Articles with tag: Rights
Self Rule For Gilgit Baltistan
zafar sopoori Oct 27, 2009 interacts: 3The enforcement of self rule regulations in Northern Areas and other current Pakistani measures are a visible sign that Kashmir and Kashmiri people are no more in Islamabad’s policies and priorities like the previous decades.
It is Time: The Women’s Right Movement in Pakistan
Taji M Sep 3, 2009 interacts: 74It should not take a gang rape or burning alive of a woman to make our media take notice and our bigwigs to make pronouncements about women’s welfare.
Minorities and Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan: A Legal Perspective
Nauman Asghar Aug 17, 2009 interacts: 22In Pakistan, the blasphemy law dates back to original 1860 Indian Penal Code in which Articles 295 and 298 inserted keeping in view the religious sensitivities of the inhabitants of the sub-continent. But then blasphemy was not an offense punishable with
Pakistan Crisis - Seven Problem, Seven Solutions
Khalid Sohail Aug 7, 2009 interacts: 129Pakistan is experiencing a major existential crisis. But crises are mixed blessings which can lead to regression or progression. They can cause a breakdown or become a fertile ground for a breakthrough.
Denial of Right of Self-Determination to Kashmirs
Nauman Asghar Jul 9, 2009 interacts: 162July 13th is commemorated as the day courageous Kashmiris laid their lives in a struggle against despotic and barbarous rule of Maharaja in 1931.
Greatest Challenge Before Obama
Ikramul Haq Jun 29, 2009 interacts: 64 July, 2009 is a special day for the people of United States of America. The dream that Martin Luther King visualized has attained reality.
The Guantanamo Millstone
saeed qureshi May 24, 2009Guantanamo Detention Center and its inmates have turned out to be a millstone around the neck of the United States.
Demise of Pukhtoon Nation
Farhad Khan May 11, 2009 interacts: 99Pukhtoon is bleeding to death and all my fellow countrymen are standing and watching the sad demise of this nation, thinking that Americans and Talibaan will never knock at their doors!
YES, we can!
Muhammad Akhtar Apr 18, 2009 interacts: 8All great transformations are started by a small minority at a stage when there are skeptics dominating the optimists. We have to believe that there is no greater power than that of the people.
Democracy, Pakistan Style
Chad Haines Mar 17, 2009 interacts: 13Unlike 1990s, when demonstrations were carried out by PPP or PML hired thugs, today’s rallies are full of people, Pakistani citizens demanding accountability and full restoration of democracy.
Long March Poem
kashkin dabruski Mar 13, 2009 interacts: 1In all these years in our memory
In all these moments in our sight
Never that rapture or passion
Never there was a moment
To unite for purpose and oppression
To break this silence, to protest
For our rights, until now
Fatima Jinnah: A Beacon Of Hope
Danya Ehsan Mar 10, 2009 interacts: 23When I think about what does being a Pakistani woman mean to me, I think of Fatima Jinnah’s aspirations. But do those aspirations come into the minds of ordinary Pakistani women?
Pubs, Liquor Shops and Women Empowerment
Rohan Dharesh Feb 18, 2009 interacts: 118CPLFW: Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women. Should we take it that these women believe going to pubs and having sex outside marriage as a matter of right?
Human Trafficking: The Great Commodity Exchange
Shantanu Dutta Jan 16, 2009 interacts: 3While no comprehensive study of forced and bonded labour can ever be completed, there are estimates that the trafficking “industry� touches 20 to 65 million Indians.
Swat Calls For Civil Society to Act
Zubair Torwali Jan 7, 2009 interacts: 135Government writ is a faded vision; elected councilors and Nazims are killed, women no more allowed to visit bazaars; markets are deserted, police stations vacated.
A Guantanamo Diary
Beej K Singh Jan 2, 2009 interacts: 20The question that comes through strongest in reading M.R. Khan’s book “My Guantanamo Diary� is – how can a system supposedly full of safeguards go so wrong so quickly for so long?!
