Following on from my brief allusion (here) to camel jockeys - that are enslaved to satisfy the barbaric sporting habits of the rulers of the Middle East, this post concerns another type of slavery- beggary- that is rampant in Pakistan. It also contains a video report on the plight of ‘rat children’ or ‘ chuwas’ [aired by Channel 4 UK].
If you have been on the road of any major city in Pakistan (except Islamabad, from what I can remember) you would have come across hoards of children aged from nearly nothing being exploited for beggary. In the soaring heat of the summer or the chilly nights of the winter they stand at traffic junctions, some being carried by their ‘beggar mothers’ [most likely sold to ‘beggar masters’ by their biological parents or even kidnapped].
Continue reading ‘The forgotten slave children: the beggars and the ‘chuwas’’
“By brazenly and unlawfully dismissing, detaining and humiliating the chief justice of the Supreme Court, President Musharraf has created a constitutional crisis at the judiciary’s expense.” - Ali Dayan Hasan, South Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch.
It seems clear now from recent events that Musharraf has sent an ominous message to the nation: That he, Pervaiz Musharraf is Pakistan. He is the military, the executive, the legislative and now the judiciary. With eight years under his belt, Zia ul Haq must be rolling in his grave as his protégé moves closer to breaking his eleven-year record of absolute military dictatorship. In an earlier post I mentioned that Law and Order from amongst his famous seven points has yet to be tackled, let alone restored but now it is apparent that he has no intention of bringing about any form of stablity in Pakistan. I have no idea how long he will be in power but with his current track record I can assure you that it wont be too long before he steps down voluntarily or involuntarily like Zia experienced. Continue reading ‘HRW: Release CJ and Cease attacks on Lawyers’
This article was written a few years ago by Naveed Hasan Khan who works for Azad Foundation, an NGO that does works within Pakistan for Street Children from the street and off the street. It is an interesting read that tells us of yet another group of people in our society left to their own means of survival. Mr Khan does a good job by not only highlighting the crisis, but by also providing recommendations for the worsening situation at hand. Unfortunately, what most people don’t realise is that the ‘Street Children’ are also a part of our country’s future.
Condition of Human Rights in Pakistan with respect to Street Children by Naveed Hasan Khan
Children who live and work on the streets or simply work in commercial areas at a young age, are subjected to gross injustice and are frequently neglected by national law — despite the fact that our own country has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990 and played the host for the World Summit on Children.
The UNCRC is a guide both for experienced advocates and for non-specialists in the field regarding rights of children related to food, health education and all forms of life. It explains how to use regional and international treaties and mechanisms for the protection and defense of street children when national law fails. Continue reading ‘Condition of Human Rights in Pakistan with respect to Street Children’
