Incidents of flouting human rights on the rise: Bilawal

Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that incidents of trampling human rights have witnessed an upsurge since the incumbent government has been imposed.

On the occasion of International Human Rights Day on Tuesday, he said that it is incumbent on the state to uphold human rights of every citizen indiscriminately, besides respecting the pledges made by it with its citizens.

The state, he said, should uphold the human rights of every citizen regardless of gender, creed, caste or ethnicity. "Any dereliction of this duty by the state would be a deviation from the founding principles of the country and would be tantamount to a betrayal of the ethos of Pakistan," he said in his message on the occasion of the International Human Rights Day on Tuesday.

He said that freedom of expression, freedom of religion and belief, women and children's rights and protection of vulnerable segments have to be ensured for a peaceful and progressive society.

He said PPP leaders Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had led a struggle for the protection of the nation's democratic and human rights, and laid down their lives for the cause.

Separately, the chairman PPP while addressing an event at Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto University of Science and Technology said that freedom of speech and expression is the mother of all human rights.

He said that students should have the right to have their say on how their institution is run like teachers' association and employees association. He appreciated the work of Sindh Peoples Students Federation.

He said that it is unfortunate that at present freedom of speech, expression and press has been curtailed by this government. "Without freedom of expression, we cannot correctly decide for our country. Today the government is not ready to listen to the opposition. We have to protect the economic rights of the people also," he said.

"We have to become a state where equal pay is for equal work without the bias of gender. Human rights are the supreme right. It is our right to have free and fair elections. In every election people's vote are stolen.

We need to have real representatives in the assemblies and not puppets," he said.

"The PPP has always been on the forefront of human rights for the people of Pakistan. Zia-ul-Haq usurped the rights of women in Pakistan. We brought the 18th amendment for giving rights to the people usurped by dictators. Even today provinces are not provided with resources. The Sindh government is leading from the front to give rights to the people despite difficult circumstances and conspiracies against 18th amendment. The 18th amendment provided the right to education, right to information and right to free trial and now these rights are the part of constitution and our judiciary will also realize that we have to give these rights to the people of Pakistan," he said.

He said the situation of human rights is a concern with missing persons and human rights violations from Balochistan to tribal areas and Gilgit-Baltistan. "How can we give the relief to the people convicted by military courts? It is the right of Kashmiris that they are given the right of self determination. We must not compromise on fundamental human rights. Pakistan must be a peaceful, democratic and prosperous country but our country is fast becoming weak during this government," he said.

He further said, "We will give one message from Rawalpindi rally of December 27 that even today the people are firm in their resolve that all powers belong to the people."