The Lone Wolf

Child pornography is a multi-billions dollars industry and the platform through which it mainly functions is “dark net”. Tens of thousands of pedophiles are using hidden parts of the internet to trade and watch children being sexually abused. The “dark net” which is part of internet but difficult to access through normal servers and software’s, has become corner stone of almost all the shady businesses ie: smuggling, drugs and human trafficking, child-pornography and even hiring assassins to kill the flagged targets home and abroad.

While law enforcement agencies, skilled and equipped to deal with cyber-crimes have been trying tirelessly to curb notorious use of dark net and expose its users worldwide but so far they are undecided as to whether is it possible to completely dismantle such a sophisticated networks of high-fi hackers and IT professionals who hide their identities behind many layers of secrecy and hard to penetrate firewalls.

Most of the people around us, and I confess I’m one of those, have not heard or knew much about dark net and the way it works and how do people connect with it to contribute their “content” and extract profits.

Something fishy is on the horizon and alarm bells must ring.

Recently there’s been upsurge in cases of children being kidnapped, raped and murdered in Pakistan's urban areas. Random incidents are norm round the globe but when events start following a devised pattern of timely occurrence and of the same sequence, something fishy is on the horizon and alarm bells must ring.

But no one seems losing sleep.

In 2015 a gang was exposed in Kasur, involved in large scale child abuse, filming sexual exploitations and selling it to infamous websites which attract millions of sick-minded psychopaths who take deep interest in children being subjected to severe torture on camera, and then killed after being repeatedly raped. But the gang was just exposed and not busted. The outlaws roam around with impunity and agony of victims has not been powerful enough to raise the eyebrows of the Robin Hood of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif whose fancy for media coverage and lust for publicity and acclaim know no bounds.

After another innocent soul fell victim to predatory instincts of a sexually blinded beast, specter of dark net and child pornography has once again been raised but this time exception is the desecration of a prominent anchorperson, Dr. Shahid Masood of News One who vows to expose the syndicate of politically entrenched manufacturers of child pornography and their benefactors. The anchor insists all it is being controlled by high flying personalities of ruling party, the PMLN and claims to have in possession of visual and documented proofs enough to prove their culpability.

This matter has taken the Pakistani media by the storm. Many self-proclaimed pundits of all-the-issues this world faces have opined their worthy judgment, already, against a case they know nothing about. A nationwide, no less, outrage compelled Punjab police and Shahbaz Sharif to announce the arrest of the protracted serial offender who is allegedly been behind all such instances of rape and kidnappings over the year, in Kasur.

Popular narrative being projected by PMLN sympathizers in media circles is to hang the culprit right away without dwelling on the depth of his heinous moorings and wash the hands but spoiler Shahid Masood has come up as a lone wolf to unmask not the offender at hand but an organized networks which is using such mindless beast just as pawns and actually is responsible, not just the odd confessor who currently is in the custody of Punjab police.

Matter has been taken up by the apex court, after Masood publicly pleaded for a suo-moto, for hearing and more details are expected to emerge but regardless of the credibility of Dr. Shahid Masood, he’s hit the nail on its head by outlining a direction which if pursued in earnest can entail more explosive revelations which are to help nib the evil in the bud.

Lone wolf is facing onslaught of his own callous kin which is perturbed by recent revelations but accusations and counter-accusations apart, incumbent is on the govt. to ensure no child suffers the same fate as Zainab’s again.

Wolf has a shaggy reputation of often exaggerating the simplistic theories shared on social media and penchant for hype which brings TRPs. But connection of child abuse and dark net pornography are not to be brushed aside as bemoaning of a mad man. Story of various accounts might not be true but the bait has been taken up by the media which seems real purpose behind Masood's overrated claim to expose 2 high ranking officials of govt. who allegedly are remote controlling this net locally. 

Mindless frenzy evoked in media is revolving around just the "accounts" part of theory and transactions of multi million dollars whereas Wolf's target is govt. officials. It is to be seen whether Masood emerges as a whistle-blower or just a usual lone wolf whose fate is mostly tragic.