Page 12 - The Indian EYE 061623

OPINION JUNE 16, 2023 | The Indian Eye 12

sovereignty, and promoting ethnic teenth centuries) face racial discrim- into deaf ears. lam Khan in Khost and Spin Boldak
hatred. When other activists of the ination on a day-to-day basis. Their The Convention on the Rights of in Kandahar). It is well known that it
movement came out in protest against places of worship often come under the Child (1989) and the Convention is the drug money that kept the Tali-
the arrest of Pashteen at the Press attack from the majority Sunni radi- concerning the Prohibition and Im- ban afloat and the Pakistani agencies
Club in Islamabad, they too were ar- cal outfits as well as common people. mediate Action for the Elimination actively promoted illicit drugs trade
rested on charges of sedition. The ar- The blasphemy laws are used to of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, in the southern, central and western
rest of the civil rights activists belong- settle personal scores against mem- No. 182 (1999) too have not been im- Asian regions to sustain the radical
ing to PTM was seen as a crackdown bers of the religious minorities. Till plemented by the State of Pakistan outfit throughout the global war on
on the critics of the Pakistan Army. date, not a single trail for blasphemy wholeheartedly. Pakistani children terror in Afghanistan. In Jammu and
Sunni extremist groups like has been completed by any court of are vulnerable to various forms of Kashmir and Indian state of Punjab,
Sipah-e-Sahba Pakistan (SSP), its law in the country, as the accused violence and exploitation including Pak agencies have tried their best to
offshoot Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, having are often lynched in broad day light. physical, psychological, sexual, eco- push drugs by all means (even through
direct linkages with Pakistan’s secu- Ironically, international reporting nomic and trafficking. the use of drones) to give a fresh im-
rity establishment, and the Islamic on such controversial issues often The state has failed to establish petus to terrorism and violence in
State (IS) of Khorasan have been echoes Pakistan’s official narrative. a public coordinated child protec- these two border provinces of India.
primarily responsible for the attacks Reports claiming “non-existent” ra- tion case management and referral Multiple investigations done by
on the Hazara Shias. The Pakistani cial discrimination in the country can system at par with international stan- India’s Narcotics Control Bureau
state does not act decisively against be challenged on several accounts. dards. The National Commission on (NCB), the National Investigation
the perpetrators of such violence. Ten The Baloch ethnic minority has The Rights of Child on its official Agency (NIA) and other agencies
Hazara miners were butchered on 3 historically been the victim of Pa- website claims that “In Pakistan, reveal that Pakistan-based cartel
January 2022 in a coal mine area of kistani State. Baloch activists and we are witnessing an increase in the kingpins are behind smuggling of Af-
Mach town. A Shia mosque in Pe- their family members are regularly rates of child rights violation cases ghanistan drugs through Pakistan. It is
shawar’s Koocha Risaldar area was harassed by Pakistan’s security estab- across all sectors.” The International believed that a significant portion of the
targeted on 4 March 2022 in which 57 lishment. Be it large scale killing, or Labour Organization recognizes the money generated through illegal drug
people lost their lives. enforced disappearances, the state fact that “child labour cuts across the business goes into terror financing.
The Pakistani State has not paid has not taken any meaningful action sectors but is largely prevalent in the There is enough documentary
serious attention to the implementa- whatsoever to address the issue. In- rural economy.” The United States evidence to suggest that Pakistan has
tion of the International Convention stead, a new wave of state repression Department of Labour also recog- been a gross violator of most of the
on the Elimination of All Forms of is currently underway with the sig- nizes the problem of child labour in international conventions signed and
Racial Discrimination (1965) and In- nificant rise in abductions of Baloch Pakistan. It categorically claims that ratified by itself. Given the growing
ternational Covenant on Economic activists by the Pakistan Army. On “In 2021, Pakistan made minimal EU commitment to implement 27
Social and Cultural Rights (1966). 17 February 2023, Mahal Baloch, advancement because it continued UN conventions related to Climate
Racial discrimination has been prev- the wife of late Balochistan Libera- to implement practices that delay Change, Interfaith Harmony, La-
