MIRPURKHAS: Sindh Human Rights Commission chairperson retired Justice Majida Razvi has attributed unabated deaths of children in Tharparkar to early marriages, shortage of food and lack of adequate health facilities.

She said the commission had submitted various suggestions to the Sindh government for resolving the nagging problems of the desert region and bringing meaningful improvement in Tharis’ living standard.

The government did try to make things better, distributed wheat free of cost among the drought-hit population and improved health facilities but mismanagement and corruption adversely affected all relief work, she said.

At a press conference at circuit house here on Friday, the retired judge lamented that underage marriages were a major cause of deaths of children because the young girls gave birth to physically weak children who had little chances of survival.

She said that after the Sindh Assembly had approved the Child Marriage Restraint Act, ratio of underage marriages had significantly dropped. There were relevant laws but they were hardly ever implemented in letter and spirit, she said.

For example, she said, in theory acid should not be sold openly but people could easily acquire it to pour it over women.

She said that she had advised the government to separate police department from politics in order to ensure it provided justice to masses.

In reply to questions, she said the commission was making efforts to discourage feudal mindset in society and curb oppression of women.

She said the commission would open offices in all district headquarters of the province after it received the required budget. Lady inspector Afroz Chohan had been appointed as focal person of Mirpurkhas. She would keep track of the cases of human rights violations and ensure provision of legal help to victims, she said.

About denial of share in property to women, she said that officers of revenue and other departments concerned were responsible to provide women their share in the property of their parents.

She said that she met district and sessions judge and DIG of Mirpurkhas range and discussed with them cases of violation of women’s rights. She requested media to highlight cases of violation of women’s and children’s rights so that they could be provided help in time.

The Sindh government established the commission in 2013 to protect people’s fundamental rights and appointed former judge of Sindh High Court Justice (retd) Majida Razvi as its first chairperson.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2016