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264Emporium Current EssaysEmporium Current Essays265Wm^mw® a*@it*Controversy during constitutional development of Pakistan regarding the meaning of concepts to be incorporated in the draft cons itution made the task of reconciling theliberty and fundamental rights of citizens difficult. The point of the previous article wasthat efforts at bringing equity among individuals and groups of people with divergentinterests got mired soon after independence in the mcrass of emerging ethnicity and parochial identities. Very early, it was realised that self-rule and independence are noguarantee in themselves that interest groups, will not clash with one another. It also became obvious that the rule of majority does not necessarily ensure fair play and justice,and that the legitimate freedom of individuals, particularly of those with a differing pointof view, will not be encroached upon,It will be pertinent to point out that states seek to incorporate concepts of fundamentalrights in their constitutions rights in their constitutions with a view to ensure thatinterference with those rights, and the conceptual and normative underpinning thereof, bemade impossible even by the legislature. Thus, constitutions of all civilised countries bind administration to respect individual rights by imposing limitations, express or implied, on legislative, executive, and judicial authorities against meddling withindividual liberties and freedoms. Authorities interference with individual liberties werelegitimatise only where they endangered social fabric by turning into anti-social fabric byturning into antisocial activities or imperilled the well-being and integrity of thecommunity as a whole.Fundamental rights granted to the citizens of Pakistan -- extending from civil, political,economic, social, and cultural rights to the right to the development of one-self, as well asthe right to live in a healthy environment - are in no less degree or kind the same as theones guaranteed to the citizens of the developed countries. Reports, however, speak of gross violations of such rights. The annual reports of the Human Rights Cell of Pakistan,for example, speaks of numerous human rights violations that took place during1995. It mentions having received some 5,000 cases of human rights
 
1abuses -- a number actually much higher considering that most such cases go unreported.It speaks of burning of women, rape, extrajudicial executions, death sentences, use of bar fetters in jails, flogging* and deaths, in police and military custody, but points out that police rarely investigated charges against law-enforcing agencies.As mentioned earlier, violation of individual rights in a particular country, whether by itsgovernment or some interest group, is no more a domestic matter. With the developingglobal consciousness, as well as the institutionalisation of such consciousness through theinstruments of the United Nations, communities with poor human rights record are opento outside censure as well as purity measures in the form of sanctions or loss of international support on matters of vital political or administrative significance.Therefore, it is becoming more and more importantly for governments of today to settheir human rights records right not only for the moral implications they bear but also for their political and global repercussion. And in this broader context, Pakistan needs tostraighten its records.In this and subsequent articles, this writer intends to study human rights issues inPakistan and discuss their implications on individuals, groups of people, and on thenational life. In focusing on the groups most vulnerable to the chauvinistic attitudes of our feudal patriarchal society, this writing will first look into some of the major problemsof women in Pakistan. The writing also proposes to see how far the words of our constitution and legislature receive practical application.The crux of the first part of this study is that the women of Pakistan despite having beenrepeatedly recognised for their significant role in almost all spheres of economy andsociety have not been integrated in development. While an understanding of woman as animportant component of Human Capital had started sometime in 1970s with the growingrealisation of her economic potential and contributions, her inclusion in nationaldevelopment plans is yet to take place. Meanwhile, there goes on that fierce battle between the local genre ideologies and <brces of modernity -- between those who,wishing to monopolise the task of determining the role of women in society-building,seek to tie women to health and children and the extraneous variables such as theinfluence of market forces and political events outside the national economy that affectthe rate and pattern of women's entry into mainstream development activities. There isthan a greater awareness among educated women who desire to carve an identity for themselves outJEmporium Current Essaysof their own work, and not of their father's or husband's, which comes in conflict with theideals of a feudal patriarchal society. With these paradoxes, while progress has visibly been made by Pakistani women in all aspects of life, the pace is retarded, and duringsome eras altogether arrested, or even reversed.
 
To understand women's situation in Pakistan, in terms of their effort to come to termswith the new realities requiring them to old economic dependence on man, what needs to be considered also is that how the economic development process in the country has benefited women and in what aspects has it generated unfavourable effects on women's position and status. Other pertinent questions may be: what are the main factorsfacilitating women's entry into mainstream activities in the organisational structure of thestate bureaucracy and political life of the nation? What re the ideological orientation of women's movement? What are the laws affecting, women's status? Has the health andmedical system undergone improvements to incorporate women's new needs and wants?How is the state machinery help in solve women's problem? And the most importantquestion regards the state responsibility to help women realise their potential: that howmany rights achieved on paper are actually enjoyed by the majority of women in thecountry.Paradoxically, Pakistan is one of those few countries in the world where the highestexecutive office, that of a prime minister, is being held by a women, but where womenhave a status lower than that of minority. Against all proclamation of equality of man andwoman in the constitution of the country, societal patterns stress on subservience of woman to man. Not only that, the unjust system receives support through discriminatorylegislation also. And while the present government's liberal intentions give much courageto the battling feminists, .its inability to call off such discriminatory legislation againstwomen, introduced during the military regime of Zia-ul-Haq, are disappointing. Thus, theatmosphere of harassment of women, produced by the late Zia-ul-Haq, in an attempt toimpose strict do's and don'ts on women, through state machinery and with the help of electronic media, continues. Low literacy rate in the country and economic privations cancertainly beheld accountable for drawing people into the folds of ideology-, even if against all logical thinking. Nevertheless, the prevalent political environment of liberatism, as well as the government's tacit support and some active measures in supportof women's demand for greater empowerment and emancipation, has provided protectionagainst the erstwhile state persecution of NGOs and articulate individuals vocalisingwomen's issues. It is noteworthy wonder that suchEmporium Current Essays267articulation was strongest during Zia's regime when rebellion against attempts at strictregimentation of women's day to day life was strongest.What needs to be see in this study is the impact of the antiwomen legislation of Zia'stime, the present government's efforts to change such legislations, and the role of thefeminist movements in this direction. It is true that equal rights by law do not alwaysmean better conditions for women, but implementation of equality in actual practice isdefinitely better assisted when equality is pronounced categorically, rather than deniedexpressly. Similarly, working of feminist movements and organisations and do not alwaysreflect a wakening and mobilisation of women at grassroots level, but such struggles by a
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Amn@

hi great work.. canu pls send me this document at my email....

reply01 / 27 / 2010
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