One thing deeply religious Pakistanis frequently talk about is the sexual abuse of young boys by Christian priests. "We are so much better than them," they say smugly. Now that a mullah has been arrested after he was filmed raping a boy in a madressah, our religious leaders have not said a word to condemn him. So-called Maulana (Tariq Jamil) who said earthquakes and Covid are caused by our women not observing purdah has also remained silent. The rapist (Azizur Rehman) first confessed, then retracted, saying that he had been made to drink something that made him admit to the crime. No one believes him, except those who are followers of Imran Khan. Instead of condemning the crime, IK's government has banned madressah students from taking their cell phones when they go to madressahs, so no other mullahs can be filmed raping them.
I was talking to one of IK's fervent followers yesterday. I've known him for more than fifty years. He gets incensed whenever I blame Imran Khan for the country's deteriorating situation. Yesterday he said that the raping of boys by mullahs in seminaries is very common, but it's not serious. The government should not do anything about it. However, he insisted that buildings constructed on amenity plots and unauthorized places should be demolished immediately. This would of course mean bringing down at least a quarter of new buildings in Karachi. Of course, there are many such buildings in Lahore and Islamabad, but he didn't say that those should be demolished, as most of those buildings are madressahs.
If ever I meet Imran Khan after he's been deposed, I'll tell him about the damage he's done to Pakistan, especially his quotes about rapes being caused by women not being fully dressed. He probably thinks that Mullah Azizur Rehman raped the boy after he saw some women wearing tight shirts and jeans.
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