While Pakistan is a signatory to most of the main international human rights treaties and its own constitution guarantees many of the same rights, actually upholding these rights has been a different matter. There are many reasons why we have struggled to properly realize all the rights we have promised to the people. For one, many still view the entire concept of human rights as suspicious. They see it as an attempt by the West to impose their will on our country and others claim, wrongly, that they are not Islamic. The politicians manipulate this narrative skilfully to win popular support. Furthermore, justice, especially in our country, is expensive. This leaves rights of the ordinary citizen insecure and the victims of human rights violations are disproportionately from the poor. Extra-constitutional dictatorships and interventions throughout our history are also a key factor.
There should be a system of legal aid for those unable to afford it on their own. Furthermore, people should be educated about their rights and the mechanism to claim remedies if required. In addition, every human rights law shouldn’t be made controversial for the benefit of media, politicians or clerics.
Muhammad Sharif Otho
Sobhodero