In Pakistan, instances of men “inadvertently” touching women are all too common. Girls are taught to ignore it, to avoid creating a ‘scene’. Not only does society silence the woman, our very laws discourage women from reporting cases of violence against them.
Yesterday, news broke out of the Federal Ombudsman directing the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) to fire a teacher from the law department for allegedly sexually harassing a student. I graduated from this very department a mere two years ago. Upon hearing the news, my reaction was not one of disbelief. I did not wonder, “How could this happen at LUMS?” but rather “which one of them finally got caught”.
Having served in both the student council and the law student council at LUMS, multiple cases of sexual harassment were reported to me by students. All of these girls decided not to pursue their legitimate cases for fear of their reputations being tarnished. They did not want to “create a scene”.
One student was harassed incessantly by an admin staff member; he took her number from a form submitted to the office and constantly texted her. She did not report him; she did not want to “create a scene”.
Another student caught a worker hired by LUMS pleasuring himself in front of her. She walked away; she did not want to “create a scene”.
One student walked into class wearing a sleeveless top and her professor exclaimed,
“Girls who dress like this, their mothers do not sleep at their homes at night.”
She quietly went to her seat; she did not want to “create a scene”.
There were even unsubstantiated rumours of teachers and students dating and substantiated rumours of teachers and teaching assistants dating or teaching assistants and students dating.
However, it would be foolish of you to think that LUMS is the problem. The problem is that we do not have a larger conversation about sexual harassment in the country. LUMS, at least, has a sexual harassment policy in place. Other universities where this is common, these things do not even attract censure to make the news. Students from various government colleges and schools have even held protests about facing harassment at their educational institutions. However, they were not taken seriously.
Schools all over Lahore are bubbling with gossip about teachers and students dating. A prominent school in Lahore caught a theatre teacher and a student crossing the teacher-student relation boundaries on school premises but the incident was brushed under the carpet.
LUMS seeks to serve as a model for schools and universities across the country. In all my interactions with board of trustees at LUMS, I found people like Syed Babar Ali and Mr Abdul Razak Dawood to be visionary people, but they are not involved in the day-to-day happenings at the university.
LUMS prides itself on equality; a large section of the student body comes from the National Outreach Programme (NOP), and there is no visible discrimination based on sex, gender, religion or ethnicity. However, if the people at the top do not hold the culprits responsible, then these principles will stand in name alone.
As the student representative of the disciplinary committee at LUMS, I have observed several proceedings. My conclusion is that the hearings violate all principles of justice; students are assumed guilty and it is their responsibility to prove their innocence. The disciplinary committee has flatly refused in the past to hear of any cases against faculty members. The only time the committee actually acts against faculty members is when a political faction within the university professors wants a professor out.
I could name people involved in flagrant violations of the LUMS policies, and the principles it stands for, but the problem is not LUMS. Despite its flaws, it stands as an institution that at least allows its students to voice their concerns.
However, the appointments in the last five years in key offices risk politicising the university and martialling a restriction of freedom for students but news of sexual harassment at LUMS should open a larger conversation about sexual harassment in the country.
We should not socialise girls in Pakistan to not ‘create a scene’. There are rampant cases of molestations and sexual assaults in Pakistan, which go unreported, even to family members. Women are taught to just live with it but we should tell them to create a scene, to report the perpetrators and seek to bring them to justice.
There is a real need to break the complacency regarding the question of sexual harassment that plagues our society. The educational institutions should be safe havens for girls, every school and university in Pakistan should offer a safe place for them to report cases of sexual harassment.
Let us start encouraging our girls to report it rather than shaming, or blaming, them. Generations have suffered in silence, and I think it is about time we have this conversation. The schools and universities, for one, are a great place to start.
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.
Rather then convincing girls to ‘create a scene’ in a society, the culprit of ‘already created scene’ needs to be punished to the extent that no scene happens further in future. A sane would prefer not to create a scene of him/ herself in front of the whole world and also would not want to ‘create a scene’ (or defame) his/her reputable institute like LUMS just because of handful of such people.
When we were in 10th grade our chemistry teacher forcefully kissed my friend and she did create scene actually we did
We also similar things here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/world/in-torrent-of-rapes-in-britain-an-uncomfortable-focus-on-race-and-ethnicity.html?ref=todayspaper
Islam teaches Women to dress,walk and talk modestly and from what i have heard unanimously they lack these qualities. Same goes for the silly men who harrass women(even in burqas but to a relatively low ratio in my opinion). When women act like this they are well an open invitation to such evils. You need two hands to clap.!!
We are far away from our religion and whoever advocates it is bashed by so called liberals,feminists e.t.c. LUMS is more of a westernized society which by Iqbals claim is ‘Stabbing itself’. Accept their positive things and reject the negative. I wish for a true Islamic Jamhoria Pakistan.
