Faisalabad: September 26, 2013. (PCP) The government must take decisive measures against extremists and terrorists sowing rifts, conflict, hatred and panic in the society, whereas legislation protecting children should be carried out to award harsher punishment of life-long imprisonment until death without any impunity for rape convicts, and immediate arrest, prosecution and conviction of the rapists must be ensured for prompt and quick justice for the victims. This was emphasized by the participations of the rally entitled ‘No Violence-Know Peace’ to mark 32nd international day of peace, held on 21 September 2013 at Faisalabad under aegis of the Peace and Human Development (PHD Foundation) and the Association of Women for Awareness & Motivation (AWAM) in collaboration with the Adara Samaji Behbood (ASB) and the Awareness & Development Organization (ADO). Speaking on the occasion, the director of the PHD Foundation, Suneel Malik said, “The media, government, and politicians must respect the privacy and dignity of survivors of sexual violence and their families, by not exploiting them in media-rating wars, or political point-scoring photo opportunities.” “Sectarianism is not in the country’s interest, therefore we need to work together for good of all the sects and communities living in Pakistan by shunning the differences, hatred and intolerance, and respecting other people’s rights to exercise their beliefs and religious rites, and join hands to contribute for creating an atmosphere where every segment of the society is coexisting,” he added. A human rights activist, Naseem Anthony said, “Targeting of a section of population solely on account of gender is utterly unacceptable and it is a matter of shame that society at large has not felt compelled to raise a strong voice to put an end to this travesty.” “There are combination of factors to the culture of silence, violence against women and impunity for perpetrators, including denial and a persistent refusal to acknowledge as a society that there is a problem of pervasive violence against women that needs to be addressed urgently,” he added. A women rights activist, Shazia George said, “The incidents of sexual assault have become so common that we hardly take any notice or stand of brutalities against females, and even the most brutal crime cannot move us as a society. There are many flaws in our legal system that helps offenders get away scot-free. If we want to protect women we will have to show zero tolerance towards sexual violence including harassment and rape.” The director of the AWAM, Nazia Sardar said, “Rape is an extremely heinous crime as compared to murder because it devastates the entire life of a woman, especially a child. It has adverse psychological affect on the victim.” “Rape is a crime, not just against an individual, but against society and the State; thus the survivor’s family must not be pressurized to accept any out-of-court settlement and compensation through the police or perpetrators’ influence,” she added. A social activist, Irshad Parkash said, “Pakistan is embroiled in a chaotic situation, wherein citizens have been experiencing extreme forms of violence, conflicts, terrorism and even war-like situation. This is only because of this growing sense of extreme intolerance and extremism.” A social activist, Rafay Joseph said, “The government must take exemplary steps to promote diversity and build culture of tolerance, harmony and dialogue among different communities, and prevent violent conflicts on the grounds of ethnicity, sect and religion.” The rally was joined by a large number of people hailing from different communities including students, lawyers, and representatives of trade unions, political parties and NGOs. The participants marching from District Council to Circular Road, were carrying peace symbols, balloons, banners and placards inscribed with slogans in favour of peace and human rights and in opposition to sexual violence and intolerance involved in molestation of children. They chanted slogans against the government and police over their failure to apprehend the culprits, and demanded earliest arrest and strict punishment of culprits, and end of violence against journalists, human rights defenders, women, labourers, religious, sectarian and ethnic minorities.