PESHAWAR: HRCP urges crackdown on ‘unlawful groups’
Bureau Report
PESHAWAR, Dec 24: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has said that the escalation of tension between India and Pakistan is harming the fundamental human rights in both the countries.
In a press release, issued here on Monday, HRCP Chairperson Afrasiab Khattak said development over the recent weeks had caused a grave setback to the efforts the civil society had been making for establishing peaceful and good neighbourly relations between the two South Asian states.
He believed that reports of jingoist slogans and loose references to the possibility of a war between them could only cause alarm because in the event of war not only the rights of people, but also their very existence would be gravely threatened.
It was much to hope that saner council would prevent any armed conflict because the people of the subcontinent needed peace and mutual goodwill more than ever, he added.
Mr Khattak stated: “While New Delhi’s feeling of outrage at the dastardly raid on its parliament house is understandable and no words are strong enough to condemn this act of unpardonable terrorism, India is urged to realize that armed conflict does not guarantee solution of any problem, nor is it a civilised mode of redress.”
The HRCP called upon the authorities in India and Pakistan to meet at the highest possible level and earnestly seek a peaceful resolution of all the disputes and disagreements, including terrorism in Kashmir.
Mr Khattak said the HRCP was convinced that regardless of the merits of official statements issued in New Delhi and Islamabad, Pakistan must avoid the stubbornness for which it blamed the Taliban.
He added that the country must realize that the militant groups in it were only defying the constitutional bar and laws of the land, and that they posed a grave threat to the security of the state and the rights of the people.
He urged the government to firmly suppress the groups in accordance with the law and taken effective steps to ensure that they were rendered incapable of playing with innocent people’s lives and their liberty anywhere and in any form.
Mr Khattak remarked that the lives, rights and interests of the people of Pakistan could not be sacrificed for the sake of a few unlawful militant groups. He called upon political parties, trade unions, human rights activists in both countries to play their due role in defusing tension in the region and redouble their effort for peace.