Well it is thought to be bad if a girl gets harassed, i am in favor of the point. What if the girl is encouraging her surrounding to be like this? Why was she wearing a sleeveless? A girl knows what she is wearing and what will it uncover and how will she be portrayed. I totally agree that men are perverts and use their manhood to overcome a female but what of the girls who are welcoming these acts? If you are standing on a traintrack you cannot blame the train to hit you.
Secondly, people involved in these shameful acts must be brought into the light and they must be punished.
And if you want to be secular then deal with these cases and shutup women, because you chose your path yourself.
You clearly have no understanding of he word secular. A hijabi woman can also be secular. Secular simply means someone who would also treat the faith of other people with respect. It does not mean anti-Islam as you. Seem to think.
Also the notion that a girl wearing sleeveless is inviting such acts is asolutely absurd.
I think it’s really important that you started off by saying that bad mouthing the university where this incident happened is important. At least, I think it’s important to establish that the *entire university* isn’t to blame. In the case from yesterday, from what I understand, the university did protect the accused. In this case, the university is to blame, specifically, the administration who handled the case the way they did. But the fact that there was a student who stood up against this (and from facebook, I’m assuming she had friends in LUMS who helped her stand up, shows that the students there are willing to make that change). Maybe they are learning *something* that makes them think it’s good to stand up for these causes, even if their university doesn’t practice what it preaches.
Follow the religion properly and consistently, it has instructions for both men and women and law on this topic in very detail. There would be no problems, then! (InshaAllah),
What piece of advice do you have for non-Muslims and atheists; what religion are they supposed to follow in your view, then?
Muslims were to be an example for those non-muslims, but now a days Muslims are themselves fighting with each other, sorry to say even on very small issues. We should be model for them rather than to suggest what religion should they follow !!!
They should follow Islam, dear.
LUMS so called DC has failed to live up to purpose and their admin has definitely politicized recently.LUMS should have fired the faculty member if they don’t want their reputation tarnished. Clearly they have let faculty member off the hook just because he has strong political ties in and outside of the university.
I feel sorry for the female students at LUMS as their university have indirectly told them to keep their mouths shut in case anything similar happens to them in future.
this so does not happen in any campus of NUST, because the discipline in NUST is amazing, other institutions should learn from NUST.
You have done your bit by writing about this and creating an awareness…….you deserve praise. Hopefully the management at LUMS will sit up and do the right thing.
With media particularly cable channels N internet we have lost our culture N values… From my personal experience you will charged by the girl for harrasment if you do nothing…if you r player then u r hero Comparing west I think its not best example because US Uk Germany r the countries on top of the list with most women not harrased but rapped… So if seriously girls have harrasment issues then I think following saudi culture will do the best….!!
I have done my undergraduate and graduate studies both from pretty reputable, posh and not so conservative business schools and I have never come across or heard of any such events. Wonder why such defaming articles are published on ET, infact I wonder if such events actually occur or these articles are just the product of Business Schools War. Which Business school is it going to be next to hit the ET Blogs?
You are not a woman and so did not experience this first hand. You did nit hesr aout it because – as the author pointed it out – the women for whom such experiences are all too familiar have been conditioned to not create a scene.
So if you were a sharif man with a sharif set of male friends, this would be inivisible to you.
There were all types of harassment at LUMS when I was there. In the Law Department, there were two professors who had an adulterous affair with each other. At another point male faculty hired a model just because of her looks. But the worst was the Social Sciences department, especially Anthropology professors. Every type of harassment. They especially picked on girls who wore hijab or dupatta. Exactly as my colleague writes above, these poor girls never reported it. I wonder would Asma Jehangir and Hina Jilani come to the rescue of the religious girls harrassed by their secular friends?
If LUMS tells its female students to cover themselves properly, no such scenes would ever happen. But of course, this is something that you never want to happen.
so basically you mean girls wearing skinny jeans FORCES you to touch them? this is how one should justify their lack of self control?
Dear Sir u should rather emphasize on separate institutions for men and women that would be the real solution to all this
I’d create a scene if it were ever to happen to me, and so it never happens. If people were to know they won’t be spared, they will recognize their boundaries. A well written article that addresses a genuine problem prevailant in various institutions. Girls should be made to believe, and it should be this way, that reporting harassment won’t go against their image
Well said. If people know that the scene would be created for sure, they will learn for sure how to keep their hands in their pockets
Wonderful article. It would’ve read better, however, if you had called the “girls” at LUMS who had complained women, because that’s who they are.
