Corporal Punishment Banned in Islamabad
In a ground-breaking move for Pakistan, the National Assembly, on Tuesday, passed a bill banning all forms of corporal punishment in Islamabad.
The National Assembly on Tuesday, February 24 made a historic move by passing a bill that banned all forms of corporal punishment in Islamabad. The move came in recognition of the abominable consequences on children after being subjected to the heinous crime.
According to the new law, any teacher or guardian who practices any form of corporal punishment on a child will be penalised and will face legal charges regardless of the intention behind the crime. The law will now be making its way to the Senate to be officially recognised in the country.
Singer and humanitarian, Shehzad Roy ha been in the spotlight for advocating against corporal punishment and child abuse. Using his TV show as a platform, the musician has been campaigning for the ban of this immoral act for eight years.
“When we were in school, there was a pitai [beating] culture,” he told the press. “I would not like to take any names, but all of us have gotten beaten up at one point or another.”
Talking about the issue, Shehzad Roy pointed out that children inflicted with corporal punishment or other forms of abuse, often do not realise that they are being subjected to abuse. Instead, they are coerced into believing that violence is a valid means of resolving a problem.
“It was after I became the goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and held a concert at the Karachi Central Jail that I spoke to children there. Most of them said we didn’t get beaten up, because they considered only bloody head injuries or vicious punches forms of violence.”
“When a child is born, he is beaten up by his parents. When he goes to schools or madrassahs to receive education, he is beaten up by the teachers and then eventually mercilessly by the police. He witnesses that if anything needs to be fixed, violence is considered the only solution, the only way. This is why I cannot stress this enough — protect your children. Teach them, don’t severely punish them,” Shehzad Roy said.
Shehzad Roy has been doing his utmost to meet with top lawmakers from the National Assembly such as Asad Qaiser, convincing them to hear and pass the bill banning corporal punishment in Pakistan. Upon the development, the musician was overjoyed.
While maintaining that reform always remains an unfinished business, Roy reiterated that passing the bill is not the ultimate solution to the plethora of problems stemming from corporal punishment. The practice is severely deep-rooted in our culture therefore the government will have to do way more to protect children and to bring about a change.
“All interventions need to be made on a national level. There are still too many issues that need to be fixed.”
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