Campaigners ask Pakistan to amend discriminatory laws

GENEVA: Pakistan has been urged to amend the discriminatory clauses of the country’s law that allows or encourages discrimination against diverse sections of the society.
Campaigners made this demand during a protest outside the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) headquarters here. Nearly 200 Pakistani Christian groups, Kashmiri and Baloch nationalists attended the protest and called for reforms of what they called “discriminatory laws”.
The protestors questioned why Pakistani authorities had failed to act on the warning signs and let the mobs ransack and burn homes belonging to the Christian community in the Joseph Colony area of Badami Bagh in Lahore. They said that religious minorities in Pakistan were living in a climate of fear and the state was not supporting them or dealing with their genuine worries and threats they face from the militant groups.
The protestors, who had gathered on the call of United Kashmir People’s National (UKPNP), came from different part of Europe on the United Nation’s 22nd general debate session to make their voices heard on the appalling human rights situation in Pakistan, violence has sharply increased in run up to the elections.
Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, the UKPNP chairman who led the protest, called for immediate reforms in Pakistani laws to bring necessary changes that could give vulnerable communities a sense of security in Pakistan.
He questioned why the security agencies were playing the role of a silent spectator when they knew who the real perpetrators of violence were.
He said that it was not only Pakistan where the masses don’t have full right but drew attention towards Azad Kashmir and called on the government to abolish the Act 74 and other discriminatory clauses which encourage the exploitation of Kashmiris and their fundamental human rights. “Shias are killed, Hindu girls are abducted, raped and forcibly converted to Islam, Christians are routinely accused of blasphemy, Ahmadis are routinely attacked, and face imprisonment or death,” he charged.
He said the recent death of a Kashmiri young man Muhammad Ali Murtaza in Kotli, Azad Kashmir showed that the local people didn’t enjoy human rights and the law enforcement agencies thought it their right to do whatever they want to do to them. He called for a fair inquiry into Ali Murtaza’s killing and punishment for the culprits. Kashmiri said that local administration was completely corrupt and had bulldozed merit and fair play principles.
He said the political class in Azad Kashmir doesn’t have a say in their own affairs and were busy fattening their own bank accounts and had no regard for the welfare or rights of local people.
Human rights campaigner Usman kayani said that Pakistan must take every step to provide safety to Hazaras in Quetta or provide them safe exit.
He said that Hazaras were living under siege and had lost their businesses and neighbourhood. He said that extremist groups were driving them out to occupy their properties. He asked the government to inform if plotters of Quetta blasts have been nabbed and when will they be charged.
Christian leader Noel Malik said Christians all over the world were worried that it will not be too long before Christian colonies are attacked again. He said that the law of the land was operational against Christians and they are being beaten through the stick of Blasphemy Laws.
He said no sensible person can think of disrespecting anyone’s holy figure but in Pakistan Blasphemy Laws were invoked on the request of people who want to either grab land or have personal disputes to settle with their Christian neighbours.
He said that authorities in Pakistan must understand that in the new age of social media, no crime will go unreported and the revulsion will be universal. He said that extremists, who exploit loopholes in Blasphemy Laws, are damaging Pakistan’s liberal foundation and therefore their activities must be curtailed.