One of the best examples of insult over injury is the remark passed by that low-minded teacher which he passed on that student wearing sleeveless dress.The writer of this article should have asked to bring such sick minds to book rather than asking girls to create a scene which seldom brings any positive result,if not further trouble for female students
just tell me Is wearing a sleevless top within the boundaries of Islam??? And then people like u say that girls are molested and are not secured in this country why they wear these type of clothes in the first place….
Why do you people keep bringing Islam in every discussion? This country comprises of other religious groups as well.
.. but since you did, does molesting, harassing, and raping a woman come within the boundaries of Islam?
If you could just lower your rapist eyes, no such scenes would happen. But of course, this is something that you never want to happen.
You would hit a Pillar or Post lowering ur eyes the moment you enter the Campus because all around you are femme fa’tale(a woman who is considered to be highly attractive and to have a destructive effect on those who succumb to her charms).
You have to blame both.
Teach your daughters how to dress
Teach your sons how to respect
you r right
Dresses provoke such actions, true, but they are NEVER the complete/actual reasons for doing so. Majority of girls here in Pak who get touched and called on are the ones wearing abayas and dopattas.
“Dresses provoke such actions”
It is the upbringing or the lack of it which prompts these retards to assume that a women who in their perception is scantily clad is asking to be raped, asking women to conform to a particular dress code fearing these people is justifying their acts.
How can dresses provoke actions?
Well said.
Once the Prophet(Pbuh) was travelling with his cousin, and a beautiful woman came up asking for directions. The woman was so beautiful that the Prophet (pbuh)’s xousin could not stop staring. So, the Prophet (pbuh) gently turned his cousin’s face away. He did not command the woman to cover herself, nor did he reprimand her. He chose to turn his COUSINS eyes away.
Do not blame the innocent for their mindset.
BLAME THE WRONG DOERS FOR THEIR CONDUCT.
research on this.. you are quoting it out of context.. this happened at the time of ‘haj’ when you shouldnt cover ur face cause it leads to paying a kafara… that is y the cousins face was turned away..
by the way in which book u read this hadith….kindly give hadith number and book.
well said dear
true
You just blame each other and don;t go for root cause….
Agree with you
Dear Ali, are you in some way trying to suggest that wearing improper dresses like those in LUMS correct?
oh please it has nothing to do with the dress. check out the statistics even girls in hijab are raped -_-
Yes dear, they keep saying that males should lower their eyes. They will not change their improper dress. I wonder if they’d like to suggest that males should roam with their eyes lowered all around the campus and some indecent girls moving arrogantly in their totally indecent clothes?
Yes, women should cover themselves up in abayas because you’re the one with a filthy mind. You make such logical sense.
Women to cover and men to lower their gaze. This is the point. Agree?
It has been proven that women covering themselves does not prevent bad behavior or rape, but men can be taught to respect women no matter what she is wearing and respect her as an Individual rather than treat her as a second class citizen or a slave. The problem starts when women are treated as property, something to be taken advantage of, because that is what males in their surroundings see women being treated as…
shhe was being sarcastic. She does not agree with your demand that women should dress per your arbitrary standard.
You should choose your actions, not another persons. Decency would be in lowering your gaze because that would be the right thing to do if you are tempted. You have no right to go tell someone what they should or shouldn’t wear because you’re the one having dirty thoughts.
If women are already covered, what do you want the men not to gaze at?
No, according to the Book, the point is for BOTH men and women to cover up and BOTH to lower their gaze. You won’t do your part till we do ours? Doesn’t sound like a man who follows his religion for his God.
I have to ask: are you serious, or are you somebody with a lot of time on his hands, messing with us?
Or would you rather suggest that men go around blatantly ogling women who don’t meet their arbitrary standard of ‘decency’? Here’s the irony: you cry foul when you don’t like what she’s wearing but it’s her low cut top you stare at, desire, touch, fondle and fantasize about. Tell me what your standard of decency is, fully covered arms? What happens after every female student at LUMS covers her arms? What gets you off then? Should she cover her eyes too? What’s next, should she dig a hole in the ground and bury herself so that your immoral soul isn’t tempted anymore?
Dear, please don’t put that poor soul into a hole. Women have the right to live. Your imaginations are horrible.
Not the right to live as they please, apparently.
You should learn what rights are.
I wish I could see you and bow before this comment.. very well said.
Exactly! When a woman is asked to cover herself, it’s also said that the man should lower his gaze too.
