Daily Times, COMMENT: Human rights in Pakistan —Nizamuddin Nizamani

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\12\11\story_11-12-2010_pg3_2

General Ziaul Haq organically changed the socio-political landscape of the state and turned the country’s mass into a ticking bomb by planting the seeds of religious fundamentalism. To counter the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy, he initiated a military operation in Sindh and created sectarian and ethnic militant groups in Karachi and other parts of the country

The world community celebrates Human Rights Day on December 10. The envisaged purpose seems to accept the truth that despite the claims of modern, scientific, human-friendly development and globalisation, still some heinous human rights violations are the order of the day in some regions, while realising the universal truth that all humans without discrimination have equal rights to live and develop.

It seems that the UN and related bodies have bitterly failed to guarantee access to basic amenities for common people globally in general and the global south specifically. Even the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) seems a distant dream.

These celebrations are a reminder to governments and activist communities to reassess where we stand and how a large portion of humanity still stands deprived of human liberties, political rights, democracy and even basic human and civic necessities like the right to water, food, social security, individual and physical security.

Pakistan is not an exception. The constitution of Pakistan does provide human rights to citizens but lacks provisions for the protection of minority rights. There are many loopholes in the legal framework, which are subject to misinterpretation or exploitation. The judiciary and the justice system could not deliver and were rendered worthless by despots, both military and civilian.

Human rights violations in Pakistan can be classified as socio-ethnic, feudal-tribal, religious, political, and class, gender, age, sector, profession and industry specific. Non-Muslims are particularly vulnerable. They encounter indifference and are victimised due to the blasphemy laws. After partition some sectors have shown considerable improvements but others have seen a decline, considering the scale of miseries suffered by the people.

Historically, Pakistani society witnessed the worst kind of human rights violations in 1947-49 during the world’s largest forced migration between two divided countries. The 1950s and 1960s witnessed the advent of military dictatorships. Political liberties were curbed but the large inflow of borrowed funds and ensuing food security due to the green revolution and small improvement in daily life prevented political uproar until the struggle for the end of One Unit in West Pakistan.

People report large-scale human rights violations during the fall of Dhaka in 1971 but there seems to be a lack of authentic data on this era. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto started well and as a result gave hope of a reasonable life and sense of empowerment to the downtrodden masses with certain autocratic suppression of opponents, particularly in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

General Ziaul Haq organically changed the socio-political landscape of the state and turned the country’s mass into a ticking bomb by planting the seeds of religious fundamentalism. To counter the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy, he initiated a military operation in Sindh and created sectarian and ethnic militant groups in Karachi and other parts of the country. The brief periods of the elected governments of Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif were wasted in trying to wash away the dirt of the Zia regime.

Although General Musharraf’s era was considered to be better by some analysts because of the media boom and some really worth-appreciating acts like women’s empowerment, discouraging extremism, promotion of enlightened moderation, etc, but by quantum scale, the human rights violations match those of the partition era. 


The government and its opponents both were responsible for glaring offences. Mass killing of tribal people in FATA and other areas, the case of Mukhtaran Mai, the Lal Mosque debacle, bomb blasts, suicide bombings in mosques and Muharram processions, target killing of hundreds of Muslim scholars, the Balochistan operation, Bugti’s killing, the issue of missing persons, indiscriminate killings in Karachi and the murder of Benazir are just the tip of the iceberg.


 Meanwhile, the state has been very selective and treating Sindhis and Karachiites with a mild and the tribes of FATA and the Baloch people with an iron hand considering the daily reports in the media.

People are still deprived of the right to education in their mother tongue, access to water, education, health, mobility, transportation and communication and even security due to privatisation of these amenities. 


Although women’s empowerment has increased, workplace violence and sexual harassment and marginalisation of women have been the order of the day. The Social Development Report 2007-2008 by the Social Policy and Development Centre reveals that women continue to be discriminated against socially and legally, with many constitutional provisions constantly violated both at home and at the workplace. It also states that sexual harassment has increased during the last two decades. The Alliance Against Sexual Harassment (AASHA) reveals that almost 93 percent of women confront different forms of sexual harassment at the workplace, both in public and private sector organisations in Pakistan.

Religious minorities have been crying against the blasphemy laws. Working conditions have returned to the slavery era and workers, particularly in the private sector, are compelled to work for more than a daily average of 10 hours without compensation. The media boom was a blessing for the public but reports reveal that workers in the print and electronic media work in pathetic conditions, without appointment orders or job description and without payrolls. Ironically, no one can complain against such media houses.

People lack the sense of security in big cities like Karachi where, according to authentic television reports, more than two hundred major crimes are reported every day. Law and order issues, mobile snatching, motorbike and car lifting, house burglary, killing of seduced girls and children, etc, are the alarming new face of human rights violations. Traffic violations and queue jumping are crimes no more. People feel helpless and do not report these issues anymore.

The state can and should ensure a sound and peaceful life for its citizens. It can start by educating future generations. But, at the same time, it is everyone’s responsibility to live and let live. Otherwise we will create anarchy for the future that we can ill afford.

The writer holds a master’s degree in social sciences and is a professional trainer, researcher and peace activist. He may be contacted at nizambaloch@gmail.com