Citizens’ Rights
While the fundamental rights of every citizen are enshrined in the Constitution, it is very rarely that more than lip-service is given to these. Essentially these rights are called freedoms e.g. freedom of free speech, freedom of worship, etc. Every regime claims that its main reason for existence is to protect the basic rights of the common man, in actual fact all governments without exception allow far less freedoms than that guaranteed under the Constitution. Instead of being sacrosanct and complete, the quantum of these freedoms vary with the regime in power, more particularly depending upon the man in charge. That is the paradox that those who struggle for citizens’ rights have to solve, how to make the rulers separate the institutionalized freedoms from individual cynosure and that it is wrong as well to apply different measures to various freedoms. There is another complication, even if the man (or woman) at the very top generates sincere goodwill for the basic rights of every citizen, is the mechanism of governance that he manages strong enough to withstand manipulation lesser by managers in government down the line, with or without the knowledge of the person at the apex of authority?
To provide awareness to citizens about their rights Air Marshal (Retd) Asghar Khan, alongwith a few like-minded citizens, established the Society of Citizens’ Rights (SCR) in 1997 as a non-profit and non-governmental organization. SCR is dedicated to the citizens of Pakistan, its basic function is to ensure and protect the freedom and basic rights as articulated under the Constitution of Pakistan, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the Human Rights Conventions of the United Nations. The Society provides a neutral platform for citizens to discuss national issues of social, economic and political concern, believing that there is an urgent need to create awareness amongst the citizens of Pakistan about the social problems they face through seminars, workshops and publications. The underlying idea is to encourage debate in organized fora and disseminate the proceedings of the discussions to concerned citizens. There is open cynicism among our youth for the role played by their elders in sustaining moral and ethical values inculcating the citizens’ basic rights, this cynicism has to be addressed.
The Board of Governors of SCR believe that SCR aims can be accomplished by adhering to a set of objectives, viz (1) create awareness amongst the people of Pakistan about the social problems facing the country with a view to improving the quality of life for the people (2) create public awareness through seminars, workshops, publications and coverage in the media (3) provide every citizen the right to easy access to affordable and quick justice (4) provide every citizen the right to an effective and transparent political system, i.e. elections, passing of bills in the parliament etc (5) bring about maximum decentralization of executive and administrative powers of the government (6) create a greater degree of accountability for members of the executive, legislative and judiciary councils (7) create equal opportunities for women to play their role in society without discrimination (8) freedom to worship (9) give every citizen the right to easily access education (10) alleviate poverty (11) provide access to information and freedom of expression (12) hold opinion polls to elicit public opinion on social, economic and political issues (13) enlist the support of Government and other agencies in such a manner and in such programmes that may promote the objectives of SCR (14) develop contacts with development organizations both in the country and abroad for sharing knowledge, experience and technology and (15) execute business to become self-supporting. It may be pertinent to note that the son of the Founder Chairman Air Marshal (Retd) Asghar Khan played a major role in formulating the objectives and then acting on these objectives. Late Omar Asghar Khan was a genuine social worker extraordinary, he went the extra mile in promoting what he strongly believed in.
Since its formation SCR has organized various Seminars in Islamabad on, viz (1) “Corruption and Accountability” (on Dec 19, 1997) and “Kalabagh Dam and Alternatives” (May 16, 1998) in collaboration with Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung (2) “Rediscovering the Quaid’s Vision” (July 31, 2000) and “Write-off of Foreign Debt” (August 19, 2000) in collaboration with The Asia Foundation and (3) “Role of Armed Forces in Politics” in collaboration with FNS and The Asia Foundation on December 16, 2000. The activity reports on each Seminar have been written and circulated amongst relevant individuals and organization, these are readily available to those interested in the details of the seminars. The Members of the Board of Governors have noted that there is a requirement to hold such Seminars in the four provincial capitals and other major cities.
Under the collaborative program of The Asia Foundation (the foundation) under Pakistan NGO Initiatives (PNI) to facilitate public dialogue and coalition building on topical issues relevant to establishing democratic politics and governance in Pakistan, SCR has also carried out a number of activities during August 2001 to June 2002. Till now, SCR has confined itself to conducting public forums, publications, coalition building and research studies. To that end the Society has also published a report on “Mapping of Civil Society Organizations in Pakistan” which includes a directory (profiling) 131 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) which are covering major urban areas of four provinces of Pakistan. This is an important document as it provides credibility to genuine organizations in the field. As a part of its research work, SCR has also conducted an extremely interesting and impartial “Review of the Election Commission’s Code of Conduct”.
Naturally activities of organizations like SCR require funding, such organizations cannot raise funds like normal charity organizations e.g. charity balls, walks, etc. Funds have to be specialized for specific event, donors will not give funds to organizations lacking credibility and purposeful intent. SCR has been fortunate that in support of its activities it has got funding from viz (1) The Asia Foundation and Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung (2) membership and other fee/dues prescribed by the Board of Governors of SCR (3) donations/bequests received by SCR (4) contribution from sources acceptable by the Board of Governors of SCR and (5) earnings of SCR which arisen on account of its working. SCR appreciates funding from interested donor agencies for both specific and genial purpose.
Future plans of SCR include, viz (1) conducting one seminar per month or at least 10 seminars per year in Pakistan in-collaboration with other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the capital cities of all provinces of the country and Islamabad. The theme of the seminars, subject to the approval of the Board members, could be “right to education”, “right to health” and “legal rights” etc (2) re-organization of SCR by setting up working provincial chapters in each provincial capital city i.e. Lahore, Karachi, Balochistan and Peshawar (3) publishing a monthly newsletter and (4) meeting with representatives of donor agencies and holding further consultative meetings with prominent citizens to discuss matters pertaining to SCR’s future activities and funding.
Among the outstanding personalities who have stood up for citizens rights in Pakistan over the years and have suffered for it, Air Marshal (Retd) Asghar Khan occupies a prominent pedestal, a position of pride. A man of great honour and integrity, his hallmark is decency and concern for his fellow citizens. He has struggled long and hard for democratic principles, not succumbing to the allure of high office to forsake them. A daring man, his finest moment came in his hour of supreme grief, in coping with the loss of his beloved and illustrious son Omar. If my tears did not come when I went to Abbottabad to condole with the family, they certainly came later at perceiving the stoic dignity in which he, his wife and Omar’s family conducted themselves. Of such mettle and character is greatness made! If the Society which the Air Marshal founded and nurtured can even partly inculcate in themselves his wisdom, strength of character and sincerity, the lofty aims and objectives set out by the Board of Governors can be fulfilled.
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