Children need to stop being punished for the conflicts and situations adults have put themselves in. Yes, there are times when children, like all others, will inevitably be affected by wars, attacks, etc. However, when they have done nothing wrong and posed no threat to society, why punish them to inflict pain not only on the ones targeted but their families as well?
A few months ago, a girl named Asifa Bano was kidnapped, raped, and murdered by eight, adult, Hindu men in India. Why? Because her family belongs to a minority Muslim tribe in a region where religious and political tensions are already high. The plan of these heartless, inhumane criminals was to drive away both her family and the other members of their tribe. Unfortunately, it worked. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks ago that the case was finally given the attention it deserved and publicized on a national and international level.
Many people will say and believe that the case has too many implications deeply rooted in the ongoing Hindu-Muslim conflict, but that can’t be true. Somehow, somewhere, people seem to have lost their humanity. When a dispute progresses so far, so as the people involved not only compromise, but completely forget their morals and values, it can’t be classified as partisan anymore, and it most definitely is not justified.
Sure the system is probably rigged, but I believe in Asifa’s case and those of countless other innocent victims, adults and children alike, the offenders have become desensitized to a point where they only see labels and numbers. At the end of the day, we’re all humans with stories, dreams, and families. Forgetting that is a grave mistake not just for the one who commits the crime but for humanity as a whole. People are more than their race, culture, religion, profession, etc. and up to a certain age, children don’t even have that sense of discrimination within them. To me, that’s what makes this the most heartbreaking.
What did they do wrong? Nothing. They were simply placed into a set of circumstances beyond their control. They could not do anything about the position they were placed in, but the least the politicians and conspirators in such a situation could do is try to improve the area and situation to leave it as a better place for the generations to come. The least they could do is try to give a sense of protection so that eight-year-olds don’t have to wake up the next morning with the fear of being raped, killed, starving or left in any other situation which an eight-year-old should not have to worry about.
Asifa was just one case. A case that was almost forgotten and the disappointing truth is that there’s a whole plethora of forgotten children all over. To say the least, it’s unfair. It’s shameful. And it hurts. The helplessness hurts. Their lives should not be like this. Children are the future, but how can they be if their dreams are snatched away from the very beginning?