A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Friday, January 20, 2017
We the Humans: How to Solve the Conflict in Balochistan!
Being a Hazara I am continuously facing serious threats to my personal and professional life. I have survived three suicide-bombing attacks outside the court building. Each day of my life I am at serious risk of being harmed by religious extremists and also by influential groups who are bitter opponent of women’s liberty, education, and political freedom.
( January 18, 2017, Quetta, Sri Lanka Guardian) It
seems like yesterday when my senior lawyers, colleagues, and mentors
were smiling, giggling, taunting, and guiding; it was business as usual
at the District Courts in Balochistan. This business as usual was all
taken away from me suddenly. The morning of 8 August 2016 brought
dramatic changes to my life; on that day 56 lawyers of the Balochistan
Bar Council and Balochistan Bar Association got killed in a split second
in a suicide attack.
Things have changed drastically and it seems now as if no one is left
amongst us – neither a classical interpreter of statues nor defenders of
human rights. The terrorists have virtually killed an entire generation
of educated people of Balochistan. The voices for recovery of missing
persons and the champions of the rule of law have been silenced forever.
Born in Balochistan Province of Pakistan, I hail from an extremely
victimized ethnic minority group of the Province, known as ‘Hazara’,
which is a sub sect of the Shia sect of Islam. I am the first female
lawyer from my community and practicing with a law firm. It was very
difficult to pursue a career in law given the persisting male-dominated
environment around me, but I successfully met this challenge despite all
odds.
Being a Female Lawyer in an Androcentric Culture
In 2011, I joined Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, which is a
prestigious forum in defending Human rights violations. In 2012, I
joined National Commission for Justice and Peace, addressing the issues
of non-Muslims of Pakistan, especially the Hindu community, against
their forced conversion to Islam. As a policy-making member of National
Commission for Justice and Peace, after three years of efforts, finally,
the Hindu Marriage Bill 2016 is introduced in Parliament to help
eliminate enforced conversion of Hindu Girls.
In the year 2013, I became a working member of American Bar Association
(ROLI), promoting Rule of Law in the context of domestic practice of
International Human Rights Laws, and represented Pakistan in Nepal. I
offered several lectures on fair trial, torture, preventive detention,
and death penalty.
In the year 2014, I was selected for Emerging Leaders of Pakistan
fellowship, a project of Atlantic Council and Meridian International in
USA. Since last year, I am engaged with Inclusive Security, a project of
the United States Institute of Peace, on drafting policy on counter
violent terrorism with inclusion of women.
I believe it is through law that an effective and just social contract
can be realized, where deprived, under-served, and victimized people can
be helped, and equal rights and opportunities can be obtained
peacefully and democratically.
In addition to being a lawyer, I am also a political activist raising
voice for democratic and constitutional rights of women and other
oppressed groups. As an active member of Balochistan Youth Forum (BYF),
in collaboration with Center for Research and Security Studies, I have
struggled to promote secularism, the rule of law, and harmony among the
youth of Balochistan and in other provinces.
As a member of the Balochistan Youth Forum, I have advocated for the
national rights of the people of Balochistan and have highlighted issues
concerning provincial autonomy, fair justice for missing persons, and
extrajudicial killings of the Baloch people.
Women Rights in Pakistan
The situation of women rights in Pakistan is dismal. Being a woman
rights defender, I provide free legal aid and counseling to
poverty-affected women on issues that include honor killing, domestic
violence, marriage disputes, sexual harassment, property rights, etc. I
also deal with the cases of missing persons or victims of forced
disappearance. The biggest achievement has been safe recovery of three
missing Baloch girls in 2015. As a result of civil society efforts, all
three girls were recovered by law enforcement agencies in a short period
of three days.
A weak justice system and lack of public confidence contribute to the
cycle of rising violence and extremism. For this purpose, one of my
initiatives includes free legal aid to poor men, women, and children of
my district, i.e. Quetta, through my non-profit organization ‘We The
Humans’. These cases have been decided and I have won all of them.
