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| September 24, 2005 | Saturday | Sha'aban 19, 1426 |
Apology sought from president
PESHAWAR, Sept 23: The Alliance for the Protection of Human Rights has demanded a public apology from President Gen Pervez Musharraf for his derogatory remarks about Pakistani women, saying that these have hurt the sentiments of the public in general and women in particular.
Representatives of the civil society organizations’ alliance said at a press conference at the press club that the statement made by the president in his interview with the Washington Post in New York was humiliating for all Pakistani women. The president had reportedly said that rape had become a money-making concern in Pakistan.
The alliance of eight non-government organizations working in the NWFP – Shirkat Gah, Aurat Foundation, Human Resource Management and Development Centre, Strengthening Participatory Organization, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Sungi, Noor Foundation and Khwendo Kor — demanded a public apology from the president for his ‘irresponsible, insulting and insensitive statement’.
Human Resource Management and Development Centre Director Bushra Gohar said President Musharraf’s statement had insulted not only the women of Pakistan but the entire nation. Such a despicable statement by a head of state on a very sensitive human rights issue was unprecedented and made mainly to cover up the state’s continuous failure to address the root causes of increasing human rights violations in the country, she said.
Aurat Foundation’s Resident Director Rakhshinda Naz said the situation was an indication of the government’s failure in improving access to justice in the country for victims of violence. She said 178 cases of violence against women were reported in the NWFP in 2004.
While the government was making tall claims of improving the plight of women, the ground realities were diametrically opposite with the state continuing to provide protection to the perpetrators of violence and punish the victims, she said.
The existence of discriminatory laws on the statute books showed continued tolerance towards violence in the country, she said.
Awami National Party leader Haji Adeel said such an irresponsible statement by the president was a result of his irritation with the human rights and civil society groups for not siding with him in gagging victims of violence and for voicing concern over rampant human rights violations in the country at national and international forums.
The alliance also criticized the donors funding state-sponsored international and regional conferences on women’s issues. Ms Gohar alleged that the main purpose of such conferences was to provide a platform to the president and the prime minister to give lip service to important women’s concerns for Western consumption and an opportunity for them to openly attack and threaten victims of violence and rights organizations working in the country.
The alliance asked the donors to try to understand and contribute to addressing the core issues related to violence in a substantive manner instead of doling out huge sums to the government for organizing meaningless events.
Members of the alliance condemn the president’s threats to human rights NGOs working in the country.
It said it was a matter of concern that the president had made no effort to take back his derogatory and insulting comments despite a wide public demand. It reiterated its resolve to continue to exert pressure on the president to make a public apology with the support of district, national and international human rights groups.
The alliance demanded that the issue should be taken up in the National Assembly and Senate and a political process for the president’s removal from his office started if he refused to concede to the public demand.
The alliance announced that it would join the national protest planned by a large number of civil society organizations and human rights activists on Sept 29 in Islamabad.
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