The Saints Of Dark Sins
An AIDS conference woke Pakistan to a stark, ugly reality: the rampant sodomy in madrassas
MARIANA BAABAR



For decades, it has been a sight common to most Pakistani homes: the bearded maulana teaching children the holy Quran. But what has changed over the last few years is the presence of a family elder at these private tuitions, irrespective of the child's gender. The family elder, though it's tacit, is there to deter the maulana from preying upon children for sexual gratification. Indeed, the maulana's penchant to sodomise the male child, or molest girls, has been Pakistan's darkest, best-kept secret.

Until it was made public last month at a most unusual venue: a World AIDS Day conference in Islamabad. "