Human rights violation in Pakistan
In more than 70 years of its history, Pakistan has never safeguarded interests of its people. Human rights have always been a game for the country’s politics, which is free to play with sentiments of the population in any and every of its provinces. The country lost East Pakistan in 1971 due to violations of human rights of people. Governments kept changing in all these years but politics remained the same, and so is the mentality to exploit the poor by the power.
No respect for diversity of opinion
The world has never been unaware of the county’s real political face that discourages people’s opinion. A United Nations body has raised concerns over increasing threats to journalists and human rights activists, in particular women. It called on Pakistan government to strongly denounce provocation to violence against minorities, and promote respect for diverse opinions.
The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has noticed rising concerns of several cases of incitement to violence – online and offline – against journalists and human rights activists in the country, especially against women and minorities, said UNHRC Spokesperson Rupert Colville in Geneva. He expressed specific worry about accusations of blasphemy in the country.
The persons accused of blasphemy immediately come at risk of violence, Colville said in a statement. The blasphemy laws are being used mostly in personal or political rivalry, he said. Further, the statement called on the country’s leadership to encourage respect for diversity of opinion. Reports of violence against and killings of people for expressing their opinions keep coming from different provinces.
Human rights defenders being killed
Reminding of a few reported cases of last year, the statement cited the incidents of four journalists and bloggers’ killing linked to their reporting. These include a woman, Arooj Iqbal, shot dead in Lahore on the launch of her own local newspaper. This month, some unidentified men shot dead a woman journalist Shaheena Shaheen in Balochistan’s Kech district.
The UN agency stressed the need for prompt, effective, thorough and impartial investigations in the killings of journalists, bloggers and human rights defenders, and asked Pakistan government to ensure accountability in the cases. The statement reminded of the victims’ and their families’ right to justice, truth and reparations, and encouraged the government to protect their rights.
The UN body asked the government to address obstacles to the active protection of the right to freedom of expression. Furthermore, it suggested implementation of legal reforms, including those recommended by the UNHRC and other global human rights mechanisms. Last month, Pakistani women journalists alleged a coordinated campaign on social media attacking critics of government policies, it said.
Vast human rights violation in Pakistan
Despite the abundance of such incidents, no investigation, prosecution and holding to account carried on against the people responsible, the UN agency said. No action is taken against those who thwart people’s efforts of demanding for their rights or fight for justice. Even the government and administration keep violating human rights of people in all the provinces.
The Islamic country has converted most of religious minorities to Islam since independence. According to recent reports, in Bhawalpur of Punjab province, houses of Hindus were razed of. In Karachi, police and security forces arrested several men and women, including students, recently. That was when people were holding a massive peaceful protest against illegal arrests and enforced disappearances.
In wake of human rights violations by the government, people of Balochistan and Sindh provinces are demanding freedom from Pakistan. Even the Director-General of Public Relations of PoK has asked for freedom due to vast violations of human rights of people by the Pakistani government and its administration for over 70 years, since it occupied the region.
However, none of the Pakistani governments in all these year have worked for the interests of people. The politics and bureaucracy in the country are full of corruption. The nation survives on the mercy funding of other countries and global agencies. Most of the money coming as assistance or debt goes into the pockets of government and administrative people. Poor public keep dying from hunger, and now from coronavirus too.
