KARACHI:The Centre of Excellence for Women’s Studies (CEWS), University of Karachi, in collaboration with the Ministry of Human Rights organized a workshop on awareness raising and sensitization on Human Rights at Arts and Social Sciences Auditorium on Monday.
Deputy Director, Ministry of Human Rights Muhammad Arif informed the audience about the importance of human rights and said “we should have a set of principles to avoid violations.”
He shared that everyone was equal under the eyes of the law, but privileged classes exist in every segment of life, which was against the constitution and must be subjected to the law.
Muhammad Arif explained the communication gap between parents and children must be reduced so that they could talk about issues and make parents aware about violence-related matters, or if this is not possible then the child should be confident and aware of police and enforcement law agencies as they can talk to them easily about matters related to abuse.
He also shared the success stories of women such as ‘Jhansi ki Rani’ and ‘Hani of Baloch’ community who fought for women, children’s rights, and families and killed a number of culprits in history.
He also emphasized that it was the moral duty of citizens to protect the rights of people who belong to different religions and ethnicities.
Muhammad Arif informed that under the Prevention of Anti-Women Practice Act, 2011 perpetrator was punishable by imprisonment and a fine of Rs1 million. “.
He urged women to initiate their political participation in local government systems to reach the policy-making process and make a change in society.
He concluded that MoHR was cognizant to resolve issues like fundamental rights, inheritance, divorce, family laws, and other related matters.
Meanwhile, the Director Sindh Region, Regional Directorate of Human Rights, Karachi, Iqbal Pasha, informed that MoHR deals in various matters related to human rights and work over them, especially the national commission on the status of women, national commission on children were actively working in a way to uplift their status in the society and eliminate all menace and abusive environment to make society prosperous for the citizens of Pakistan.
He informed that 5,500 cases had been received directly from the ministry, non-governmental organizations, and individuals, as the investigation team reach out to the victims and offenders, to sort the matters and provide justice to the innocent. He also acknowledged that Rs 20,000/- was given to the victim in all such scenarios.
Iqbal Pasha said that the public had many constitutional rights that include equal protection of the law, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, inviolability of dignity of man, freedom of speech, equality among citizens, preservation of language, script, and culture, freedom of trade, business, and profession, right to education, and others. We must allow cultures to be flourished, as diversity is a natural process, he added.
On the other hand, the Assistant Director, Ministry of Human Rights, Adeel Akbar, informed the audience about Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Act, 2020 in which immediate actions would be taken against child sexual abuse in order to protect children in the country.
The speakers mentioned that there are many United Nations international human rights laws that were part of the Constitution of Pakistan such as the UDHR 30 articles, including UN Human Rights Conventions such as the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women.
They mentioned that MoHR also resolves matters related to property and inheritance, and where females are deprived of this right, the complaint can be lodged to the ministry for settling the matter. In this regard, cases related to inheritance will be solved within months and informed that women have specific shares and can receive an inheritance in terms of mother, daughter, and wife.
They also informed about Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2010, in which the remedies were provided in order to protect women at the workplace. If the case was proven against the offender then he is liable under minor and major penalties.
Earlier, the Dean Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Professor, Dr Nusrat Idress said that human rights were the basic rights of every human being. These universal rights were inherent to us all, regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status.
She added that they range from the most fundamental – the right to life – to those that make life worth living, such as the rights to food, education, work, health, and liberty. All human rights were indivisible and interdependent.
Dr Nusrat said that it means that one set of rights cannot be enjoyed fully without the other. For example, making progress in civil and political rights makes it easier to exercise economic, social, and cultural rights. Similarly, violating economic, social, and cultural rights can negatively affect many other rights.
She said the workshop was aimed to create human rights awareness in targeted academic institutes to improve democracy and leadership, facilitate access to justice and enable people to know their rights as humans.
She said that the KU CEWS and MoHR would like to increase the people’s understanding and knowledge about respect for human rights, sensitize them regarding human rights issues as well as create awareness of international human rights principles, protection mechanisms, and democratic governance for a peaceful society and to promote tolerance and respect for inter-faith harmony to combat religious intolerance for a peaceful society.