KARACHI: A video showing a senior lawmaker apparently groping a minor girl sparked widespread anger on social media on Wednesday evening after it was circulated by at least one Facebook page, with many viewers tying it to recent cases of child abuse which have shaken the nation.
The lawmaker in question has been identified as PML-N Senator Nisar Muhammad, who hails from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and is a member of Senate’s Standing Committee on Human Rights.
The video was filmed while he was speaking to protesters gathered in Karachi’s Sohrab Goth area to protest the alleged extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud. The senator had been at the gathering as part of a Senate delegation.
The delegation — which incidentally represented the Senate’s Standing Committee for Human Rights — had been led by Senator Nasreen Jalil and comprised senators Farhatullah Baber and Shahi Syed, among others.
The parliamentarians had met the organisers of the jirga at Sohrab Goth, where they were joined by Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani and the JI chief Sirajul Haq.
The video shows the senator continuously groping the minor girl, who is standing next to him, during his speech. Despite scores of people in attendance at the protest, no one — including the other senators — is seen objecting to the actions of the parliamentarian or attempting to stop him.
It has been reported separately that the jirga was called off after the delegation’s visit. Zafar Mehsud, one of the organizers of the jirga, told a private television channel that they had called off the protest as the senators and Durrani had given them assurances that their legitimate demands would be fulfilled.
Published in Daily Times, February 1st 2018.
