KARACHI: Speakers at a seminar on Tuesday observed that the situation of human rights and freedom of the press was deteriorating in the country in the wake of growing intolerance and extremism.

They also expressed concern over the security situation in Balochistan, where they said enforced disappearances had become very common but no one was doing anything to address the worsening crisis.

They were speaking at a seminar — Status of Human Rights in Pakistan: Challenges and Way Forward — organised by the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (Szabist) here on Tuesday.

Speaking on the occasion, Human Rights Commission Pakistan (HRCP) chairman Asad Iqbal Butt said intolerance was constantly increasing in society, with minorities were facing problems in getting jobs and their places of worship facing threats and attacks.

Moot calls on state to put an end to enforced disappearances

Similarly, he said, the people took law into their hands and killed anyone by charging him or her with blasphemy but the state appeared ‘helpless’ and unable to do anything.

“This behaviour of the state encourages the elements involved in such crimes,” he said.

He was of the view that one of the main reasons behind interlace and extremism in Pakistan was All India Muslims League’s narrative of religion when it was fighting for independence.

The HRCP chairman believed that by declaring Pakistan an ‘Islamic republic’ the state meant that besides Muslims, other citizens had no or inferior place in the country.

Speaking about Balochistan, Mr Butt said that people in the province were being picked up by law enforcers for decades.

He said the state complained that the people of Balochistan did not trust it. “Why would they trust the state when the state itself has done things to lose their trust,” he asked.

Giving a recent example, he continued: “Recently, many Baloch women came to Islamabad to protest because they believed in the Constitution but they [state authorities] did not talk to them. Rather, they did things to disturb them and force them to end their protest.”

And when anyone returned after ‘disappearance’, the courts never asked where that person had been and never charged those who were responsible for the violation of human rights, he added.

Dr Riaz Sheikh, the dean of the Szabist’s social sciences faculty, also spoke on the issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan.

He said: “The state is supposed to guarantee the lives and safety of people but in this country, the state itself is involved in the disappearance of people.”

Academic and author Dr Tauseef Ahmed Khan talked about media freedom in Pakistan and its issues.

He said that the narrative of the media was being controlled for the past many years. “Article 19 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech but it was changed and the judiciary, armed forces and another department were exempted from it. So you cannot speak against them.”

He said the media in the country had not been free in the past and was not even at present. Some restrictions were imposed on the media in the past and still continue to be in practice, he said. “For instance, whatever happens in Balochistan, the media cannot speak on it.”

Referring to the violation of basic human rights, particularly in Sindh, journalist and human rights activist Husain Naqi said he had been in Karachi for the last around four weeks and so many people had been killed in that time. He said there had been dozens of cases of not only girls but even babies being raped in the province.

He said that incidents of enforced disappearance should be stopped or there should be a mobilisation of the masses to fight against lawbreakers.

As the way forward, the HRCP chief said it was necessary to promote a democratic culture along with regular discussions and dialogue on such issues.

He said similar things in all religions in the country should also be promoted to build tolerance among people.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2024