Focusing on rights

The attention given by the Senate’s Committee on Human Rights to the situation in Balochistan is welcome. Violations of human rights have a great deal to do with the turmoil in the province and its exploitation by various groups. A Senate delegation led by HR Committee Chairperson Nasreen Jalil is currently on a two-day visit to Quetta to look into the matter of missing people, targeted killings – including that of Hazaras – and also attacks on ethnic groups living in the province. The committee, prior to its visit, had suggested it would propose a new draft law be put in place to better protect all minority groups in the country, while taking particular note of the Hazara situation with over a thousand Hazaras killed in targeted attacks over the past seven years or so. The community is obviously under severe stress with hundreds killed in bombings in Quetta since 2010. The Senate Committee will meet with Chief Minister of Balochistan Dr Abdul Malik Baloch to share their ideas. They will also speak with the relatives of missing people and Hazaras who have been killed. Ms Jalil has also said more needs to be done for members of non-Baloch communities who have been attacked and injured in Balochistan and are now struggling to survive. There have been a series of attacks on non-Baloch persons travelling through or living in the province.
Certainly, the human rights conditions in Balochistan need to be addressed. But it is uncertain if any law alone can solve the problems that currently exist. A broader approach is also required, although of course a specific law can help strengthen the hands of the government and the police. What is most essential of all is to create greater awareness and promote tolerance in a society where hatred continues to flourish. The Senate Committee, which says it plans to put forward its proposals for new legislation to the law ministry, needs to think about this too and examine a wider approach to the entire issue of minorities in our country and of human rights violations directed against them. The task is no longer an easy one and involves many different factors. It is, however, welcome that a high-powered delegation has chosen to visit Quetta and acquire first-hand knowledge of the concerns of people living there. Their perceptions are important and need to be taken on board when devising any policy that is to have an impact on the province and end the wave after wave of unrest that has struck it through the past few decades.