Speakers at the inaugural session of the “National Conference on State of Fundamental Rights in Pakistan” said on Saturday that there is a need to promote the culture of research and teaching as a fundamental right in all the educational institutions of Pakistan.
The conference was organized by the Centre for Civic Education Pakistan (CCEP) in collaboration with Inter University Consortium for Promotion of Social Sciences (IUCPSS) and National Endowment for Democracy (NED). CEP Executive Director Zafarullah Khan highlighted the objectives of the conference. IUCPSS Chairman Prof. Dr. Muhammad Mukhtar in his welcome remarks said that the consortium and CCEP would continue to work together over various social problems being faced by the Pakistani society. Speaking on the occasion, renowned human right activist I.A Rehman said that the educational institutions could undertake research over the human rights issues in Pakistan. “Since the establishment of Pakistan, we are still facing feudalism and denial to the rights of vulnerable segments of the society i.e. the minorities and women”, he added. He also underlined the importance of harmony between culture and human rights. He was of the view that without correcting the mistakes made in the past, we could not meet the challenges of the present and the future.
The guest of honor on the occasion Higher Education Commission (HEC) Executive Director Prof Dr S Sohail H Naqvi remarked that Pakistan and other Islamic countries were facing a similar human rights situation. He emphasized the proactive role of higher education institutions for improving the state of fundamental rights in Pakistan. “HEC will continue to work with the civil society organizations over the issues related to civic education and for promoting the values of peace, tolerance and respect for fellow citizens”, he reiterated.
On this occasion, Civic Courage Award for the year 2012 was given to I.A Rehman, for 2011 to Miss Malalai Youafzai while the Civic Education Award was awarded to Baacha Khan Trust Educational Foundation.
Malala Youafzai in her remarks, narrated the various challenges and problems confronted by the people of Swat during the Taliban occupation. She termed the pen as one of the most effective weapons to fight illiteracy and human rights violations. Civic courage award had been created by the CCEP to honor civic engagements and organizations that took courageous public stance and stood to advance truth, justice, rule of law, democracy and pluralist values in Pakistan despite the existence of enormous odds and personal risks.