You are right. These two things are important. Both. Women to cover and men to lower their gaze! Totally agree with you.
i usually wear a hijab when i go out but men still look like like a piece of meat -_- and that is the story of every pakistani girl
But it doesn’t mean that men have every right to ogle at a woman if she isn’t covering herself. You are ordered to lower your gaze, not ordered to lower your gaze only if a woman is wearing modest clothes. If you stare a woman and she wearing revealing clothes, according to the religion, both of you will be dealt with separately. My point is, you wont be spared because you think you have a ‘reason’. You should focus on what you are ordered, fix your ‘amaal’ first (lower your gaze when you see a girl, respect her regardless of her clothes.speak out if she is being harassed etc) because your personal amaal are the ones which will get you in Jannah.
Maulana Maulvi totally agrees with you, sister.
Ahh another article advocating LUMS. Ok this is everywhere and many are solved but this is the first case which went to Ombudsman. On which one of right decision is made. Thats a simple story
The best part about this article is– that it has been written by a man highlighting an issue that causes troubles for the womankind. When men of the society realize that women should raise their voice and stand up for themselves and their rights, that’s when the society truly goes towards becoming morally sound!
This will continue to happen unless we as a society do not place ourselves at one side whether liberal or religious. CO-Education demanded height of moral and ethical values to be followed.
There was lot of Rumpus on the Dress Code being implemented in NUST. Remember “Familiarity breeds Contempt”.I for once blame the LUMS Administration for keeping their eyes closed & not evolving Checks & Balances. You cannot allow a Society to do whatever it feels. Can’t follow the Law of the Jungle. . Wherever their is Promiscuity it will lead to such occurrences.
Im from ziauddin university. Our very own dean used to text girls, invite in his office and give them all kinds of favor but he was kicked out of the institution when he was caught red handed in university’s basement and now he works at hamdard university.
Egregious violation of Basic principles is indeed condemnable ,Teacher used to be known as Role Model but i wonder how on earth would someone stoop at such lowest level ,We are living in patriarchal society and women seem to be surviving such attacks on daily basis everywhere in pakistan whether it’s a most prestigious institute LUMS or some Shopping Mall .
MY request to you Please do not absolve LUMS .If you knew about such acts of exploitations then most probably it would’ve known to all Higher management ,They should have taken notice of Ruthless exploitation of female students but the didn’t , Despite all they have done something exemplary now right at the moment and deserve appreciation .
No girl can report her case ,It’s a Uni’s responsibility to protect her from all kinds of evil happening in Uni’s premises ,In our country There is no law implemented which ensures the protection of women’s rights ,Never ever in our country culprits faced conviction and that is the reason women are taught to ignore such acts by men .It’s a time to encourage our mothers,Sisters,Daughters,Wives to report the cases which caused their exploitation .
Yes that is the solution. Because a woman wearing a burqa will never be raped. Is that what you think?
Maybe. But a women revealing herself would sure have a lot of votes
Fatima Sister, Allah Almighty has ordered the females to cover themselves. Since He is the Creator, He knows what is the best. If a man commits a crime against such a lady, that man is to be tried very harshly by the law. In fact, there is capital punishment for rapists. The victim is not given punishment.
Only if she can produce 4 male witnesses or she will be an adulteress and is to be punished by death
First decide to what extent a woman should cover up. Your head quarters in Saudi Arabia are still debating whether a women’s eyes should be visible or not.
Secondly, the capital punishment is useless when a woman cannot even report rape if credible 4 muslim males are not her witnesses.
if you think women wearing a burqa dont get harrassed, you need a serious reality check.
Malvi jee, the “covering yourself” was never defined as a burqa/niqab. A burqa is a societal construct that conforms to “covering yourself” in Arabic culture. Zia’s Pan-Arab outlook caused the burqa to become ingrained in Pakistani society and shouldnt be confused with indigenous Pakistani culture. So stop purporting the burqa as a godsend.
How do you define “Covering oneself”?
“Allah Almighty has ordered the females to cover themselves. Since He is the Creator”…
ALoC…
“If a man commits a crime against such a lady, that man is to be tried very harshly by the law. In fact, there is capital punishment for rapists. The victim is not given punishment”
What you state here does not happen, men who commit rape roam free and the victim is blamed and punished and in some cases forced to marry their perpetrators or killed by them. I guess the divine court is way behind in resolving the cases or you have to die to get justice?
Are you a Muslim? Imposter!
Everyone is nt Muslim. There is no reason for non-Muslims to abide by what your religious books say.
Exactly… But No,they wont improve them selves & they’ll just blame others for not doing more good than them…
Yes dear, they keep saying that males should lower their eyes. They will not change their improper dress. I wonder if they’d like to suggest that males should roam with their eyes lowered all around the campus and some indecent girls moving arrogantly in their totally indecent clothes
Yea be religious and don’t show your arms or I will rape you.
Unbelievable.
And I’ll justify it by saying it’s YOUR fault. What a weak, pathetic excuse of a man.
He was being sarcastic.
