DADU: Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) chairperson retired Justice Majida Rizvi held a public hearing in Darbar Hall of Dadu deputy commissioner’s office on Tuesday.

MPA Kalsoom Chandio, DC Sami Nisar Shaikh, SSP Aijaz Ahmed Shaikh, officials of various departments, representatives of civic and utility agencies as well as civil society activists attended the deliberations.

After the hearing, she pledged that she would write to the authorities concerned to make them address issues of rights violation.

During the proceedings, SSP Shaikh pointed out that no case of honour killing had been reported in Dadu district so far this year. In the last year, he said, 15 women were killed for honour in this district. Sharing data of rape cases, he said a total of eight such cases were registered last year and another four so far this year at various police stations of the district. All the accused nominated in these cases were arrested and produced in courts, he added.

The SSP said that women complaint cells established in the district had registered 500 cases last year and in the first trimester this year around 70 cases were registered.

Civil society representatives informed the SHRC that over 100,000 children were currently out of school and 450 schools were lying closed in the district. They said no budgetary allocations were released to schools and, as a result, children had to sit on the floor of their classrooms.

Justice Rizvi said that directives would be issued to the provincial education minister to get all the issues resolved. Some civil society representatives informed her that over 100,000 children in their schooling age were made to work. They said the labour officer of the district always remained away from his office whereas no officer of the department was visiting the district to check child labour.

MPA Kalsoom Chandio told her that “unnecessary” power loadshedding of 10-12 hours a day was being resorted to in the district which had paralysed citizens’ routine life. Similarly she said, gas loadshedding added to their miseries.

Some others complained that the work on a 430-bed hospital had not been resumed for eight years although payments had been made to contractors.

DC Shaikh said that funds for the project had recently been released and hopefully it would be completed soon.

Justice Rizvi later told the media that the SHRC had been holding such hearings in all districts of the province and after collecting facts it would submit a comprehensive report on human rights violations to the government. She expressed the confidence that in light of the commission’s recommendations, measures would be taken to address the issues relating to honour killing, child labour, basic amenities etc.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2021