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European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 05
May 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 1786
Introduction
Human Right in Pakistan
Dr. Rajbir
Singh H.O.D
&
AssistantProfessor
Dept. Of PoliticalScience
GGDSDCollegePalwal(Hr)
Email :- dr.rajbir99@gmail.com
The situation of Human Rights in Pakistan is complex as a result of the country's
diversity, large population, its status as a developing country and a sovereign Islamic
democracy with a mixture of both Islamic and secular law. The Constitution of
Pakistan providesfor fundamental rights, which include freedom ofspeech,freedom of
thought,freedom of information,freedom of religion,freedom of association,freedom
of the press, freedom of assembly and the (conditional) right to bear arms. The Clauses
also provide for an independent Supreme Court,separation of executive and judiciary,
an independent judiciary, independent Human Rights commission and freedom of
movement within the country and abroad. However it is debatable how much these
clauses are respected in practice.
Khawaja Nazimuddin, the 2nd Prime Minister of Pakistan stated: "I do not agree that
religion is a private affair of the individual nor do I agree that in an Islamic state every
citizen hasidentical rights, no matter what his caste, creed or faith be".However, thisin
stark contradiction to what Muhammad AliJinnah, the founder of Pakistan, stated in an
address to the constituent assembly of Pakistan, "You will find that in course of time
Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims will cease to be Muslims, not in the
religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political
sense as the citizens of the State." Though the Constitution includes adequate
accommodation for Pakistan'sreligious minorities, in practice non-SunniMuslimstend
to face religious discrimination in both the public and private spheres (for example –
non Muslims cannot hold any of the top positions in the country's government). In
response to rising sectarian and religious violence, the Pakistani government has
unveiled several high-profile efforts to reduce tension and support religious pluralism,
giving new authority to theNational Commission for Minorities and creating aMinister
for Minority Affairs post. Nonetheless, religious violence and intimidation, as well
as periodic charges of blasphemy, have occurred. Attacks against Shia Muslims,
who make up between 5–20% of Pakistani Muslims, have also been carried out by
terrorist organizationssuch asthe TTP and LeJ.
However, in recent years, the Pakistani military and law enforcement agencies have
conducted vast and extensive operations against these terrorist organizations which
Page 2 of 10
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 05
May 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 1787
has resulted in a dramatic decrease in violence against minorities and restoration of
relative peace. Furthermore, Pakistani courts have taken action against the misuse of
blasphemy laws,in one case sentencing multiple people to life in prison and death for
starting a blasphemy mob. Pakistani lawmakers have also taken action against the
misuse of blasphemy laws, putting forward amendments that seek to equate
punishments for a false accusation of blasphemy to the punishment for actually
committing blasphemy.
Although Pakistan was created to uphold the principles of democracy, military coups in
Pakistan are commonplace, and for most of its history after independence has been ruled
by military dictators who declare themselves president. The Pakistani general election,
2013 were the first elections in the country where there was a constitutional transfer of
power from one civilian government to another. Elections in Pakistan although
being partially free, are rife with irregularities including but not limited to vote rigging,
use of threats and coercion, discrimination between Muslim and non- Muslim and many
other violations. Additionally the Government of Pakistan has itself admitted on several
occasions that it has absolutely no control over the Military of Pakistan and related
security agencies.
Domestic violence is an important social issue in Pakistan, specially because of
allegations that the Pakistani government has not done enough to stem the problem from
the country. An estimated 5000 women are killed per year from domestic violence, with
thousands of others maimed or disabled. The majority of victims of violence used to
have no legal recourse but this was fixed recently when multiple provincial parliaments
passed thorough and strict laws against domestic violence. According to the 2016 Global
Slavery Index, an estimated 2,134,900 people are enslaved in modern- day Pakistan, or
1.13% of the population.
In general Freedom of the press is allowed but any reports critical of the government
policy or critical of the military is censored. Journalists face widespread threats and
violence making Pakistan one of the worst countries to be a journalist in, with 61 being
killed since September 2001 and at least 6 murdered in 2013 alone. Tv stations and
news papers are routinely shut down for publishing any reports critical of the
government or themilitary.
In May 2012, President Asif Ali Zardari signed the National Commission for Human
Rights Bill 2012 for the promotion of the protection of human rights in the country.
However, it remains to be seen if any positive effects will be derived from this.
In May 2018, a new constitutional amendment was passed that allowed tribal people to
accesstheir rights. The amendment allowed the people in tribal areas to enjoy the same
constitutional rights as other Pakistanis. The constitutional amendment ended the
Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), imposed under British rule in the 1850s. Under the
FCR, people in the tribal areaswere explicitly denied theirrightto appealtheir detention,
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European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 05
May 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 1788
the right to legal representation, and their right to present evidence in their defence –
sanctioning a wide-ranging series of human rights violations.
Political Freedom in Pakistan
Although Pakistan was created to uphold the principles of democracy, its history is rife
with Military coups in Pakistan, and for most of its history after independence has been
ruled by military dictators who declare themselves president. The Pakistani general
election, 2013 were the first elections in the country where there was a constitutional
transfer of power from one civilian government to another. The elections were marred
by terrorist attacks that killed hundreds and wounded more than 500 and widespread
rigging of polls, the highest in the country's recorded history.
Religious minorities were prevented from voting for Muslim candidates after Zia-ul- Haq's Islamization and non-Muslims are restricted in the posts they may contest for,
with several of the higher posts being unavailable to them. Although some of these laws
were later repealed, religious minorities still continue to face several restrictions in
politics.
Although slow but steady progress has been made towards return to democracy in the
last decade, many Pakistanis and foreign observers see the military still firmly
entrenched in politics with the government playing second fiddle to the military.The
government is widely seen as having no control over the armed forces and the Inter- ServicesIntelligence.
Most of Pakistan's laws are secular in nature, some of which were inherited from the
United Kingdom's colonial rule of modern-day Pakistan before 1947. However, in
practice, Sharia Law takes precedence over Pakistani law. The constitution of Pakistan
has been changed several times in its short history, with Islamization being the driving
factor. Although the government has enacted a few measures to counter any problems,
abuses remain. Furthermore, courts suffer from lack of funds, outside intervention, and
deep case backlogs that lead to long trial delays and lengthy pretrial detentions. Many
observers inside and outside Pakistan contend that Pakistan's legal code is largely
concerned with crime, national security, and domestic tranquility and less with the
protection of individualrights.
In 2010, Foreign Policy ranked Pakistan as number ten on its Failed States Index,
placing it in the "critical" category with such other failed or failing states as Afghanistan,
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Somalia. Pakistan consistently figures near
the top of the list of failed states year after year
In September 2015, a Pakistani court has imposed ban on speeches of Mr. Altaf
Hussain, chief of MQM which is the 4th largest political party of Pakistan and