Another reason:
LSE>LUMS
you go sleeveless infront of men and you expect them to respect you and not act like animals infront of you? what ever happened to good old modesty? why are the men only to be blamed? why don’t you wear a dupata if not hijab and wear full sleeves once in a while, but noooo they’d rather be “modern” and dress inappropriately and then they expect every tom dick and harry to respect them and look at their face while they talk not what;s below. harrasement most certainly is wrong but the thing is these women want attention from the opposite gender more than they care for their own respect yet they complain so much. some feminist crap. when you leave the Book of Allah and abandon His commandments this is bound to happen. the society today is what it is because of our own actions.
You’re obviously from the likes of the perpetuators. Islam teaches you to be tolerant and respectful even towards your enemies. It’s because of people like you that all Muslims are stereotyped as barbaric and intolerant.
Oh, and not all women are interested in your filthy attention. It’s called being an individual and having personal choices. You’re nobody to judge somebody’s imaan. It’s between them and their God.
Learn to live and let live.
So all it takes for man- the most rational, most supreme of all created beings (according to the Book)- to turn into an animal is the sight of bare arms? Doesn’t sound like much of a rational or a supreme being. Usually, animals that misbehave are disciplined accordingly. Hey you’re right, maybe men do need to be treated like animals (literally) to get them to a place where they might be able to behave normally in society. How does a night in the kennel sound?
I appreciate your work. I am a current law student in LUMS. I do wear abaya and cover my face. Yeah and also I do face problems regarding petty matters. I raised my voice several times. All I demanded was a last table in PDC as in lunch time there are so many people that I am not able to eat with my face covered. I put my request in front of PDC management to please just reserve a last table for girls who wear naqab so that they can eat easily but all they said that we cannot reserve any table. I am not demanding a curtain to be hung for us, I live in an Islamic state and I have a right to practice my religion and it is the responsibility of my state to help me practicing my religion, LUMS is a part of may state so this thing applies to it also. I raised my voice in front of student council members but no output or any reply as if it seems that student council is active just in elections. All my efforts are still in vain. Do pray for my efforts to bring fruit.
Our desi liberals would be concerned about you if you were demanding maybe a male roommate or something of that sort. Your plea does not appeal to them because it is not fashionable. For all they care you could be trying to make a bomb at the back and don’t deserve that table. Sorry sister you live among a pseudo liberal class of our society where it is a woman’s right to walk around scantily clad but wearing a burqa makes her look either oppressed or fundo-maniac.
Madam your state’s responsibility is to protect your right to practice your religion, not to go out of its way to facilitate it. If you were eating at PDC and someone turned around making fun of your naqab, then that would justify the management’s intervention. The question is not whether the favour (or as you say ‘right’) you seek is big or small, for that is a subjective decision for everybody. The question is whether you are in the first place entitled to even make that demand of someone.
Agree
This is really a problem here is Pakistan.
And you are brave enough to point out this problem.
Your long paragraph makes no sense to me.
Yup, people have trouble understanding basic human decency….
Define decency?
If you need me to define decency then god help you!
Komi Sarwar, Sister, you are right when you said that wearing hijab should be to please Allah Almighty. This will additionally save you from a lot of harassment trouble. Those males, who harass women, are horrible and should be punished severely.
Sir, you live on earth. The rule of the land needs to be strong to take care of the perpetrators as soon as possible, in matter of hours and days. This can be done by people who are voting and people like you to force the government to make such laws. God isn’t going to help you create these laws. YOU would, people of the land would.
Instead of encouraging them to create the scene, society or institutes should have strict rules to avoid the scene in the first place. It takes two to make a quirrel.
Sophisticated and respectful dress and attitude keeps many people and problems away.
what i think is creat no scene is actually a problem !! why not creat a scene some one is attacking you !! why not defend your self !
there is always to scene two way for attraction !! if a girl is harass or force , why not she complain in start . 2nd if this happen then girls have to be loud for there rights .
and this is alarming for the institution where gender are not safe !!
in such a esteem institution this case by administration or teaching staff is a question mark for security for all !!!
ten years ago,hundureds of students were raped in Govt.high oys school no 1,peshawar.All teachers were lateron honorably acquited.
noody can do anything with girls in a Mardan university,as they are not visible.
that fired staff member’s name must be mentioned with a picture so that a proper ‘scene’ could be made of those who embarrass. And so that he is not hired by any other organization.
and for those commentators who are considering themselves very religious: do not add mualana to your names. its defaming Islam. How do you know girls adept western attire at LUMS? for that you have to look at those girls and our religion has commanded you to lower gaze. first follow religion yourself!
i dont get it why people are so confused about how to curb it all… its simple, make some laws.. enforce them.. have some workshops…. give men & women courage to speak about it… those who like it or use it for their benefits can carry on & those who dont.. can use the law….& that needs to be strict…it’s not about religion… u cant go on saying that all girls in Lums should wear hijab.. its their personnel choice..u cant forcefully implement it
People only blame ladies they are forced to accept that they were guilty it was their fault they were dressed like this or whatever, i m covering myself for almost 10 years and i faced this situation 3 times in my life on my way to university and i found out its not the dress a woman is wearing it is the thinking of a man what he thinks about woman and in the passing years i felt there is no respect in the eyes of men for women.
