Pakistan's civil society rings alarm over plight of women in country, calls out Imran govt

Pakistan’s civil society organisation has raised concerns over the escalating crimes against women and also called out the inaction of the Imran Khan-led government, the judiciary of the country. As per ANI, Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) Vice Chairperson Justice (R) Nasirah Iqbal has also noted that Pakistan’s founding father Muhammad Ali Jinnah had hopes that both men and women would work in synergy but the authorities failed to work on the decades-old vision. She stressed that for women in Pakistan to feel safe, the perpetrators of crimes against them must be brought to justice. 

Citing the Minar-e-Pakistan incident, TIP Chairperson Yasmin Larry, said that is a test case of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government as well as the criminal justice system. As per ANI, Larry also called on the government to act on the guidelines given by the United Nations (UN) for ending the discriminatory behaviour against women and noted that it is the only way to tackle violence against women in the country. 

HRCP report raised alarm on the situation

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) annual report released in June, this year raised alarm over the situation of women in the country. Earlier on August 26, TIP also said that the “Board of Trustees Transparency International Pakistan held a Board meeting on Tuesday, and expressed grave concern over the alarming increase in violence against women, due to the inept response from the state.”

“The Board expressed its deepest shock and condemned the reprehensible attack on woman at Minar-e-Pakistan, Lahore on 14th August 2021 and similar such attacks on women occurred in last one month,” it added. Meanwhile, the HRCP report included a range of issues that adversely impacted the women in Pakistan’s communities. The annual report also laid extra emphasis on the plight of women, heightened with gender discrimination that is witnessed across the nation.

Minar-e-Pakistan incident

The concerns were raised after earlier this week a heart-wrenching incident was reported in Pakistan’s Lahore on August 14 when a female TikToker was assaulted by hundreds of people. Reportedly, the case was also registered against the people captured in a viral video assaulting and stealing from the TikToker along with her companions.  The incident reportedly took place at the Greater Iqbal Park area of Lahore in Pakistan on its Independence Day on August 14. In the FIR, the complainant has said that she and people with her were filming a video near Minar-e-Pakistan when around 300 to 400 “attacked us.”

IMAGE: AP