The recent events that have been going on in Pakistan are heart-wrenching, to say the least. With Zainab no longer in this world, it’s time we all look at ourselves and see how WE can bring about a change. At a protest/press conference held in Zainab’s honor today, we saw many of our celebrities in attendance. One of whom was Mahira Khan.
She said that whenever we talk about abuse, one ban or the other comes in place
Source: @magazinemonday / Instagram
She said that whenever someone tries to raise their voice, they’re asked to sit down and be quiet. We need to understand the fact that majority of the time, it’s someone close to the family who is the perpetrator.
She also said that ‘the important thing is we have to start talking about it that sexual education should form a part of our curriculum’
Bachoun ko yeh parhana chahiye. They should be educated about sexual abuse, the difference between a good touch and a bad touch. Kis cheez per aap apni awaaz uthayein. That we should never associate being abused with shame. That nobody should be afraid of speaking up against abuse. The ‘log kya kahein gey’ mentality should just be chucked out of the window. And that’s very important.
She said that we need justice for the Zainab case, but we need to make sure nothing like this ever happens again
…That we can’t afford another hashtag for justice for one more child. We can’t afford more incidents like Zainab’s happening.
Social media activist Jibran Nasir was also a part of the protest
Leading the chants, Jibran Nasir
Singer Shehzad Roy said that one in five children in Pakistan is subject to sexual abuse
He also said that in order to prevent such incidents from happening in the future, we need to put strict measures in place. We can’t expect the issue to disappear just by stopping children from leaving the house. Even though there are laws for the protection of people, there is barely any awareness about them.
Actor and singer, Junii Zeyad, the man behind the protest, was at the forefront, spearheading the gathering
He said that now that we’ve taken this step forward, this step of speaking out against those who perpetrate crime and heinous acts such as these, we should never back down. That we should walk forward, shoulder to shoulder, so that there are no more incidents like these that ever happen, again. That no parent ever loses their child ever again. That no child has to go through such torture again.
Other celebrities present at the protest, showing their solidarity with Zainab were Sanam Saeed, Hina Bayat, Sahir Lodhi and Ayesha Omer.