The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan: ''Some stark realities''

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has released its annual report for year 2013. Of all the wrong things happening in the country, the situation of minorities, women and children has worsened over the year. Pakistan has increasingly becoming intolerant towards those who do not share the religious beliefs of the majority in the country. And now with the rise of Taliban ideology and its Salafi brand of Islam, the noose around the neck of anyone other than the followers of this creed is in danger of choking them any time. HRCP has shown reservations about the government’s ongoing peace dialogue with the militants, more so because of their hatred towards the minorities. Their design on Pakistan had been to convert the land into an Islamic hub where no Christian, Hindu, Ahmedi or for that matter even Shia would have the right to live. We had seen tombs of saints and graves of religious scholars and poets desecrated. We have witnessed temples set on fire. We have seen Hindu girls forcefully converted to Islam after abduction by Muslim boys. Churches have been blown apart by bombs. Christian localities had been burnt to ashes. The prayer centres of Ahmedis were targeted. The absence of the right to defend by an alleged blasphemer is the ugliest reality of our justice system. According to the report, over one year, killing of Shias has risen by one fifth in Pakistan while attacks on Christians have gone up by 22 percent. The target killing of the Shia intelligentsia has continued through the year. The purpose of Pakistan’s creation had never been to make a Muslim-only country.

In fact Quaid-e-Azam wanted Pakistan to become an exemplary state that could accommodate people from different religions and races. Pakistan’s creation was a reaction to human rights discrimination done on the basis of religion against Muslims in united India. With Pakistan resorting to the same practices, are not we imitating the pre-partition extremist Hindu mentality?

The paradox is that on the one hand we want Pakistan to become the fortress of Islam and on the other our practices are such that only two years back in 2012 Pakistan was declared disastrous for religious and ethnic minorities, weak and vulnerable groups and marginalized communities. The situation has not changed since. According to the HRCP report in 2013, 869 women were killed in the name of honour, and some 800 women committed suicide. Similarly around 5.5 million children of school going age could not be enrolled in schools. These statistics speak volumes of the priority the government gives to human rights, especially to minorities, women and education. And unless we improve on these our survival shall remain in danger.