FOR the people of Pakistan to successfully confront the multiple crises the country faces, it is important to honestly acknowledge what ails us. That is what the HRCP’s State of Human Rights in 2024 report seeks to do by highlighting the major rights violations and anti-democratic trends that affected Pakistan in the past year. As the report notes, democracy, federalism, the rule of law and the judiciary’s independence were all “under heavy strain” in 2024. It can be argued that these and all other crises are interlinked, as a lack of political legitimacy and concord following last year’s general elections have exacerbated the existing problems. The report also underlines the fact that militancy shot up last year, with KP and Balochistan the worst affected. The report lists at least 24 deaths caused by vigilante mobs, with some linked to blasphemy allegations. The number of alleged police encounters in Sindh and Punjab alone — close to 5,000 — reiterates the need for urgent police reform and accountability. Crimes against women and children are detailed, while the report also mentions the impact of extreme weather events. It succinctly sums up the major challenges confronting Pakistan thus: “political engineering, economic precarity, religious extremism, gendered violence and ecological collapse”.

Instead of alleging that this document — and other reports like it — besmirch the country’s fair name, as many amongst the ruling elite usually do, there is a need to calmly consider the points raised by such studies. The fact is that without addressing the numerous problems — chief among which are the rapid erosion of rights and the growing authoritarian tendencies of the rulers — the country faces, it will be next to impossible to deliver social and economic justice to the people of Pakistan. The country cannot prosper unless the masses are guaranteed full constitutional protections, and the state uses compassion as a compass instead of trying to be ‘hard’. The HRCP report rightly urges state institutions and political parties “to place human rights at the heart of public policy”. And for those who claim to know all about patriotism, they should remember what Mohammad Ali Jinnah has said regarding fundamental rights: “We fought for Pakistan because there was a danger of the denial of these human rights in this Subcontinent.” Therefore, the ongoing struggle for basic rights is very much a national duty.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2025