Did the JUI-F Commit Treason?
An allegation of treason should not be made lightly. Especially not by the prime minister of a country against a political opponent. It takes away from the gravity of the only criminal offence proscribed in the Constitution of Pakistan. It also equates a political opponent with this country’s rogues’ gallery of past authoritarian rulers.
Understanding Pakistan’s Sexual Harassment Law
This article is part of a series which will try to answer several questions surrounding the law on sexual harassment in Pakistan. The aim is to allow people to understand what the legal regime on this issue is, how it works, and what needs to change.
Hypocrisy or Change?
We ask the world to step in to save Muslims in India, but we also want ambivalence from the world towards how minorities are treated in Pakistan. Last year, when America added Pakistan to a list of serial violators of religious freedom, our reaction was quite similar to India’s – shameless denial. Minorities are free in Pakistan, we said, much like India is saying now. But just like India’s claim today, our claim rings hollow.
What is Article 149 really about?
Karachi deserves better than being embroiled in a perpetual tug of war between the federal and provincial governments. Karachi’s people put up with rampant crime, non-existent waste management, inept policing, poor infrastructure and chaos when it rains on a daily basis. Hoping for change but slowly losing optimism. However, Federal Minister for Law Farogh Naseem thinks he has found the solution to these problems in the Constitution’s Article 149 (4). But the federal minister is wrong.
A Wolf Among Sheep
It is hard to feel optimistic about human rights in Pakistan when a person alleged to have violated another human being’s dignity with reckless abandon is anointed to safeguard those rights. It is like asking wolves to draft a charter on the rights of sheep.
On China
When an autocratic state becomes an economic superpower, it gains a certain amount of immunity from the international legal regime. But China is on another level. With so much of the world’s economy now dependent on China’s technology sector, it is hard to criticise China for even the powerful United States. So if China wants to be repressive, there is little anyone can do to stop it.
A Presidential System?
There is an obsession in Pakistan, a persistent hope, that a prophetic figure will swoop down at some point and singlehandedly solve all our problems. Perhaps it has something to do with the way our country came into being. A charismatic leader who, against all odds, carved out a nation for us. Pakistan’s population is frequently found dwelling over the question: what would Pakistan have looked like if Jinnah had lived longer? But dwelling on the past has never been a good recipe for fixing the problems of the present.
Remembering Asma Jehangir
Today, Pakistan’s legal system is still plagued by misogyny. The loss of Jahangir meant the loss of a strong and prominent female voice that female lawyers could gravitate towards. Her passing has left a space that can never be filled, but her passing doesn’t mean she is forgotten. The young women she has inspired continue to enter a profession that is flooded with men. Her legacy can remain alive through them, her voice just as sonorous in our minds, if we continue to fight for the rights of the oppressed and victimised. If we continue to stand up to misogyny, to the violations of human rights in the name of security, religion or nationhood.