The rape of a minor girl of Sumbal area of Bandipora district has sparked anger across the Valley, with people demanding exemplary punishment to the accused involved in the crime.
WEB DESK
Amid the massive protest over rape of a three-year-old girl in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, several religious leaders in the Valley have decided to devote their sermons to highlight sex education, women issues and curbing moral degradation in the society.
According to Rising Kashmir, the Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU), an amalgam of various religious groups has unanimously decided to focus on weeding out social evils in the society in their religious preaching in Ramadan including during Friday prayers.
MMU chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said owing to growing moral degradation in the society, Imams in mosques need to talk about sex education to create awareness among people.
“I think we need to break this taboo now, where an Imam talking about sex education in mosque is considered shameful. We can’t shy away from this now anymore,” Mirwaiz told Rising Kashmir.
Expressing his concern over the growing rape cases in the Valley, he said religious leaders have paid less attention towards such issues in the society.
Mirwaiz said Ramadan, being a month when a majority of people throng to mosques and shrines, is an ideal time to rake up the matter related to social evils creeping into the society.
He said MMU is also deliberating on sending small groups of ulemas to educational institutions where they can have special sessions with students to talk about the moral values in Islam.
“Given the time we are living in, I believe that a student from 5th class should be taught about sex related issues in schools and other educational institutions,” he said.
Mirwaiz urged the civil society to extend their support in launching a strong campaign for weeding out the social evils.
The rape of a minor girl of Sumbal area of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district has sparked anger across the Valley, with people demanding exemplary punishment to the accused involved in the crime.
The three-year-old girl was allegedly abducted and later raped by a local man at Trehgam, Sumbal, on May 8.
Karwan-e-Islami (KeI) patron Moulana Ghulam Rasool Hami also advocated about creating awareness about sex education in the society.
“Today, we are living in times, where (Nizami Amal) the wall of respect between a youth and an elder, between a female and a male has crumbled down,” Hami said.
Blaming social media for “waywardness” in the society, he said children should be given moral classes in schools.
“It is imperative to teach children about the indecent advances made to them, be it at home or any other place,” he said. “Children should be made aware about the practices like head touch, chest touch so they can raise the alarm bell on time”
Hami said to curb this menace from the society, “it is important for ulemas also to talk about sex-related topics in their religious preaching”.
“I have no hesitation if Imams will touch this subject in their sermons. We need to safeguard our society from,” he said.
Kashmir’s Grand Mufti, Nasir-ul-Islam reprimanded ulemas for not talking about sex education in mosques.
“I don’t understand why it is seen something shameful. Isn’t it a part of Islam. We should preach about sex awareness in Mosques,” he said.
Nasir, who is also chairman of J&K Muslim Personal Law Board, pitched for introduction of Sharia laws to stop these evil incidents in the society.
“If there would have been a Sharia law, nobody would have dared to commit such a heinous crime,” he said. “In Saudi Arabia, I have seen people being beheaded every Friday for such crimes.”
Nasir urged Muslims to inculcate Islamic teachings among their children to avoid such incidents in the society.
Courtesy Rising Kashmir