A woman’s greatest protector is the law of the land. The religious zealots commenting on dress codes and giving references to religious scriptures are actually a big part of the problem.
Does harassment only happen when a woman is seen in a particular dress?
What about obnoxious calls at home that women have to endure and lewd messages on the social networking sites where many women just go by their names.
Nobody is suggesting women to go around in bikinis which is what mullahs think about whoever fights for women’s rights.
Implementation of law is the key which the self proclaimed religious zealots would never allow.
If women read this comment, the sensible ones would agree.
Stop curing the symptoms look for the root cause which inveterate very deep. The root cause is that we are in a phase of transition from one culture to another. And since we have embraced only a part of another culture and abandoned only a part of our own culture we are missing out on many things. LUMS is a university where this transition is more prominent. So these problems will persist unless we completely abandon our culture in favor of the other superior culture or we completely revert back to our genuine culture. So there are forces pulling us on both ends and we are somewhere in between. Lets hope for a better tomorrow 🙂
It doesn’t matter whether you are girl or boy, whether you wear hijab or not, proper dress or improper dress, gaze your eyes up or down. Action & words speaks louder then thought and that is called “Jihaad-e-Akbar” fighting your own Naafs. That is the point where Allah tests His people to the most. You can be as virtuous as possible through your entire life in theory but when you are actually given the choice that’s when you are tested.
Seek justice only from Allah as this world is no place to ask for justice from, no matter how innocent you are just trust & Believe in Allah and His will. You might not get justice in this world, but, know that Allah Almighty is seeing everything and He will surely bring justice no matter what Satanic people do.
Since author mentioned the line “create a scene”, I can only conjure that he truly really did not understands its meaning.
Dear Author let me ask you do you even know why majority of girls or family refuse to “create a scene”?
In my opinion it will be the heartiest desire of the victim girl or family to slaughter the person right away. However, there is no Law that suggest that it will give protection or will protect his/her dignity in the process. Rather it turns into a matter of dramatic fun for all to watch causing only more pain.
“However, it would be foolish of you to think that LUMS is the problem” … With this frequency of harassment incidents, you would be foolish not to think that LUMS is the problem. There has to be something wrong within.
I have grown extremely fond of Shehzad Ghiyas’ blogs, I must admit.
You’re as good at serious writing as you are at humor, and your use of refrain is most captivating. And yes, I totally agree. We have, in fact, a man about my father’s age in my French Class who’s got a beard and a Namaz mark on his forehead (and who’s also a teacher at the Maths Department I assume, or a member of the staff), who took to ogling so prodigiously and shamelessly that a mere 5 girls are left in the class atm, when there were some 25+ in the beginning.
Write more!
“Girls who dress like this, their mothers do not sleep at their homes at night.”
hahahha…what’s this guy’s name? At least one person at shares my thoughts..
Pakistan is not synonymous with Muslim. Please go educate yourself.
Maulana Maulvi does not agree with your statement, sister.
I have read all the comments and i m nothing short of shocked. How r the men in Pakistan are so frustrated that they get turned on by merely seeing the arms of a girl, cuz thats wat wearin sleeveless does. Can anyone, who is commenting on dressing of girls, promise tat is if girls start covering themselves up or wear hijab then these cases ll stop. Can you? Well I dont think so. So its about time that you should starting accepting your problems rather than pointing fingers at others.
I am talking out of experience here. I wear hijab but it doesnot stop anyone looking at me or pass a derogatory remark at me and it never will. Today it is about dressing, tomorrow you ll say that if the girls stop going out side these incidents will stop. Then day after tomorrow it ll be something else. There is no end to it.
Yes, because reverse discrimination is in order at NUST. NUST needs to focus on that
So the problem isn’t the University where “the hearings violate all principles of justice; students are assumed guilty and it is their responsibility to prove their innocence. The disciplinary committee has flatly refused in the past to hear of any cases against faculty members.”? Really, the University should take no responsibility?
