Human Rights or rather a lack of them in India and Pakistan is unfortunately a common theme very few people pay much attention and the ones who try to do something about it are hounded out and their lives are made miserable not only by religious extremists but also by uneducated masses led by even more illiterate Mullahs and Pundits with full support from the Governments
of the day.

Both sides of the borders the crimes against humanity are committed with the same zeal the sad part is that even the new generations are not making any waves to improve situation.

More crimes are committed against the rights of woman in these societies than any other crime
It is generally accepted that woman has less rights than a man the worst thing is that these crimes are committed in the name of religion whereas religion teaches to give more respect to the woman.
In Islam a woman has protection and more rights than a man but these rules are generally ignored by most people and they have their own interpretations to these rules

Asma Jahangir

India claims to be a champion on human rights but soon forgets that Kashmiris and other ethnic groups within the union have suffered serious abuses of human rightsMuslims, Christians, Assames, Tamil and various other groups have waged struggle against the policies of Indian Government.

Pakistan makes these claims too but just look at the atrocities committed against the rights of woman and minorities and you will feel ashamed.The religious intolerance has taken root in Pakistan deeply over the last 53 years and religious terrorists are using religion to kill each other.

Sunnis are not only busy killing each other but also killing Shias, Ahmadis, Christians and everyone else they feel they have a grudge against having a different opinion from them is a reason enough for them to consider you a target.

And when you talk about human rights or Woman's rights or rather lack of any rights in the Sub-continent you cannot avoid talking about Asma Jahangir and incredible work she has undertaken in her lifetime.

Its amazing that this petite graceful and softly spoken woman has committed her life to better the others, She has suffered personal losses and immense pressures but still stood up for the rights of the others and the good part is that she is still standing and standing very tall.

Once every few hundred years or so God sends you an angel in shape of a human being to serve and protect the down trodden and oppressed and this century I am sure its Asma Jahangir who has turned up in Pakistan to giver her life for the rights of the others.

Asma lives and works in Lahore but travels around the country to help and assist people in need I was visiting Lahore and was able to get some time with Asma Jahangir to talk about her work her commitment and her devotion for the cause of rights of woman and much more.

The day I was meeting Asma Jahangir I went to visit a friends house on my way to commission of human rights offices and while sitting there sipping a nice cup of gulabi tea I mentioned to people there that I was going to meet Asma Jahangir there was a sudden silence and a Pakistani American Doctor visiting from Chicago started a sermon like a Mullah first thing he said
was oh did you know that she is a Qadiani?

Asma with one of the oldest contributeers for the HRCP

Well hallo I thought now he is going to give me his opinion anyway so I let him continue he went on for a few minutes about Asma Jahangir saying she represents American agenda when I asked him how he knows that and if he could elaborate on it, he became very sheepish and admitted it was all hearsay………so much for an educated man.

My response to him was that if she is an American agent why the hell she is living in Pakistan and you a committed Pakistani living in the states when Pakistan spent loads of money training you to be a Doctor and than you run away to USA and serve there and not the poor Pakistan people to
whom he owes his training to there followed a big argument passions running high It was like a political party "JALSA"in Bhatti Gate.

This shows the narrow mindedness of some of so called educated people of Pakistani Origin living in the west and thinking by coming to Pakistan they are doing a big "AHSSAN"a big favour……………………………and they know it all…

Eventually I got to the offices of Human Rights Commission in Lahore there was a lot of "Gahma Gahmi" going on it was a day for a convention of Human Rights activists and workers there were lots of men but a much bigger number of young woman too and none of the men were eyeing or starring them isn't that unusual in Pakistan???

It all looked in good spirit and it was a task and half to find Asma in the middle of this high-spirited crowd eventually we met and I introduced myself to Asma Jahangir. Asma greeted me graciously and we sat down in one of the offices to have a chat.

My first question. Are you a Qadiani? (I knew the answer but I had to ask particularly after the big argument about an hour ago.)

AJ - I do not think it's an appropriate question this label is used by everyone in Pakistan to
Attain their own goals and it's a label, which is used even by various Pakistani Governments in the past to achieve their own dirty goals against the people of Pakistan.