One Hour From Midnight
Parakkad Varma Dec 12, 2008 interacts: 4If the people clamour for more stringent laws, the government is bound to heed. After all, no political party can be trusted to resist a demand for a police state.
Hop Aboard the Interfaith Express
Feroz Qutabshahi Nov 19, 2008 interacts: 24Ironically, the main organizers of Interfaith conference at UN was His Majesty King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, country with the worst record in history on religious tolerance.
The Way Out
Hussan Zia Nov 5, 2008 interacts: 33Much of the responsibility for the failure in Pakistan rests with the people themselves who have not played their part in protecting their rights.
New US President Must Review Pakistan Policy
Beena Sarwar Nov 4, 2008 interacts: 28Tensions between the United States and Pakistan -- on the eve of the keenly-watched U.S. Presidential elections -- accompanying a visit by U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus
Terrorism Accused: Is Legal Aid Justified?
Shridhar Naik Oct 7, 2008 interacts: 399The BJP National President, Mr. Rajnath Singh’s recent statement opposing the providing of legal aid to the suspected terrorists
Celebrating 61 Years of Broken Dreams
AliHasan Cemendtaur Aug 24, 2008 interacts: 6"Missing in Pakistan", a 29-minute documentary capturing Pakistan's gross human rights violations tacitly supported by the US Government, followed by a talk by Safdar Sarki.
Restoring the Civil Rights of Ahmadis
Chowk Jun 16, 2008 interacts: 200The persecution of Ahmadis even under the present mangled constitution is patently unconstitutional.
The Cruel Expulsions
Mutaal Mooquin Jun 16, 2008 interacts: 19Reaction to “Twenty Three Students Expelled From Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad�
Happy Mother's Day
Ammara Ahmad May 11, 2008 interacts: 15Today, 11th May is Mother’s Day. It is almost absurdly romantic that a country like Pakistan would celebrate a day like to honor mothers!
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful
Azra Rashid Apr 20, 2008 interacts: 1022According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, in 2007, 1205 women were reported to have been killed in the name of honor. Each year the number is doubling.
Is It Treason to Question
Amer Nazir Apr 7, 2008 interacts: 15In the General Hospital in Lahore, in the top most brain surgery institute of Pakistan, people lie in verandas in unhygienic conditions.
A Cursed Nation
Imad Zafar Jan 3, 2008 interacts: 44What a sorrow, we dream of an ideal society a prosperous country but we want someone else to fight for this cause.
Vi Veri Universum Vivus Vici
Naveed Ejaz Nov 29, 2007 interacts: 6Feigning infant-like naivety, we assume that like a chess board, war remains restricted to an 8x8 playing field and will never reach our doors.
Why Me?
Awais Memon Nov 30, 2007 interacts: 1He created the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS, received the first Annual AIDS Leadership Award, and addressed the United Nations on World AIDS Day.
The Empire Strikes Again in Pakistan
Karamatullah K Ghori Nov 5, 2007 interacts: 158Throttling democracy and shackling human rights of 160 million Pakistanis, Musharraf still has the gall to liken his ignoble daylight robbery to Lincoln’s historic nobility.
An Unconditional Commitment to Pluralism
Rohit Chopra Sep 7, 2007 interacts: 22It means accepting a Hindu as a Hindu, a Muslim as a Muslim, a Jew as a Jew, an atheist as an atheist, an unbeliever as an unbeliever and it means respecting that choice.
The Hegemony of the “Cause”
Sangeeta Mahapatra Jul 12, 2007 interacts: 3There is something inherently flawed about the notion of placing a cause, however just and noble, before human life.
Section 144: Ban on public gatherings
almas almass Jun 12, 2007 interacts: 6The section 144 has its roots in British constitution of 1938. British needed it to secure their imperialistic interests. The question is whose imperialistic needs it is serving now?