You say that “Despite its flaws, it stands as an institution that at least allows its students to voice their concerns.” How? How does it allow a student to voice her concerns when she is deemed guilty going into the hearing? That’s like saying Pakistan isn’t the problem since it at least gives women a chance to voice her complaints in court. Never mind the fact that the standard to prove rape is ludicrous and impractical, at least it’s something, right?
“I could name people involved in flagrant violations of the LUMS policies, and the principles it stands for, but the problem is not LUMS.” Is it just me, or do you really not see the contradiction in this sentence?
I am a teacher in a very well rputed school I can understand what goes around,in coeducational institutes such things happen it’s the responsibility of parents that they should give confidence and support to their daughters to cope up that situation and must stand beside them,otherwise this society will never give them right to grow with freedom.
What about th responsibility of parents to teach their sons to behave properly?
Pakistan is not ready for CO-ED. Simple.
Don’t quote Religious matters wrongly, Quran is very clear on this matter by telling Men to lower there gages and then women to hide there body(do hijab). If anyone of these commandment is not fulfills then you will see(and are seeing) collapse of society.
Society is collapsing because of religion …….. In particular the misuse of it.
Europe and the Americas (to name just two examples) have collapsed because women generally are not hiding their bodies there?
Many incidents, so many discussions but yet to see a convincing improvement. Because whenever you break the boundary that is told by your creator, you see deep trouble and consequences.
You may introduce laws but you can never change the nature. For that you have to go back to the adopt that ideal society that is the vision of Islam.
May Allah show us the light n right path.
Your Rab (SWT) has defined the Parameters in the Quran & Sunnah. You need to do is a bit of homework. What will u answer him on he Day of Judgement “Sorry I did not know”. Won’t work for in Islam “Ignorance is not a Bliss”.
First of all I am not a Muslim and do not need to do this research. As a Hindu we do not even believe in heaven and hell, so no question of what will happen on Qayamat day for me.
You should realize that even in Pakistan there are non-Muslims and you cannot expect them to follow Quran.
Secondly, even among my Muslim friends, there is no agreement about what is meant by covering up. Sunnah is not the right reference point because what is appropriate dressing in a dessert may not be so in a tropical country.
Maulana Maulvi totally agrees with you, Sir.
I never mentioned any such thing.
Their harassment ratio is thousands of times lesser.
Yeah and women who travel in wooden boxes are even more safer, don’t ask me where it happens.
But I thought once the dirty, arrogant females covered themselves up, harassment wouldn’t exist at all. Isn’t the whole point of your simplistic logic? Then, pray tell, why do women in burqas get harassed at a ratio that is ‘thousands of times lesser’? Please also tell me where you got this fascinating ratio from.
You need to gain more knowledge and then get here back for discussion.
Dear, you don’t understand. You need to come out of your Chemistry and Physics books. Read Islamic Law subjects in your university and you will know why you are wrong.
“You need to come out of your Chemistry and Physics books. ”
One man did and he went on to claim that he had developed a motor which runs with water as fuel, the laws of thermodynamics were almost proven wrong.
Dear, you don’t understand. You need to come out of your Chemistry and Physics books. Read Islamic Law subjects in your university and you will know why you are wrong. No offence, Alright?
Read the Hudood ordinance,and the need for women’s protection act of 2006 which is still being contested by Islamist groups.
Dear, why are you so much against Islam? Are you a Muslim?
Laws are there already.
Please tell me why?
All those rape apologists who blame women for the way they dress up and say “she was asking for it”, the girl in this particular incident wears a hijab! How will you justify it now?
Don’’t blame the university?
Mr. Shehzad Gias, Why was that teacher hired in the first place?
1. He is the son of senior politicians Syeda Abida Hussain and Syed Fakhar Imam and is also related to Syed Babar Ali, the pro-vice chancellor of LUMS.
2. His mother Abida Hussain has served at various important positions, including Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States.
well quite a theo-philosophical comments all around, but no comment on dating culture inside lums, why? because it is not harassment. I am a semi literate person and forced to think, by this article and all the comments coming around, that zina bil raza is not a problem. Dating culture is ok when a teacher and student are willing to do so. this is the beginning of harassment culture believe me or not. This Article discusses about harrasment policies but there is no dating policy. Just trying to think where do we stand.
Men Harrssing women should be punished severely but we must keep in mind that the women wearing westren clothes (just for the sake of fashion) would increase the probability of being raped by the savage men
I hope you’re being sarcastic. What a silly and naive comment. Go to any conservative Muslim majority country and see how they treat women, most of whom are wearing an abaya or a similar form of attire, as objects to leer at or mistreat. How long will Muslim men (and even women) keep their head in the sand and convince themselves that a society in which women are cloaked in a tent is one that will be magically rid of the evils of savage men. MOST women living in majority Muslim countries complain of harassment ranging from “accidental” groping to all out rape. Their abaya did not save them. Their religion did not save them. A piece of cloth is not impenetrable body armor. We live in a day and age where such ignorance should be almost criminal. Think about it.
