Cries over HR violations

The cries over human rights violations are becoming louder with each passing day the world over, and Pakistan is no exception. The state and society have a different and conflicting approach on the issue and would probably never come to a reconciliation point. On the global front, Kashmir, Palestine and Myanmar are a living testimony to these conflicting and contradictory approaches. In case of Pakistan, too, there is so much rhetoric going around on the issue of human rights that one finds it extremely difficult to understand what the real issues are.

The participants at a consultation workshop on “Pakistan’s International Commitments and Status of Compliance in Sindh” — organised by the Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on Tuesday — expressed their serious concern over the violations of human rights in the province. The chairperson of the SHRC, Justice (retd) Majida Rizvi, regretted that despite efforts by provincial and federal governments in the positive direction, the human rights situation was deteriorating all over the country. The participants reminded that violations reflected well in child and forced marriages, missing persons or enforced disappearances and labour rights. However, Sindh Chief Minister’s Adviser Murtaza Wahab tried to extol the role played by his government in this regard.

In fact, the Sindh government claimed to have taken the lead when it enacted a piece of legislation — The Sindh Protection of the Human Rights Act, 2011 — to address the issue. However, adhering to its usual style of governance, the Sindh government took two years to notify the formation of the SHRC as required under the law.

There, however, seems to be no immediate solution to this grave issue as long as we are unable to draw a line between the privileges and compulsions of the state and the rights of the individuals.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2018.

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