Even though I am not in any religious grouping but to answer this question would be to Legitimise the stand the fanatics take in Pakistan just to exploit the Ahmadis even Further. I think that
we should all be ashamed for the atrocities committed against Ahmadis in Pakistan.

SM - Its very commendable what you do but what drives you to such commitment to human
Rights issue in Pakistan?

AJ - It's a very sensitive issue and an issue which has always been neglected by political parties in Pakistan because political parties do not bring forward issues which do not bring them votes hence there was no voice for the people of Pakistan whom suffered immense abuse of Human rights whether it be a woman in a household or a minority or poor people who had no resources
to raise their voice.

Asma with Rtd. Air Vice Marshal Zafar treasurer of HRCP

I have always been very sensitive to these issues my Father was an outspoken advocate of Human Rights and our family suffered for a long time under various governments because of
His stand for the oppressed, our family property was confiscated and various threats were thrust upon us and we grew up under these circumstances and our father taught us values of Human Rights and he was our role model and our inspiration.

SM. How did the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan came into being?

AJ. For many years various people were making efforts to improve human rights situation in
Pakistan and they were all committing their resources individually and were getting very Positive results and we thought if we could all put our efforts together and work as a Team that would achieve better results hence the Idea was born I first spoke about it to Mr Nisar Usmani a leading activists of human rights he was delighted with the idea and Supported it fully from there
on we got all active people together and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan was born.
We had fierce opposition from the Government trying to stop us from creating a forum And a focal point for our activities but Pakistan is full of good souls and a large number of People helped us through thick and thin hence we are in such good shape today that our Voice when is raised is heard the world over.

SM. How wide spread human rights abuse in Pakistan is?

AJ. It's a much bigger issue than we realise the major group of people who suffer from it are women but also there are serious human rights abuses against religious minorities, Children and bonded labour unless we address these violations upfront and highlight them worldwide no attention is paid or improvements are made.Crimes against Women's rights are just enormous domestic violence is sadly more or less an accepted form of controlling the women by men.
Than the ugly face of "Honour Killing" is all over the place increasing awareness of such abuses improves things a little but we need fundamental changes in our thinking, considerations for others is more or less non existent in our society and intolerance has just eroded over the years fuelled by
fundamentalists and weaponisation of our society.

SM. You have had threats made against your life few times you have been imprisoned basically
Every step for human rights is a giant step to take for people like you, why do you go on?

AJ. Yes my life has been threatened seriously many times I have been jailed for raising profile of human rights abuse and lack of any rights the reason I go on because I believe in people and I believe in equal rights I can not bare to see the suffering of helpless woman children and grown
ups and as a human being its my duty to stand up and help the suffering people.
Islam teaches us to support the downtrodden in everyway and if you do not help people who are made scapegoats than you are worst than the perpetrators of these abuses. I would not be a human being if did nothing to help these people.

SM - Do you feel you are able to continue your work in Pakistan without hindrance?

AJ - No not without hindrance but we still enjoy freedom and are able to make positive contribution one of the responsibilities of Human Rights Commissions to monitor abuses by the states and if we do not do that than there is no point because these violations by the state are around every corner hence State views us as a threat and we get barriers erected at every corner but we must go on highlighting violations by persons as well as by the state.Despite all that there are many many people in the Government and outside who understand our work admire it and fully support it. We are here to stay to help anyone who is being violated against and we
intend to go on and on and now the younger generations are coming forward and are beginning to take interest that makes it more exciting because these young people are our future.

SM - Does the Human Rights Commission get any help or support from the Government?

AJ - No not at all we raise all the funding ourselves we do receive funding from few organisation we are not a government organisation so neither we get any funding from the Government nor we expect any/

Asma was called into a meeting at this stage where she went to make a speech to the convention of human rights activists in Pakistan and left me with the thought that if people like Asma Jahangir are living in Pakistan than I am sure Pakistan does have a bright future we just need few more Asma Jahangirs to help shape and shake our society to a standard fit for humanity.

To view extraordinary work undertaken by Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
please visit http://www.hrcp.cjb.net/