Dhaka, Nov 11 (IANS) Religious preacher Mufti Tariq Masood, who enjoys immense popularity in Pakistan, has repeatedly used social media to defend child marriage, challenge modern age-of-consent frameworks and encourage people to view young girls through the prism of marital readiness, a report has detailed.
“Over the years, this immensely popular preacher has repeatedly used his platform to defend child marriage, challenge modern age-of-consent frameworks, and encourage audiences to view young girls through the prism of marital readiness. What is often presented as religious guidance increasingly resembles the normalisation of ideas that place children within the domain of adult sexuality,” a report in Sri Lanka’s ‘Daily Mirror’ stated.
In one of the videos shared on a social media platform, Masood joked that if someone could not find a 16-year-old bride, he could provide them a bride of two-year-olds and perhaps four-year-olds. His remarks sparked an outrage, with critics accusing him of promoting child marriage and normalising the sexualisation of minors. He dismissed the criticism and termed it a misunderstanding. His supporters said that his remarks had been taken out of context and was only an ill-conceived joke.
Critics have alleged that controversial clips from Masood’s speeches frequently disappear from online platforms following copyright complaints and takedown requests, resulting in people facing difficulty to access his words directly.
“This creates a peculiar dynamic: critics are accused of misrepresenting his views, while attempts to reproduce the original material for scrutiny frequently risk removal. Consequently, the debate becomes less about what was actually said and more about competing narratives. Whenever criticism emerges, it is routinely dismissed as part of a secular, liberal, or Western agenda rather than engaged with on its merits,” the report in Daily Mirror stated.
The problem here does not lie in a joke or viral moment. However, it lies in a world view reflected in speeches, lectures and sermons. The four-year-olds comment might be rejected as a humour if it existed in isolation but it does not, according to the Daily Mirror report.
The comment seen along with years of statements defending underage marriages, opposing statutory age restrictions and promoting marriage shortly after puberty and discussing the physical sustainability of nine-year-olds and 10-year-olds for marital ties, the jokes may seem less accidental and more symptomatic of a deeper ideological position.
Earlier this month, a leading minority rights organisation expressed serious concern over the abduction, forced conversion and marriage of a minor Hindu girl in Pakistan, highlighting the vulnerability of minority children amid escalating atrocities across the country.
According to the Voice of Pakistan Minority (VOPM), 14-year-old Bindiya Kumari, a ninth-grade student, should be attending school rather than being caught up in allegations of abduction, forced religious conversion and child marriage.
The rights body said that her case has exposed the gap between Pakistan’s assurances of minority protection and the ground reality, with her family seeking intervention even as lawmakers question the authorities’ failure to act.
It cited minority representatives who have alleged that Bindiya was abducted from Sibi in Pakistan’s Balochistan province and taken to Sindh, where her conversion and marriage were reportedly facilitated through arrangements linked to Mian Abdul Haq, popularly known as ‘Mian Mithu’.
“Authorities must establish the facts through a fair investigation. But fairness does not require silence, and an investigation should never become an excuse to leave a child without protection,” the VOPM stated.
The rights body said Bindiya’s case was raised in the Balochistan Assembly on October 19 and subsequently taken up by the Senate Minority Caucus on October 29. Lawmakers called for her immediate recovery, questioned the police response and stressed the need for coordination between Sindh and Balochistan.
–IANS
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