Women and Minorities are my constituency: Prime Minister

Islamabad: 6th of June, 2012
 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms. Navanthem Pillay called on Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani hare today at the PM House and congratulated him on being the longest serving Prime Minister of Pakistan.

She appreciated ‘Zero Tolerance Policy’ of the Prime Minister against terrorism and extremism, adding that the political will would further make the difference in the real sense by thwarting the tendencies, detrimental to the social development.

The UN Commissioner spoke highly of the amendments and the legislations enacted by the democratic government in empowering women, minorities and the poor segments of the society. The establishment of an Independent Human Right Commission in the recent past is a major step forward to improve the human rights situation in the country, she added.

Ms Pillay said that democratic reforms in Pakistan were convincingly encouraging and expressed the hope that the state institutions would function keeping in view the trichotomy of power, thus leading to strengthening the democratic dispensation on a durable basis.

She said her meeting with the members of the civil society, media and the human rights organization was extremely satisfying as they were pro-actively engaged to espouse the cause of human rights and were thus a bulwark against the non-state actors.

The UN High Commissioner expressed her concern over life threats to Ms. Asma Jahangir, former President of Supreme Court Bar Association, adding that she was satisfied to know that federal government had taken immediate steps to enhance the security of the world renowned human rights activist.

Ms. Pillay added that Pakistan was an important country of the international community that had considerable influence in the UN Security Council, OIC, NAM and other international fora that enabled it to play her role for promotion of the cause of human rights globally.

The Prime Minister paid rich tributes to the leadership of Nelson Mandela as one of the greatest champions of human rights under whose leadership South Africa got rid of Apartheid. “I used to read about the great leader when I was in jail,” he added.

He said that the government had enacted 103 amendments in the Constitution leading to the restoration of its original character, which was bitterly mutilated by the successive dictators.

The Prime Minister said that the President of Pakistan himself transferred his power to the Parliament in a bid to empower the Parliament. He said now the executive powers were exercised by the cabinet members who were responsible to the Parliament.

The Prime Minister said that there was not a single political prisoner in the country and the media and the judiciary were free and the civil society is vibrant.

The Prime Minister said that the democratic government has established National Commission on Women, passed scores of pro women legislative measures such as Anti-Women Practices Bill, and Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2010 etc, including establishment of Women Crisis Centres, Women in Distress Relief Fund and empowerment of the minorities.

The establishment of an Independent Human Rights Commission was a big step forward in this regard. The Government has also appointed Woman Ombudsperson to deal with the cases requiring the redressal of the grievances of the women folk, he added.

The Prime Minister referred to the human rights violation in the Indian-occupiedKashmir, adding that drone attacks were also violation of the human rights because in such strikes innocent people including children and women got killed.

The Prime Minister said that there should be fair application of the laws and steps were being taken for provision of immediate and inexpensive justice to the people at the grassroots.

He further said that women and minorities were his constituency. He further maintained that Ministry of Interfaith Harmony, headed by a member of minority community, had been established to look after the interests of the minorities.

The Prime Minister also drew attention of the UN High Commissioner to the 3.5 million Afghan Refugees in Pakistan and urged that their repatriation would help Pakistandeal with terrorists because the movement of refugees in their thousands on borders made it difficult to identify as to “who is a tourist and who is a terrorist’.

The UN High Commissioner promised to bring the issue to the notice of the UNHCR adding that she would highlight its urgency to address it sooner than better.

Advisor to Prime Minister on Human Rights Mustafa Nawaz Khokar and Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Mr.Zamir Akram were also present on the occasion.