Participants on enforcement of culture of democracy and human rights in Pakistan have demanded that all political parties, despite their personal or policy differences, should adopt the strategy of negotiation for resolving the crises in the supreme interest of the country.
Government must avoid confrontation with media and judiciary considering them key components of democracy, they added. Addressing a training of trainers on 'Human Rights and Democracy', which was organised by Peace and Human Development (PHD) and Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM) in collaboration with Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD), speakers said that all the laws against women curbing basic human rights as enshrined in the constitution must be amended. They also said that appropriate measures must be taken to remove social, cultural, religious, legal and political barriers in the way of women's progress.
All citizens must be acknowledged as equal by elimination of class division between the ruler and public, and they must be provided with equal opportunities and resources irrespective of any discrimination, they added. Samson Salamat, Director-CHRE said, "The endeavours for promotion and protection of human rights are termed as contrary to culture, religion and traditions in our society, therefore severe human rights violations like domestic violence and honour killing are justified and protected in the cover of religion and culture.
Pakistan is legally bound to treat all citizens equally, and take appropriate steps for the uplift of weak and marginalized groups by ensuring their representation in every field of life. But, violence, lawlessness, injustice, intolerance and extremism in our society is on the rise due to improper implementation of domestic and international laws," he added.
George Clement, Co-ordinator Leap said, "Democracy is the system of governance which guarantees public participation in the decision-making process, but Pakistan has always been ruled directly or indirectly by the landlords, industrialists, religious leaders, judges and military generals due to strong ties among them, therefore public seems to be vanished from the so-called democratic system since the creation of the country. The political system is gradually heading towards the real democratic system in Pakistan, therefore there is a clear indication that leadership from the middle class will emerge in near future and grab hold of the rule from the hands of traditional leaders of elite class," he added.
Naseem Anthony, Executive Secretary-AWAM said, "Since there is patriarchal system in our society, so several customs and traditions against females are in practice in Pakistan. Females must be accepted as a human being rather than commodity for getting rid of negative tendencies towards females. The purpose of promotion of education on human rights and democracy is to bring about positive change in behaviours, and struggle for framing domestic policies and legislation in line with the globally accepted standards. The purpose of promotion of human rights concepts and principles is to respect, accept and tolerate all human beings despite having any cultural, ethnic, religious and ideological differences with them," he added.
Suneel Malik, Director-PHD said, "The ultimate goal of the human rights and democracy is to establish culture of peace, democracy and human rights in the society, but due to lack of enforcement of human rights and democratic values and norms in Pakistan, there exists inequality, injustice and discrimination on the basis of race, class, gender, faith, caste and colour in our society. This which needs to be removed for the prosperous future of Pakistan." The training workshop was held at Quilim Restaurant in Faisalabad and was joined by 36 Muslim and Christian participants including youth, teachers and representatives of the civil society organisations.
Comments
Comments are closed.