Cheers.
Well that is the 2nd step asking some one to cover themselves. First step is to cover your eyes 🙂 There are my family cousin when the come to our home and talk to their Khalas Phuphos – They do no look into their eyes but they talk to them while looking on the floor! –
How much covering would be enough, I am asking this assuming the girls concerned do not go to LUMS in bikinis.
Why was my comment censored which talked about harassment on phone and social media. Are women not covering up enough on phones?
Tribune Express in a distress whenever it is challenged by logic.
Never ever appease mullahs, they are a cancer to the society.
I was actually adding to his comment with my sarcasm. It wasn’t directed at A., it was meant to add to what he said.
You’re right, the pervasive culture, and casual acceptance of a teacher/student relationship is unethical and inappropriate and should be treated as such. That’s a different discussion altogether, though.
First of all, i totally agree with the post and I have seen how women are harassed at all levels, wether it be at work, education centre, public etc. Our government and justice system should seriously work on this to make it a better for women.
@religious comments, We can’t pick and choose stuff from Islamic teachings, both men and women have been told how to ACT.
I am surprised no one is talking here about the harassment goes on in private parties and the participants of these parties are as young as 15 16 and onwards. This teenage girls told to me ” they blame me for my attitude in parties, guys expect you to be more FRIENDLY which I am not comfortable with”. I am sure that the readers of this blog would know exactly what FRIENDLY in this case would mean. We should educate our children, both guys and girls. I would tell my daughter to stay away from a nightclub because no one is going to lower their gaze in that environment – just like I would tell my son to avoid that neighbourhood because its rough for teenage guys and he could end up in a big mess….
yeah but its ok to blame all the mullahs if one rapes a child, what a bunch of bigoted self-righteous
it is incredibly disheartening when I read comments suggesting women cover to avoid harrasment .. if covering where enough there would be no harassment anywhere .. Evil people do not care about covering they follow their own imperatives .
What is an “amusing” body part?
We should turn it into a movement “lets make a scene”
Something that needs lot of attention. But, you forget that
You are talking about a country where gender inequality gap is
At number 142 out of 144 countries.
We need to empower women on a whole.
But, how caan we when our political leaders think
That girls enjoying at national anthems is “mujra”
Enforce dress code and regulations in universities. If you see any wrong doing act , then forbid it from happening.Wrong doers will increase and gain more courage of wrong doing acts if they are not being stopped and brought to notice of public. Obscenity and vices are being spread not because of wrong doers but because good people have stopped admonishing and forbidding them. As a result , the wrong doers increase in number and eventually the good people also becomes the victim.
Well, you can create a scene if you want but I am sure many would not like any creation…So don’t be an advocate for everyone…..Let people enjoy their lives as they want to…Simply don’t pose that ladies are oppressed here….Why girls don’t see that boys are getting older and no one cares about them…They have responsibilities like arranging marriage for a sister (a girl)… and in such delays if a guy shows affection towards a girl there should not be anything wrong…I am saying affection, not rape….Would suggest growing up and society be mature….No moral lectures please. I would not see any conflict with religion for showing affection…Just refrain from making it an issue and help guys leading a life thinking someone thinks about them affectionately……………..
Dont blame entire university on act of individual!!!! Do we have same reaction if the event like this happen in seminaries?? no then we blame this to all seminaries and want to burn all mullah’s… hypocrite media and society
Gone to Jihad in Afghanistan after completing Dars-e-Nizami : Blame the Madrassah, Call it the University of Terrorism.
University graduates turn to female harassment, robbery, join ISIS, : University is not to blame.
#TwoFacedLiberalism
It is the fault of the mothers and fathers of the teachers and the students. They think all they need to pay for is the fees and the universities have to do everything related to mental and social development.
You really want to improve any company or university. Just ask the customers / students two questions.
1. List the top 5 good things about the university
2. List the top 5 bad things about the university.
Do this in a secure way so the even the owners cannot find out and report the summaries in the weekly meetings.
This makes the institution aware and be able to move on the right track.
Before you think and state issues with this, come up with a better idea and present that.
This method has been tried and tested over 7 years and it worked very well.
Regards,
Khawar Nehal
http://atrc.net.pk
I know of a LUMS professor who had a relationship with a student half his age and texted obscene messages to her. Not only does he continue to teach in the economics department, he enjoys respect in the entire department. He has been in the department for almost 10 years. If there is evidence of him trying a girl to sleep with him, imagine how many more he might have actually slept with? Abuse of power in LUMS should be checked. No way would this be allowed in the US.