In Pakistan Human rights violations are now a routine matter. Some black sheep after joining Govt. Service believe that they have now blanket immunity to violate human rights, even black sheep sitting on higher echelon provide the transgressors protective cover for their own vested interests. Flawed Judicial system is easily deceived by the habitual transgressors. Criminals have crept into state structure with the leverage of their facilitators, who have planned to rule the country by fair or foul means. Such segments have formed a strong lobby which is so interwoven that lobbies within lobbies exist to protect each other. Poor, indigent, sourceless and weak have no voice against the cruel and cruelty, as majority of state officials prefer their vested interests and they feel no sympathy with the victim.
Criminal leverage of corrupt politicians have facilitated the criminals to be assimilated in police, civil services and other key posts, who to please their masters act upon their whimsical orders and the cycle of human rights violation gets momentum to discrupt the social fabric of society, leading to chaos in civic texture which provide space to revolutionary sentiments. If human rights violations by elite class and sceptre holders goes unchecked the result would be the same as revolutions swept everything in some autocratic states. Whenever we speak about human rights, we inevitably polarize the civic societies of East and West. In Pakistan gross violations of human rights are made by the civil servants, bureaucrats even at the level of cop to chief cop and state level violations of human rights are always deemed inevitable to straighten the masses to utter compliance of whims of the ruling elite. Synopsis of the discussion will lead us to polemics that state functionaries violations are peccadillo and they don’t deserve any severe punishment for their malpractices, how much the masses might had to incur the cost or accrue the loss, resultantly masses would be dealt with as peasants or pigheaded. Being proved guilty or even after peccavi our Justice System exonerate them of all human rights violations. State functionaries mindset has proclivity towards the nation that they must be awarded exoneration even after serious violations. Islamic Jurisprudence protects the rights of its followers with a set code of severe punishments. Here some examples will be quoted to elaborate how basic human rights are guarded in Islam. If a woman is made a victim of criminal sexual attempt, Islamic Jurisprudence awards stoning to death punishment to the guilty person. If the man and woman both are wilfully indulged in sexual crime both deserve severe corporal punishment of lashing. In west civic texture wilful copulation entails no punishment. In real sense heinous crimes, in Islam, are crimes against society entailing severe punishments. Severe punishments against rape and wilful conjugation connoisseur to guard the society from being a horde, where one is free to act upon his whims.
Society is always guarded by ethical code and strings of ethical code are principles and laws. Laws must be equally applied on stronger or weaker. Societies where stronger and weaker are dealt with different codes cannot last long as divine code perishes those societies where justice system is whisked away by human errors and weaker and stronger are discriminated.
Being a Journalist you would be saddled with the cumbersome responsibility to always speak and write truth and truth is always abhorred in our society. Unscrupulous, cunning people assume the role of torch bearer and they misuse their official authority to boost their vested interests and nefarious designs, here conflict of interests crop up and national interest go back screen and personal aggrandizement wins the race, an incessant cycle of gross human violations goes on which sees no end and ultimately vice and perversion prevails in society leading it to bitter fate. Limitless measures are taken to curb the truth. Being the torch bearer of truth is so difficult in Pakistan, that being uncompromising entails a host of fake and concocted cases and in some cases assassination attempts are made on the Journalists, which may cost one’s life. One would wonder to note that majority of state functionaries are involved in wholesale embezzlement and irreparable loss to public exchequer. Exposure of one who has made huge embezzlement and caused mammoth loss to public money and kitty means to face a horde of crocodiles, who would run after you to swallow as your entity is dangerous for their whole network, which has now developed into a syndicate to defend each other.
Gross human rights violations are now usual matter. Network of criminals and criminal minded state functionaries as well as politicians are ganged up with each other to defend their interests. State has the responsibility to defend its masses, not the criminals in the guise of state functionaries. But in Pakistan we find the cart before the horse, masses are made victims of gross human violations by state functionaries and the law is helpless, impotent to defend the victims, the watching eye of Journalists is hit to make it shut or be blind never to see towards public fleeces, who suck the blood of the nation to the last drop.
Since 73 years we are gazing towards horizon, that the torch bearer of truth will appear to encourage us, here we ignore the universal truth that God helps those who help themselves. We will have to make concerted efforts to rake up the truth and be ourselves custodians of our civic rights and wag lawful war against the incursions of our rights.
We will have to restart our Journey towards independence. In the first phase we got freedom from the British rule and in the second phase we will have to wag lawful war against usurpation of our civic rights. We will have to make our state institutions so sacred as to leave no space for nuisance and perversion. State is just like mother who guards her children with candid mind and conspicuous integrity, never to let anyone to desecrate the rights of her children.
Malik Muhammad Aslam Awan
(The writer is a journalist, author of English Book on current affairs
and independent analyst based in Lahore)
E-mail: mlkaslamawan@gmail.com
Gulshan-e-Riaz Colony, Bund Road, Lahore. Cell #: 0313-0063450
