strike by young doctors had trapped the young professionals in a Catch-22 situation: damned if you do, damned if you don’t. On the one hand, the doctors’ demands for higher pay are perfectly legitimate, and their argument that Pakistan is facing a brain drain as doctors go abroad due to appalling salary/work conditions at home cannot be discounted. On the other hand, we have a seething population, who have been galvanised by the media to condemn the doctors for ignoring the Hippocratic Oath to practice medicine ethically — case in point being the decision to ...
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The young doctors’ movement: What’s all the fuss about?
The criteria for a nation’s progress is often measured in terms of the health service provided by the state. Welfare states spend much of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in maintaining the health of the population. Sadly, in Pakistan the health sector has never been paid much attention. One of the reasons for this is that we were so obsessed with “security” that resources were often not available to invest in hospitals. This has resulted in much frustration in the doctor’s community, especially young doctors who have to toil hard to maintain a white collar standard of living. What happened in 2008 In ...
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