In a meeting chaired by Special Representative to the Prime Minister on Interfaith Harmony and the Middle East, Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, the Ulema have released a joint statement demanding the government to take strict actions against the perpetrators involved in the heinous crime of the molestation of a girl in Rawalpindi seminary.
The Ulema Council has suggested that the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), and the Ministry of Information and Technology should ensure the closure of the websites channelizing pornography and nudity through advertisements in the society. They have laid emphasis on speedy judicial trials and public shaming of the culprits involved in spreading obscenity in society.
The declaration from Ulema has condemned all the cases of harassment and domestic violence against women in the past few days including the murder of Noor Muqaddam, harassment of the Tik-Toker at Minare Pakistan, and the harassment of the girls traveling in rickshaw this Independence Day.
The council has requested the PM of Pakistan to adopt policies that can help in avoiding such incidents from taking place in the future and to carry out speedy trials of the existing cases. They also mentioned the role of an individual of society to prevent the promotion of culture dominated by gender-based violence.
They advised both men and women to follow Shariah in this regard; neither is a man allowed to touch or harass a woman nor is a woman allowed to wear inappropriate clothes.
Allama Ashrafi further clarified that the actions must be taken against the culprits responsible for the molestation of the young girl at Rawalpindi seminary regardless of the fact that they belong to a religious class of the society because cast, creed, or status should not affect the provision of justice to the victim.