Daughters of Hajar
Mohammad Gill Jun 5, 2007 interacts: 1054Hajar was Prophet Abraham’s wife and the mother of Ismael. Abraham took them to Mecca (at the site of the Masjad-al-Haram) and abandoned them there (at Allah’s command?). Identifying herself with Hajar, Asra chose to call her organization 'Dau
The Silent Majority Speaks
imran ahmad Jun 5, 2007 interacts: 58I have not yet seen or heard that an excellent bank manager, an efficient medical doctor or the most qualified air steward has been made a Corp Commander or an Air Marshall. I have however see many armed force officers in positions where they are not supp
Talking Tall on Human Rights
Joe Athialy May 15, 2007 interacts: 13India talks tall on human rights in its attempt to seek re-election to the Human Rights Council.
Guddi
Tahera Sajid May 9, 2007 interacts: 17'Am I forever destined to wish better luck to others when nothing good ever comes my way?'
Women's Protection Bill is Not Enough
Nuzhat Malik May 2, 2007 interacts: 5Hudood Ordinance enacted in 1979 by a military ruler General Zia-ul-Haq has been an issue in Pakistan. General Zia suspended all fundamental rights guaranteed in the 1973 constitution.
A Profile In Courage
Rakesh Mani Apr 22, 2007 interacts: 6A recipient of the Sitara-i-Imtiaz Award in Pakistan and the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s most prestigious human rights honour, she declined an offered post as the first female judge on the Pakistan Supreme Court, stating she thought she could effe
Our Tolerance of Comical Illusions
Faris Kasim Apr 5, 2007 interacts: 7The only superpower in the world claims that it is fulfilling its majority’s wishes but does exactly the opposite. A third-world plutocratic state wishes to better its citizens living standard by investing in a policy that benefits only a privileged
Violation of Civilians by the Army in Pakistan
mohammad shoukat Apr 5, 2007 interacts: 27How the army controlled security abused my mother and my brother in front of the whole world.
Fight Hudood, Protect Women
Beena Sarwar Mar 6, 2007 interacts: 414Pervez Musharraf’s amendment of Pakistan’s Sharia laws represents only a partial victory against legislation that many have been fighting against for over two decades.
Get over the Victim Syndrome
Ahmer Muzammil Jan 26, 2007 interacts: 236The real issues that affect our daily lives are never addressed by opposition or the government, instead we are enamored with non-issues like huddod ordinance, attire of mushy, Kashmir, women’s face on hoardings, music in public buses and other crap
Educate Because You Can
Tania Sarfraz Nov 13, 2006 interacts: 12For close to an hour, she ranted and raved about how schools were merely places meant to “corrupt” and “modernize” innocent Pakistani children, how educating girls converted them into prostitutes.
Mirza Tahir Hussain – the ongoing tragedy
Musa Sami Oct 31, 2006 interacts: 18Prince Charles’ visit to Pakistan has brought into sharp focus the case of Mirza Tahir Hussain, a 36 year old dual British and Pakistani national who has been on and off death row for the last 18 years.
Children of a Lesser God
Ishrat Saleem Sep 27, 2006 interacts: 9Last week, a number of eunuchs holding placards gathered in front of the parliament building to protest against the excesses of their leader, Bobby Guru. They also made it a point to support the debate on the Hudood laws in parliament, thereby maki
It should be called Stupid Ordinance, not Hudood!
Ahmer Muzammil Aug 24, 2006 interacts: 121They are about to resolve another landmark issue for the people of Pakistan. Once the amendments are done to Hudood Ordinance, the entire Pakistani population will come out on the streets and do the victory-dance.
