Written by: Sania Ahmed Khan
Posted on: October 06, 2020 | 
| 中文
An Official Poster for 'Be Gunah' featuring Naveed Anjum
The issue of justice for children in Pakistan has been in desperate need of attention, and certain government departments are currently collaborating with civil societies and local organizations to raise awareness for the newly inaugurated child courts, established by the Ministry of Law and Justice. Slugline Films in association with Group Development Pakistan (GDP) have made “Be Gunah”, a mini-series aimed at protecting child rights and promoting child justice in Pakistan. Set for release at the end of October, Youlin spoke to Sikander Vincent-Khan who co-directed the mini-series with Shehryar Ali, and writer Elia Rathore who co-wrote the series with Ezza Rathore, to get an insight about the project.
Sikander: GDP has been working with children to protect and promote child rights in Pakistan. In December 2017, GDP organized a consultation program with children, to ask them what they thought was needed to protect the children in our country. Among other solutions, they referred to the need to use arts (such as theater, dance, film-making, painting, concerts, etc.) to raise awareness on child rights and present possible solutions, calling it “ARTIVISM”.
The Poster for 'Be Gunah'
GDP considered the children’s recommendations, and came up with the idea of an ARTIVISM campaign that would be youth-led. Regarding awareness activities, the children proposed the idea of a mini-series. The GDP launched an open call for youth organizations to produce and come up with three episodes, highlighting the current efforts made to enforce the Juvenile Justice System Act 2018.
Elia: “Be Gunah” is a three-part mini-series about two male children, involved in a case that has gone awry in the regular courts. There is a suicide involving one of the boys after news comes out that some of the sexual abuse inflicted on the younger child was done so by the elder child. It is somewhat of a complicated plot and I don’t want to give away too much about it, but we follow the journey of a young lawyer (Iman Shahid), as she navigates through the new child courts that have been set up in Pakistan. She is mentored by Sarmad Khoosat’s character, who plays a prominent child rights lawyer and activist in the show. Each part of the mini-series has a duration of 20 minutes and will be released periodically on YouTube.
(L to R) Elia Rathore and Ezza Rathore
Sikander: It is not a real story, but “Be Gunah” was inspired by some of the cases in courts in Pakistan. It also documents the current youth-led process to reform criminal justice and promote child justice in the country. For instance, the campaign wishes to establish child courts that follow child-sensitive SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), aligned with international child-safeguarding standards. The mini-series, furthermore, refers to Pakistani efforts to promote gender equality in the legal profession, as the Ministry of Law & Justice recently launched an initiative to increase women’s representation in the legal profession in Pakistan. “Be Gunah” also wanted to highlight those efforts by featuring female actors to represent child justice/gender justice in the country.
Iman Shahid Behind the scenes of 'Be Gunah'
Sikander: Though there is a lack of data to document this, but the reason why the JJSA 2018 was enacted was that concerned actors recognized the need to reform the criminal justice sector, and address child rights violations. For instance, the Lahore High Court recently overturned a death penalty given to a convict for a crime he had committed when he was 17 years of age. This was already illegal under previous laws, but the judicial system failed to follow an adequate age determination protocol. The Supreme Court identified this child rights violation and commuted the death sentence into life-time imprisonment, and eventually, the convict was freed as he had already served his sentence.
We also see examples of FIRs registered against children less than 10 years of age, which is illegal as per sections 82 and 83 of the PPC. GDP reported several such cases, that were later on redressed by the police or the magistrate. So far, six pilot child courts have been set up in Peshawar, Mardan, Abbottabad, Ghalanai, Quetta and Lahore. Looking at the results , there has been some success in delivering child and gender-sensitive justice. This is what “Be Gunah” is all about: showing that change is possible.
Sikander Vincent-Khan (Left) and Sarmad Khoosat (Right) (photo credits to Slugline Films)
Sikander: During production, it is about ensuring the child actor’s best interests. Our child actors and guardians must provide formal consent, and must always be accompanied by guardians or approved chaperones, preferably of the same sex. Children are also informed that if they feel uncomfortable, they can talk to a focal person – the Child Protection Officer – to report their problems.
Before taking on the project, the “Be Gunah” team had to read, sign and receive an orientation on GDP Child Safeguarding Policy. The crew was also checked to ensure that none of them had criminal records. A GDP technical advisor checked all segments of the mini-series to ensure that the children’s dignity was protected and that no reference was made to an actual victim. A disclaimer explains that all children involved are not victims, but actors. It was also ensured that while shooting the movie, the children’s education was not affected. The process is quite extensive, really, and it was a learning experience for all of us involved.
Child Star Sarim Khan on the set of 'Be Gunah' (photo credits to Slugline Films)
Elia: After “Churails”, we have seen a rising demand for the next wave of writers, producers and directors, who can create content that can compete at an international level, and for which there is an international demand. With streaming services like ZEE5, it is possible to bypass restrictive censorship laws, like the ban on such good art films like “Zindagi Tamasha”, and create content that is socially aware and of good quality. We are hopeful that content will be bought from ZEE5 and sold to bigger services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, for international audiences to see.
Initiatives like “Be Gunah” can be creative but also deeply impactful in raising awareness of children’s rights in Pakistan, a topic which needs urgent action and support from the public. Through compelling storytelling, viewers can learn about the need for laws and their implementation to protect those who are most vulnerable in society. Those interested can follow GDP's social media for updates on the premiere, and can visit their website for more information regarding child justice in Pakistan.
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