If anyone remains to be convinced about the truly dismal state of affairs prevailing in the country, they would find ample evidence in a report released on Monday by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. A roundup of the statistics of 2009, the report reads as an indictment of the states inability to protect its citizens. Unsurprisingly, terrorist attacks are identified as constituting the greatest threat to fundamental rights. The report estimates that over 3,000 people were killed during the year under review in 2,586 incidents of terrorism across the country, including 108 suicide bombings. Yet the civilian population has not been left unscathed by even the various state-sponsored and state-supported efforts to combat the militants. Meanwhile, the HRCP report refers to complaints about extra-judicial and revenge killings in the aftermath of the Swat operation where in a disturbing trend echoing the Talibans tactics, bodies were found strung upside down, bearing warnings that anyone supporting the militants would meet the same fate. Furthermore, the HRCP claims, the principle that military operations against terrorists should be carried out in a manner that does not violate the human rights of combatants and non-combatants was not always followed.
The news is bad in other areas too. As compared to the previous year, 2009 saw a sharp increase in violence against women and religious minorities, while new incidents of enforced disappearances continued to be reported from across the country. Crimes such as target killings, kidnapping for ransom, honour killings and domestic violence continued to be committed with impunity, with little evidence of success in the states efforts to contain them. No one in government appears to recognise that quite apart from terrorism and militancy; there is an urgent need to improve the lot of the people. After years of suffering, the people crave security for their lives, properties, livelihoods and future. The HRCP report estimates that of the 70 million children in the country almost 20.3 million do not go to school. What we will see in future years is an increasingly uneducated and brutalised population that harbours great resentment against the state.
The news is bad in other areas too. As compared to the previous year, 2009 saw a sharp increase in violence against women and religious minorities, while new incidents of enforced disappearances continued to be reported from across the country. Crimes such as target killings, kidnapping for ransom, honour killings and domestic violence continued to be committed with impunity, with little evidence of success in the states efforts to contain them. No one in government appears to recognise that quite apart from terrorism and militancy; there is an urgent need to improve the lot of the people. After years of suffering, the people crave security for their lives, properties, livelihoods and future. The HRCP report estimates that of the 70 million children in the country almost 20.3 million do not go to school. What we will see in future years is an increasingly uneducated and brutalised population that harbours great resentment against the state.