Siachen’s Non-paper and the Non-people
M I Khan Apr 10, 2006 interacts: 31Calls for restoring road links between Baltistan and Ladakh, two perfectly peaceful places, have so far fallen on deaf ears in Delhi and Islamabad
Value of a Citizen
Ibrahim M Khalil Feb 17, 2006 interacts: 17What sets apart London or Britishers for that matter is respect for citizens. In Pakistan, only the lives of politicians, feudals, army officers and visiting foreigners (from western Europe or USA) has any value
Hero as Molester
Subhash Gatade Sep 25, 2005 interacts: 14The commonality of experiences on both sides of the border had never been so same ... The highest court of the country have finally vindicated the indomitable woman's stand.
Sex and Pakistan vs. Rape and The World Media
Saima Shah Sep 23, 2005 interacts: 344The safe image of ‘us poor but creative Indians making a living’ is not Pakistan’s. The safe image of ‘us hardworking Chinese—open a factory?’ is also not Pakistan’s lot. The fact that Pakistan is about meat curri
New Murree - New Ways to Ruin Water Supplies
Q Isa Daudpota Sep 22, 2005 interacts: 5But to put so much effort into providing 'safe' expensive bottled water -- that is mostly consumed by the elite -- overlooks the serious neglect of the water sector as a whole in Pakistan.
Rape and Exploitation - Pakistan’s Dilemma
Bina Shah Sep 18, 2005 interacts: 194Musharraf will very probably live to regret this instance of foot-in-mouth disease, but the only way to show Pakistani women, and the world, that he has had it cured is to take very concrete steps for the protection of and the achievement of justice for e
Savita’s Choice
Kalpana Sharma Sep 18, 2005 interacts: 6Hundreds of child marriages are held across Rajasthan with no one stopping them. The reality sinks in when the children attain puberty by which time they are told they have no choice. But they do.
Because He Couldn’t Get It Up!
Azra Rashid Sep 17, 2005 interacts: 68It is not easy being a woman in Pakistan.
Rape of another Kind
naeem sadiq Sep 17, 2005 interacts: 45He must publicly and unconditionally apologise to every citizen of Pakistan.
33 Years and Counting
B Waraich Aug 26, 2005 interacts: 85The issue of 54 prisoners from the 1971 war continues to fester- when will the truth come out?
Behind the Iron Purdah
Bina Shah Aug 25, 2005 interacts: 267...what this country might look like if people who want Pakistan to emulate the Taliban (in terms of how women should be treated) got their way
Ayodhya: The Aftermath of the Terrorist Attack
Subhash Gatade Aug 16, 2005 interacts: 89Tired of emotive issues which affect their own lives and feeling cheated at the hands of these self-proclaimed upholders of Hindutva, people just did not care when the saffron brigade gave a call for agitation over insult to ‘Hindu identity.’
Jerry’s Pakistan
Yasser Latif Hamdani Aug 16, 2005 interacts: 522The jazba that there is for Pakistan seems to be entirely in the non-Muslim Pakistanis and they have a much better way of showing it too. No law-breaking, no gunfire, no silencer-less motorcycles, no women-teasing as has become commonplace on Independence
Towards a shackled society, perhaps
Omar R Quraishi Jul 20, 2005 interacts: 121The vague and ambiguous provision of “ensuring Islamic values at public places” is bound to open a Pandora’s box because it would be safe to assume that the person whom the NWFP government will appoint as ombudsman will share the MMAR
Union Strike One
Rezwan Bajwa Jun 14, 2005 interacts: 61Something out of the ordinary has happened over the past 3 weeks. The PTCL workers Union has pulled off a successful strike and has managed to get the privatization of the company postponed indefinitely.
Mukhtaran Mai vs. the Rest of Pakistan
naeem sadiq Jun 14, 2005 interacts: 281There are examples in history where armies were dispatched to protect the honour of a single woman. There is however no example of a single woman dispatching herself to fight against an army of institutions that collectively represent an entire countr
Why Mukhtar Mai Matters
Bina Shah Jun 1, 2005 interacts: 147She has decided to take up the fight against “outdated and unIslamic customs and traditions” as she stated on International Woman’s Day this year. Mukhtar Mai is showing here that she is no victim, but a woman who has been forced to beco
Implications of Iraqi Instability
S F Hasnat May 31, 2005 interacts: 27In the presence of 138,000 American troops, the first seventeen days of May witnessed 21 car bombings in Baghdad, while there were a total of 25 in all of the year of 2004.
