Human rights issues: Senate panel off to G-B on fact-finding mission

By Peer Muhammad  in The Express Tribune, April 28th, 2014

Islamabad: A nine-member Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights left on Sunday for Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) to know about the fundamental human rights issues being faced by the people of the area.

The committee – led by senator Afrasiab Khattak – will spend three days in the G-B and meet political, social and national leaders of the area.

“We will meet people from all walks of life to know their problems related to the human rights and its report will be sent to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the departments concerned and will also be presented in the Senate,” Khattak said while talking to The Express Tribune.

Earlier, the committee had also planned to meet Awami Action Committee’s (AAC) leaders to convince them to discontinue their protest against the withdrawal of subsidy on wheat.

However, on Saturday the AAC called off its 13-day protest after the PM assured them their demands will be fulfilled.

The senator said the committee knew that people of the G-B were facing a variety of issues, which needed to be addressed.

“[However] we are not in a position to take any decision as we are here only to listen to them and to convey their messages to the institutions concerned so that necessary action could be taken in the future,” he said.

Another member of the committee, senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, said the committee wanted to express solidarity with the G-B people, “who are very patriotic Pakistanis”.

He said the committee was pleased that the premier had already intervened in the matter related to the wheat subsidy and played a role in bringing an end to the protest.

The G-B’s local leaders believe that people of the northern areas feel deprived due to their non-representation in key constitutional institutions and forums – including Senate, National Assembly, National Finance Commission (NFC) award as well as in the Council of Common Interest (CCI).

“Our main issue is our constitutional rights as our voice cannot reach the corridors of power because of the absence of our representation in the Senate and National Assembly,” said a senior politician of the G-B Raja Jahanzeb.

He said it was a good opportunity to take up this issue informally with the visiting senators, who would convey their grievances to the quarters concerned.

Besides knowing their problems, the committee also aims to review the steps taken by the government to foster harmony among various groups as well as to know details about banned organisations and NGOs.

The senators will also seek details of the illegal detainees with particular reference to nationalist activist Baba Jan. They will also receive a briefing on the allegedly discriminatory treatment meted out to various communities living in the G-B and the actions taken by the government to tackle the matter. http://tribune.com.pk/story/701227/human-rights-issues-senate-panel-off-to-g-b-on-fact-finding-mission/