A controversy has erupted in Pakistan, following a minister’s interview with the BBC, in which he said that some 500 complaints of sexual abuse in religious schools have been documented this year.
“There were 500 complaints this year of abuse allegedly committed by clerics,” said ‘Amer Liaquat Hussein, a minister in the religious affairs department. He went on to say that last year some 2,000 such complaints were filed, but as yet there have been no successful prosecutions.
The minister’s revelations have sparked death threats and infuriated some religious political leaders, according to South Asia News.
He added that the body responsible for the religious schools – the Federation of Madrasas – was willing to cooperate with investigations because some clerics were bringing a bad name to Islam. However, the revelations have angered some Islamic leaders, and at a parliamentary meeting this week, they demanded that the minister apologize.
The abuse revelations were made during a week in which the Pakistani government has been meeting religious leaders to build awareness of the spread of AIDS, wrote South Asia News.
Pakistan is stepping up its anti-AIDS campaign, and the idea is to utilize the clerics’ unique reach into communities to increase AIDS awareness and to preach prevention.