KARACHI: “Where does power lie in Pakistan?” This question was a common occurrence at the seminar titled ‘Constitutional Framework for the Protection of Human Rights’ held to commemorate Human Rights Day on Saturday, and it fell on the shoulders of Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani to answer the question which other panellists had left hanging in the air.

Mr Rabbani took a no-holds-barred approach and proclaimed: “Power in Pakistan lies with the civil and military bureaucracy. Until we do not openly accept this truth, we will keep on holding seminars where human rights violations will merely be discussed.”

Organised by the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) and the National Commission on Status of Women (NCSW), the seminar was an attempt by legislators, civil society activists and politicians, to highlight the obstacles such commissions face in their functioning, most of which are deliberate attempts by different institutions to hinder the work being done.

“We need to honestly identify the forces than have distorted the ideology of Pakistan from originally being a welfare state and have turned it into a national security state,” said Mr Rabbani.

He stressed the need to establish a concrete counter narrative and counter ideology that should rival the intolerant extremist ideology present in many pockets of Pakistan.

“History will hold our generation accountable if we don’t rise against civil and military bureaucracy, as well as extremist elements in Pakistan. This is not possible without tolerant and progressive thoughts, and a counter paradigm from our side.”

NCHR member Anis Haroon spoke about the dismal condition of human rights in the world. “From war, killings, homelessness, unemployment, rising inflation, lack of women rights, torture, child labour, lack of justice, agencies and their unconstitutional tactics, and an overall lack of social justice, all such issues come under the umbrella of human rights violations,” she said.

Pakistan is also facing such problems she said; however, the establishment of the NCHR in June 2015 is a positive development in tackling such issues. This independent commission not only takes into consideration human rights violations, but also has the authority to investigate the particulars of any case.

“The effectiveness of this commission is largely dependent on a range of factors and the most important among them is the prevalence of democracy in Pakistan which has been largely neglected for a great part of our history. The other is justice for all citizens of the country,” she said.

According to retired Justice Majida Rizvi, chairperson of the Sindh Human Rights Commission, there is a need to identify the type of education being imparted to children in the country. “Unless children are shown the right direction and imparted proper education, we will continue to face varied problems in society.”

“If you pick up the textbooks that are part of the curriculum today, we see history is being distorted and children are being blatantly misled.”

She also recounted her experiences of being part of a human rights commission. From bureaucratic indifference, to lack of funding, and no respect for the law of the land, Justice Rizvi reiterated that regardless of all such hardships, people were truly committed to uplifting the marginalised and providing justice to those who had been wronged.

NCSW chairperson Khawar Mumtaz spoke about the institutional mechanism for the protection of human rights and the issues and challenges faced. “Recognising how violence against women is impacting their lives and investigating whether there has been a positive change in Pakistan with the establishment of these commissions is a matter of great concern,” she said.

“The NCSW was established in 2000 and its current status is that of an independent and autonomous body, which was achieved after a lot of effort and hard work by all those involved,” she added.

“Establish and empower commissions to make a difference in people’s lives instead of focusing only on keeping face,” she urged lawmakers.

She also requested the relevant authorities to provide women with an encouraging environment so that they could take a more active part in the political process.

Politician and human rights activist Fazila Aliani, who is also a member of the NCHR, presented a case study on Balochistan, and the needs of the province with regards to the establishment of a fair political system.

“Balochistan is behind in political rights because it was given its first provincial assembly in 1970, even though Pakistan came into being back in 1947. We are behind in education because the first university in the province was set up again in 1970. How can we understand the law and compete on an equal level with others,” she stated.

“Balochistan is experiencing human rights violation because of lack of education and awareness, illiteracy, unemployment, poverty and lack of representation in the political process in the country.”

Barrister Zameer Ghumro spoke about the human rights situation in Sindh, and highlighted the compromises the federal and provincial governments are indulging in when running the country.

“If the provinces are not being provided their fundamental legal rights by the federation, how will the province provide me with my basic rights?” he said.

MNA Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, representing the different religious minorities in Pakistan, said that every time he approached a provincial government to highlight human rights violations, they were unwilling to accept such occurrences in the first place.

“Sindh has the highest number of forced conversions, where young Hindu girls are taken away against their will. I have never seen such lawlessness as I have in Sindh,” he concluded.

Mr Rabbani in his closing remarks was optimistic that directed struggles against the status quo will make the country a better place. “The journey however is not easy,” he added.

“The status quo yields, but it yields with great pain.”

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2015