Liberty and freedom of an individual could easily be assessed by this fact that political parties and their members do not have it.
Source/Credit: The Nation Pakistan
By Fida Hussnain | February 22, 2016
What are civil liberties, do we really have these in Pakistan and if not then what are the factors which bar them and how can we overcome these factors was the subject of a sitting titled “foundering freedom” held at the first session of second day of Lahore Literary Festival yesterday.
Two famous columnists A G Noorani from India and I A Rehman from Pakistan were the part of this important discussion while known human rights activist Asma Jahangir played her role as a moderator.
The one hour long discussion outlined the harsh realities of fundamental rights and the hurdles in the provision of these rights to the citizens. They questioned the role of parliamentarians and champions of democracy as well as the role of media towards working on these basic issues.
During the discussion, Mrs. Asma Jahangir said that if a person is barred even from talking on the issue of killing innocent people in FATA then what more could be expected from any one. Why there is no debate on blasphemy issues? Why there is no discussion on Kashmir or on the killing of innocent people of FATA. This all shows that we have no liberty to talk even what we want to talk about.
She asked A G Noorani and I A Rehman to shed light over the role of media in both Pakistan and India. Noorani said that in 2008, Times of India refused to publish its editorial with no reasons, apparently, on these social issues, especially about civil liberties and the same was followed by Hindustan Times and others. “Press have no interests in these issues; they have now turned into commercialism,” said Noorani.
He said, though freedom of speech falls in the domain of fundamental rights but it is going to be faded up. Interestingly, he suggested the audience to start again the old way of communication, so that a solid message could be conveyed to the public.
“You must bring out broachers or weekly card opinions,” said Noorani.
Rehman instead of giving example of any media house emphasized over the implementation of United Nation’s declaration of Human Rights. He said “fundamental right of every citizen must be protected”. He said media must play their role to bring change in the society. To another question that whether people who are accused of blasphemy charges get justice in Pakistan and that what is the situation in regional countries, Rehman said awfully there is no justice in Pakistan. He argued preservation of innocent is not possible as one has to prove his innocent once he is arrested. However, Noorani said “blasphemy cases are everywhere in our countries including India, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka and many other regional states, but they must be investigated and a balance must be maintained,”.
Answering to another question about minorities’ rights, Noorani said that minorities should organize themselves for their rights; that was the only way to move forward. When the panelists asked about civil liberties, Rehman said unfortunately the real issues of the public are not discussed in Parliament – the highest forum of the state, so what could be expected more about the liberties one can enjoy in this state.
Liberty and freedom of an individual could easily be assessed by this fact that political parties and their members do not have it. “Heads of political parties are all in all and the members of the parties have no role in decision making,” said Rehman.
In her concluding remarks, Asma said civil liberties and fundamental rights of the citizens must be protected. “They are very important for the development of a society. We are living in fear, we are living in security state and in such situation how a person can live by his own choice.
“We can gain these liberties by overcoming the state of fear, which you are witnessing today that we have been shifted from Alhamra to this hotel for this three day event, and we can live by our choice by bridging the gap between the neighbours. Every individual has to play his role,” Asma maintained.
Read original post here: Pakistan: Basic rights yet to be achieved | Rights activists
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