Madrasas are places of religious education, but the kind of news that keeps coming every day shows that they have turned into centers of terrorism and sexual exploitation. This is not the case only in countries like India, but the same situation is seen in Muslim-majority countries as well.
France 24 has published a report on the madrasas of Pakistan, which was created after partition in the name of Islam. This report shows that sexual abuse of children in the madrasas of Pakistan has taken an institutional form. Sexual abuse is so common that it seems it is not even seen as a problem by the people connected with the system there.
It is also worth noting that Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif had recently described those studying in madrasas as the ‘second line of defense’ of his country. But the story of sexual abuse that these children have told France 24 shows that Pakistan’s ‘second line of defense’ is itself unsafe.
According to the report, more than 36,000 registered and unregistered madrasas are running in Pakistan. About 22 lakh children are studying in them. Most of them come from poor families. They are from rural areas and study while staying in madrasas. People associated with these religious institutions take advantage of this and commit sexual violence against children.
This report of France 24 includes the stories of dozens of victims. A 14-year-old victim shared that a teacher of the school raped him. He said that the village boys used to talk about sexual abuse in the madrasa, but he had not thought that this would happen to him as well.
Another victim said, “The head maulvi of the madrasa took me to his house on the pretext of cleaning it. As soon as I reached there, the maulvi locked the door of the room. He forcibly took off my pants. He beat me up. He raped me. He did horrible things. I was crying continuously.”
Another victim child said, “I went with him (maulvi) on the bike. He closed the door and forcibly removed my clothes. I kept crying, but no one came to help.”
Madrasas have become centres of sexual exploitation
Associated Press has already published a report on the condition of madrasas in Pakistan. Be it India or Bangladesh or Pakistan, the reality of madrasas in every country is almost the same. They become centres for sexual exploitation of children. The fear of the mullahs is such that only a few cases come to light. Most of them are suppressed.
Pakistan’s human rights lawyer Saif ul Mulk has also talked about this fear. According to him- Today everyone is afraid of the mullahs. You will not get justice if you accuse them of sexual misconduct. The police also help the mullahs and not the victims.
Nusrat was burnt to death in a madrasa
This fear can be understood from an incident in Bangladesh. On 6th April 2019, 80 percent burnt Nusrat Jahan Rafi was brought to Dhaka Medical College. She died on 10th April. 19-year-old Rafi had complained to the police on 27th March that the principal of the madrasa called her to the office and touched her inappropriately. She accused the principal of the madrasa of repeated sexual abuse. Other teachers of the madrasa also asked Rafi to keep quiet. She was pressured to withdraw the complaint. Then on the night of 6th April, Nusrat was called to the roof of the madrasa. She was asked to withdraw the complaint, but she refused. The attackers poured kerosene on her and set her on fire.
The three accused in Nusrat’s murder were her classmates. According to the police, the Maulvi had said to pressure her to withdraw the complaint, and if she did not agree, kill her. The plan was to make her murder look like a suicide. But this did not happen because the scarf with which Nusrat’s hands and legs were tied got burnt and she managed to run down the stairs.
Same situation in Pakistan even after 8 years
In 2017, voices were raised against madrasas in Pakistan. Then Kausar Parveen’s 9-year-old son returned home from the madrasa soaked in blood. According to reports, one night in April, when Kausar’s son, who lived in the madrasa, woke up, he found the Maulvi lying next to him. The child got scared seeing the Maulvi. The Maulvi then raped him. To ensure that the 9-year-old child could not scream, the Maulvi stuffed his own shirt in his mouth. But in this case too, what happened is what usually happens in most such cases, the Maulvi escaped any punishment. The report of ‘France 24’ informs that even after eight years, sexual abuse of children continues unabated in the madrasas of Pakistan.