Misogynist State
Beena Sarwar May 23, 2005 interacts: 14'Forcibly preventing participation in public events by women can act only to encourage extremism, and send out a message to orthodox elements that their actions are condoned by the state.'
No Retreat
Beena Sarwar Apr 25, 2005 interacts: 155A large number of girls braved the threats to participate in the Sargodha marathon on April 9, but were forced to run inside the stadium of a girls’ college -- defeating the very notion of a marathon as a long distance run.
A Space of One’s Own
Beena Sarwar Apr 5, 2005 interacts: 134Actually, a woman walking alone in public is also a rare enough sight (which explains my own initial hesitation) and why so many people asked how I felt about it. Even rarer is the sight of a woman cycling anywhere – as women of my mother’s ge
Sui Incident: A PR Disaster
Riffat Jahan Mar 16, 2005 interacts: 37Officers operating in this institutional milieu can go to any length - sometimes on the orders of their chiefs, sometimes responding to their own lust.
Planting Democracy in the World – A Mantra for Freedom
Mohammad Gill Mar 6, 2005 interacts: 83I realized for the first time in my life in the U.S. that I had some basic rights; such a thought had never crossed my mind when I was in Pakistan where a police constable could, at will, rob you of your rights, if you thought you had any, and dignity.
The Violence Factor
Naveen Qayyum Feb 24, 2005 interacts: 9The society where there is prevalent economic deprivation, huge class disparities, lacks of correct understanding of our histories and identities, absence of democracy and political participation violence against women and its growth becomes inevitable.
Baloch Rights or Sardars’ Rights?
H P Feb 9, 2005 interacts: 59It is always hard to distinguish where Baloch Sardar rights end and Baloch people’s rights begin.
The Rise of Illiberal Democracy
Sher Khan Jan 31, 2005 interacts: 18An essay by Fareed Zakaria on the rise of democratically elected governments which deprive citizens of their natural rights.
The “D” Word
Aisha Farooqui Jan 18, 2005 interacts: 235I sometimes joked that had we had blackened eyes and bruised bodies as proofs of torture it would have been easy to sell our “D” idea. But unfortunately mental and emotional scars cannot be brought forward as evidence for dissolution of marria
Diary of a Rape Victim after her Death
Mubashir Butt Jan 3, 2005 interacts: 27Today is the fourth day from my death as I was shot dead on December 24, 2004 in Gujranwala.
Lady Reporter
Beena Sarwar Dec 26, 2004 interacts: 19There is no simple answer to the question that people (mostly foreigners) often ask: how does it feel ‘to be a woman journalist in Pakistan’?
Reflections of Resistance
Naveen Qayyum Dec 13, 2004 interacts: 5No matter how different ideological courses these movement may adopt, women in South Asia are there to bring about a change for peace and justice by resisting the ‘sacred’ and the ‘secular’ both.
Jirga injustice
Beena Sarwar Nov 15, 2004 interacts: 17From an informal body meant to settle small claims, the ‘jirga’ in Pakistan has been allowed to emerge as a powerful extra-judicial force protecting the interests of the powerful.
Women, Conflict and Conflict Prevention
Naveen Qayyum Nov 15, 2004 interacts: 5Women have a much bigger stake in the conflict prevention and peace process along with the other peace partners since they have remained and still are the victims to the most horrendous cruelties of war including rape, sexual slavery, prostitution, displa
Child Camel Jockeys
Reza Malik Oct 25, 2004 interacts: 26Inhumane practice of using little children as camel jockeys in the UAE and the resulting mental and physical torture they go through.
