All people are legally born free, but a larger majority remains in the shackles of visible and invisible chains constructed by the mighty custodians of society, morality, culture, politics, and even civil rights. Not all human beings can enjoy their human rights due to the accessibility to information about their rights and justice. Each year, the world celebrates human rights day on the 10 of December and all member countries of the UN commemorate this. Ironically, many member countries if not all are committing some degree of violation of at least one human right if not many. The politics of selectiveness regarding concealing or revealing violation of any human right by different states, and civil and political rights activists is an open secret. The shameless drama of promoting, championing, and safeguarding human rights by different actors remains in progress, globally, uninterrupted, around the year. The media too, despite technological tools to detect fake news and resources to identify disinformation at large, remains a slave to the corporate interest. Amidst this chaos managed by the mighty and majestic players, I often wonder how much we as common urban people who are educated, have some privileges including our access to digital information commit violations of many human rights under compulsions or as a choice. I understand that there are exceptions, but it remains a fact that there are too few who practice what they preach in its entirety. My list of everyday human rights violations leading to a complex spectrum of violence goes as follows:
We often ask our daughters to choose silence when they experience harassment and bullying at their campuses, workplaces and even at their parents’ or in-laws’ homes. Many times, we as parents, siblings, other relatives, friends, colleagues, or neighbours know exactly or atleast have some idea that what is going on with a particular woman/girl but we either choose to abstain from helping or “counsel” the victim to remain patient and quiet in the name of pragmatism and honour.
The shameless drama of promoting, championing, and safeguarding human rights remains in progress, globally, uninterrupted, around the year.
We see little children on roads selling cheap items or begging, collecting garbage, handling toxic waste, finding food from the trash, working as “chootha” in a car repair workshop or roadside hotel/Dhaba or attending kids of their age as maids and servants. Many a time we witness our rich friends maltreating young domestic help, but we remain aloof. We remain refractory in such situations in the name of etiquette telling us to mind our own business, maintaining boundaries or explaining our helplessness.
We do not waste any opportunity to lament nepotism, loss of merit, low-quality education, loss of civic sense, crazy traffic and whatnot in Pakistan. And yet we are the same people who want to put their children in the best schools, colleges, and Universities, pay hefty educational fees and private tuition fees and attempt to employ all means no matter how unfair and immoral even if legally justifiable to get the best for our kids. In this whole process how many times and at how many places do we deprive a kid with no push from the class of similar opportunities? Additionally, we validate a greedy gainful educational system and become complicit in their chase of earning limitless monetary and political mileage. We do not hesitate to throw litter out of our luxury cars, violate traffic rules and demonstrate (abuse of) authority when and where needed. Most of us despite labelling ourselves as commoners are micro-elites in our circles and territories.
We as enthusiastic users of social media take no time in offering our sympathies for Palestinians or victims of any accident, terrorism etc. anywhere in the world ( that is the right thing to do ) but we seldom bother if at all to know our issues, situation of our minorities, show solidarity with stranded Pakistani Biharis or wailing mothers and sisters of the missing persons. I understand these are difficult areas and close to home so most of us exercise caution. But the irony dies when many amongst us who are otherwise seen as celebrated human rights champions choose not only to distance themselves from many minority issues but often release statements that stand in sharp contrasts with their human rights leadership version.
This list is sketchy. I admit that I may not be aware of many everyday human rights violations. There are many others that I do not dare to mention due to latent and blatant risks that I envisage as an ordinary Pakistani who is also paranoid to some degree owing to my lived experiences. Leaving aside my point of view rather fears I wonder how many of us go through even the slightest feeling of guilt when we look at our Pakistani Passports? It seems that Adam Smith’s interpretation of scarcity in the form of “inability to appear in public without shame,” is including more audience.
The writer is a free thinker.