Human rights activists hold demonstration for rights

Say government should ensure protection of human rights without bias towards minorities

Staff Report

LAHORE: Human rights activists from different areas of the country held a demonstration titled “Say YES to Human Rights” outside the Lahore Press Club on Saturday under the auspices of the Center for Human Rights Education (CHRE).

The participants demonstrated for a wide range of human rights, including the rights of women, children, labourers in the fruit and vegetable market, sanitary workers and the rights of religious minorities. A special focus remained on atrocities in Balochistan, killings in Karachi and religious extremism. The activists said that the government and state institutions should fulfill their responsibilities and ensure the protection and promotion of human rights irrespective of sex, age, color, race, religion and language.

They said that special measures should be taken for the uplift of disadvantaged segments of society, such as children, women and religious minorities which suffer from a wide range of discrimination and that the government should take concrete measure to stop religious extremism, adding that elements spreading hatred should be punished according to the law.

Addressing the participants, CHRE Director Samson Salamat said that all human beings were equal in dignity and rights and that they should therefore be treated equally in line with international human rights standards.

“It is very sad that the government and the state machinery are not showing any seriousness in promoting and protecting peoples rights, which has led to multiple crises in the country” he said, adding that they would continue to speak against human rights violations.

Human rights activist Abdul Rehman Buzdar said that the situation of human rights in Balochistan was deteriorating day by day and that state institutions should seriously look into the issues plaguing Balochistan and take concrete measures to address the grievances of the people with regard to their rights.

He said that the life of every human being was equally important and that the state apparatus ought to do its best to protect the lives of the people without any ethnic, linguistic or religious discrimination.

Ghulam Mustafa Mirani, another human rights activist, stated that Pakistani society was a multi-religious, multi-coloured, multi-linguistic and multi-cultural society and that the provision of rights to all groups should be on an equal basis.

CHRE Program Coordinator Naeem Haroon, CHRE General Secretary Dr Adhu Ram, and CHRE members Advocate Suba Saroya, Samina Waheed, Saima Ali, Riffat Rani and Javed Hussain also spoke on this occasion.


(2011-9-18/Daily Times)