No Compromise on Murder
Beena Sarwar Oct 17, 2004 interacts: 36The heirs of the victim can forgive the murderer in the name of God without receiving any compensation or diyat (blood money), or compromise after receiving diyat.
Why not a well thought out constitution?
Abdus Samad Jul 5, 2004 interacts: 25The current consitution can be amended to fit our needs
Politics of De-veiling
Adnan Sattar Jun 12, 2004 interacts: 51The headscarves issue in France is profoundly reminiscent of the policies of the French coloniser in Algeria who, in the words of Frantz Fanon, ‘solemnly undertook to defend this woman, pictured as humiliated, sequestered, cloistered’
Breaking the Silence
Beena Sarwar May 14, 2004 interacts: 13Such torture is routine in the prisons and police stations across Pakistan, but our authorities too continue to doggedly ignore reports about such abuse... The question is, will it take graphic photographs to make our authorities address the issue?
Loudspeaker Victory
Beena Sarwar Apr 25, 2004 interacts: 15Most people suffer the loudspeaker menace in silence.
Inhuman Right Organizations in Nepal
Rajeeb Satyal Apr 12, 2004 interacts: 17It is as painful for any Nepali to see a security person die, as it is to see any Maoist die. But unfortunately the Human Right Organizations do not seem to view human right situation from this angle. They choose to take side.
Civilisation That Isn’t
Beena Sarwar Apr 4, 2004 interacts: 23What leads people to not just kill another human being, but to inflict pain and torture before killing, and then mutilate the bodies afterwards?
Criminals -- or Victims of an Unjust System?
Beena Sarwar Mar 28, 2004 interacts: 22If the President really wants to help women in prison, he would do well to repeal the Hudood Ordinances. This would have a far greater impact than limited remissions and pardons.
Rights (un)Defined
Hafsa Ahsan Mar 13, 2004 interacts: 52A women’s magazine recently took out an “Ibne-Adam” edition
Pakistan’s Hudood Laws: Extremely Misused
Beena Sarwar Mar 9, 2004 interacts: 35Two decades of a lack of public debate has contributed to the continuing misconceptions about these laws. People often assume that they are Islamic, and therefore justified.
Honour Killing: Understanding The Legal Background
Nasir Ali Mar 9, 2004 interacts: 17Hadood Ordinance has provided this ill-practice, a legal cover. Now, the male members sit together, chalk out the plan and kill the women without the fear of any legal consequence.
Right Time for the Small IT Guy
Ramla Akhtar Jan 14, 2004 interacts: 11'Is there some law against sending unsolicited mail?” asked the naive 'e-marketer' of a Pakistani firm. Actually, who ever thought about consumer protection and all that?
Karo Kari
Ayesha H Ahmad Dec 11, 2003 interacts: 154They dragged her away and what her fate was, Fatima had not the heart to listen to. Miserably, she went and sat down by a tree, near the place. The sounds were very vague over there and she closed her eyes.
Human Rights, Justice and Affluence
Riffat Jahan Dec 8, 2003 interacts: 34Islam fully compatible with democracy: It doesn’t take much brainpower to realize that a society can never flourish where rules and laws are being implemented selectively.
Fake Encounters
Zafar Anjum Sep 15, 2003 interacts: 5Once Charlie Chaplin went to a fancy dress party where the invitees had to come dressed as Chaplin. Chaplin got the third prize, beaten by two other fake Chaplins. Recently, famous Indian painter, M F Hussain, mistook three copies of his works as original
Women and Divine Decrees
Rafay Alam Jul 28, 2003 interacts: 115No other law in Pakistan, other than the law relating to blasphemy, has led to such heated debate and controversy than the law relating to the evidence of women
Justice for Half a Man
Urstruly Jul 17, 2003 interacts: 176Islamic law and jurisprudence have also come under international scrutiny since it presents a historically proven and viable alternative to the existing English Common Law and Napoleonic Code. One of the main issues that have come under the spotlight is t