alent in Pakistan since its emergence tion Front (BLF) activist Nadeem, advancement to eliminate the worst bour Rights, Human Rights, and
as a state in August 1947, even if such her mother-in-law Mahnaz, and forms of child labor.” Anti-Corruption, the EU must take
discrimination is legally sanctioned. three children—Nugrah, Nazeenk, Most of the 12 conventions re- Pakistan’s bid for renewal of GSP+
The Ahmadiyya community, for ex- and Banadi along with others were lated to the environment, good gov- status seriously. There is a lame ar-
ample, were declared Non-Muslim picked up by Counter Terrorism De- ernance and the fight against drug gument that granting this status to
in Pakistan in 1974 and ever since partment (CTD). While some were production and trafficking too met Pakistan would encourage Pakistan
laws related to Blasphemy have been released on 18 February, Mahal Ba- similar fate in Pakistan. As far as Con- to conform to these conventions
largely used to target members of mi- loch continued to be in detention vention on Biological Diversity (1992) incrementally and help it tackle its
nority community in the country. without any formal charges. Later, is concerned, Pakistan openly vio- poorly managed economy in a man-
Within a decade of declaring she was declared a suicide bomber lates it by officially inviting people for ner that would strengthen the state’s
them as non-Muslims, a legal ordi- and charged by CTD for planning to Trophy Hunting in illegally occupied capacity to deliver the public goods
nance was brought in to make it a attack important installations and se- territory in Gilgit-Baltistan. Forest, to all communities in Pakistan. How-
criminal offence for Ahmadiyas to curity forces in Quetta. Wildlife and Environment Depart- ever, if one goes by history, Pakistan
refer themselves as Muslims. They With regard to Convention ment, Government of Gilgit-Baltistan has not taken its commitment seri-
are required to sign a declaration of against Torture and other Cruel, In- on its official website has listed 47 ar- ously and violated the conventions
being Non-Muslim for the want of human or Degrading Treatment or eas where Trophy Hunting is allowed. over and over again. Against this
essential services or joining national Punishment (1984), one can see a It also mentions Trophy Hunting sta- backdrop, any decision to extend
institutions or getting national iden- large number of cases of enforced tistics as 8 Markhors, 44 IBEX, and 8 GSP+ to Pakistan would only em-
tification cards. They can neither disappearances, physical inhuman Blue Sheep. It is an open violation of bolden its power elite to continue
declare their faith publicly nor call tortures, and killings of Baloch ac- Convention on Biological Diversity. with its familiar policy of minority
their place of worship, mosques. Do- tivists. The Paank annual report, the In reference to United Nations oppression and ethno-racial abuse.
ing that could be blasphemous and human rights organization of the Ba- Convention against Illicit Traffic in
invite severe punishments such as loch National Movement, underlines Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Dr Ashish Shukla is Associate Fellow at
imprisonment or death. Such laws the fact that in 2022 alone, Pakistan Substances (1988), one can safely Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence
“contribute to the systemic and so- Army forcibly disappeared 629, extra argue that Pakistan has been a gross Studies and Analyses
cietal discrimination of Ahmadis in judicially killed 195 and tortured 187 violator of this particular convention. Views expressed are of the author and
Pakistan—discrimination that gov- people in Balochistan. Pakistan is a major trafficker, proces- do not necessarily reflect the views of
ernment officials often publicly sup- However, this is not limited to sor, and to some extent, producer of the Manohar Parrikar IDSA or of the
port and enflame.” Baloch alone. Minority Sindhis and illicit opium, which involve thousands Government of India.
Besides Ahmadiyyas, other re- Pakhtuns in the Pak-Af tribal border- of Pakistanis in the high profiting drug
ligious minorities including Hindus, land have also been subjected to such business. Pakistan shares a 2,430 Km This article first appeared in the
Christians, Sikhs, Sheedis (of East Af- tortures. Such flagrant abuse of state long border with its neighbour Af- Comments section of the website (www.
rican descent brought into the Indian power has gone largely unreported in ghanistan, the world’s No.1 illicit drug idsa.in) of Manohar Parrikar Institute
subcontinent as slaves by Arab mer- international media. Reports by hu- producer, with three official crossing for Defense Studies and Analyses, New
chants between the eighth and nine- man rights outfits have often fallen points (Torkham in Nangarhar, Ghu- Delhi on June 7, 2023

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