As a Human Rights defender, I appointed myself as a pauper counsel for
15 children below the age of 12 who were accused of terrorism in
different areas of the City in the year 2014; the case is still pending
before Anti Terrorism Court of Quetta, Balochistan. My legal aid
services have helped them seek justice, which otherwise would not have
been possible for them due to their impoverished economic conditions. I
believe that the inability of this weak and overburdened system can fuel
and support alternative justice systems, ranging from strict versions
of Islamic law, to individuals who will take the law into their own
hands.
Choosing human rights and rule of law as part of my struggle in legal
procedure and practice is not based upon an idealist approach but is
being done keeping in view the realistic need of my country and its
people. Pakistan has been facing a crisis of leadership for decades.
Military and civilian leadership that has had the chance to rule the
country has not been able to put the country on the track of democratic
values, where ruling parties influence justice. The main reasons for
this state of affairs includes lack of democratic culture and attitudes,
the rule of law, and corruption.
Lawyer and human rights defenders in Pakistan should be sensitive to the
issues and problems of the people and be smart enough to seek their
solutions and motivate people to rise up for implementation of the
solutions. The most important quality consists in having a correct
vision and facing all the challenges in the way with integrity,
perseverance, and resoluteness. This can be attained when one has good
command over interpretation and practice of their rights guaranteed by
the law of the land. For this purpose, I struggle for the right to fair
trail and access to justice for everyone and struggle to end the
practices of enforced disappearance in Pakistan. One of the examples of
raising voice for missing persons was the safe recovery of writer Wahid
Baloch in 2016; I was also part of the campaign for his recovery.
Hazara Community
Being a Hazara I am continuously facing serious threats to my personal
and professional life. I have survived three suicide-bombing attacks
outside the court building. Each day of my life I am at serious risk of
being harmed by religious extremists and also by influential groups who
are bitter opponent of women’s liberty, education, and political
freedom. I have always faced and overcome these grave challenges by
constantly reminding myself that one should never give up before the
forces of regression, backwardness, and bigotry. One should always
bravely take up challenges no matter how hard they are, if one possesses
the desire to lead his people and fellow-beings ahead in the direction
of progress, development, and well-being.
For my services to human rights I have received Emerging Young Women
Leader Award 2015 from renowned Nobel Laureate Ms. Tawakkol Abdel-Salam
Karman.
‘The News Woman Power 50’ named me, along with fifty other women,
amongst the most powerful and influential woman of Pakistan in 2015. My
service for the community was recognized by Rajiv Circle fellowship and I
was invited as the first batch of Pakistani fellows in 2015 and
represented Pakistan in Silicon Valley USA.
Importance of Negotiations and dialogues
In the year 2016, I have become Young Connectors of Future Fellow of the
Swedish Institute and represented Pakistan in Sweden. In 2015, As a
Human Rights Defender I was a youth delegate from Pakistan as part of
Global Unites family in Sri Lanka. I am also nominated as
Dukhtar-e-Pakistan (daughter of Pakistan) Award winner in January 2017.
Inspired by Martin Luther King and Gandhi, I believe that the grave
challenges of the country call for immediate and resolute policy and the
principle strategy of promoting the rule of law, respect for human
rights and dignities, and conflict resolution with all stakeholders
on-board.
Negotiations and dialogues should be promoted, as the only way to seek
solutions to the problems, while safeguarding ones legal, social, and
political rights in the country. I believe that the rule of law and
democracy is the only way to overcome the legal, political and social
problems of the country. Practical efforts can be taken to resolve those
problems and elevate the people to take the ladder of social and legal
progress.
Such dreams can become true if we try to affect the change before the
change affect us; nothing is permanent except change itself and the
universal truth is that change is inevitable.
About the Writer: Jalila Haider Karmal is
the lawyer and human rights activist based in Quetta, the capital of
Balochistan Province, she can be reached at; jalila.h.karmal@gmail.com
.This article was originally published by the Asian Human Rights
Commission, a Hong Kong-based Human Rights monitoring, documenting, and
advocating body.