The weakest link: ‘Minorities have been deprived of fundamental freedoms’

Sindhu explains govt decision to become party in Kot Radha Kishan case.

LAHORE: Human Rights and Minorities Affairs Minister Tahir Khalil Sindhu said on Wednesday that a summary had been forwarded to the government regarding the establishment of human rights and minorities affairs department offices in every district of the Punjab.

The minister was speaking at an event on the International Day for Human Rights that had been organised by the South Asia Partnership (SAP-PK) and the REAT Network. He said the offices would be tasked with preventing untoward incidents like the Kot Radha Kishan episode from happening in the future. Sindhu lamented that most cases of human rights violations took place in the name of religion. He said such excuses were often used to settle personal scores. Sindhu stressed the need to reform collective attitudes to protect citizens’ rights irrespective of caste, creed and religion.



He explained the decision of the state to become a party in the Kot Radha Kishan case. Sindhu said this demonstrated the government’s commitment to ensuring that similar incidents never occurred again. He said all resources should be used to protect citizens’ rights. Sindhu said public awareness regarding human rights had been increasing due to the efforts of non-governmental organisations. The minister said another significant development was the increasing concern among lawmakers regarding misuse of blasphemy laws.

The minister said a summary seeking 20 marks award for students from minorities educated in religious studies had been moved. He said the government was including 25,000 women in major departments and making them part of the decision making process there. He said the government was committed to ensuring a five per cent reservation for minorities.

Provincial Assembly Member (MPA) Ramesh Singh Arora said it was necessary to alleviate poverty to promote human rights in Pakistan. He said it was common knowledge that the minorities had been deprived of fundamental freedoms including the rights of expression, association and assembly.

Chief Commissioner for Child Rights Nasreen Farooq said her office had been striving to protect the rights of children according to the international convention on the rights of children. She also spoke about the mechanisms in place at the ombudsman’s office to protect citizen’s rights.

Regional Director for Human Rights Lubna Mansoor shed light on how the regional directorate of the Law, Human Rights and Justice Ministry had been striving to protect the rights of everyone during the year.

A number of academics, lawyers, lawmakers and representatives of non-governmental organisations were also present on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2014.