Minorities in Pakistan can be loosely defined by religion, gender, and location. The largest minority group within the country ironically comprises of almost half the population: women. Women are considered a minority due to their suppression within the electoral process – whether as voters or elected representatives – and their general absence in the public and private sphere in a male dominated society.
95% of Pakistan’s population is Muslim while the remaining 5% is comprised of Hindus, Christians, Parsis, Ahmadis and a few other denominations. Ahmadis follow the teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmed that deviate from the fundamentals of Islam.4 Due to these variations, Ahmadis are not considered Muslim and ostracized in predominantly Muslim countries such as Pakistan. Hindus and Christians face a similar fate in this country due to their religious beliefs and issues become exacerbated due to minimal or zero representation of these communities.
NEW DELHI: The government has excluded domestic helps — among the sections most vulnerable to sexual harassment — from the purview of the Bill that the Union Cabinet cleared here on Thursday for protection of women against sexual harassment at…
By Joanna Jolly
Parliament in Nepal is considering a bill raising the legal age of marriage from 18 to 20 which officials say would help improve maternal health.
Nepal has reduced its maternal mortality rate by half over the past 10 years but the number of women dying in childbirth is still very high.
Officials also say the new legislation would help reduce teenage pregnancies.
Amnesty International has urged authorities in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir to release a 14-year-old child who has been detained without charge or trial for seven months, for allegedly taking part in anti-government protests.
The authorities claim that Mushtag Ahmad Sheikh was part of a large crowd which threw stones at police and security forces in the state capital Srinagar in April, as part of the ongoing unrest in Kashmir.
Police say that Mushtag Ahmad Sheikh is 19-years-old but his family claim that he was born in 1996 and is 14-years-old. Prison records reportedly confirm that he is a child.
UNITED NATIONS: One of Pakistan’s leading human rights defenders, Asma Jahangir, was Tuesday named as this year’s winner of a UN award that recognizes outstanding individual contribution to promoting a culture of human rights around the world.
The Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), Irina Bokova, nominated Ms. Jahangir as laureate of this year’s Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights in recognition of her work in Pakistan’s Supreme Court where she championed the rights of religious minorities, women and children, according to a UN press release issued at UN Headquarters in New York.
Ms. Jahangir is the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan, a founding member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and served as its Secretary-General and chairperson.
Constitutional lawyer and human rights advocate J. C. Weliamuna has been elected to the Board of Directors of Transparency International (TI) at the Annual Membership Meeting of the leading global movement against corruption, held in Bangkok.
Obtaining nearly 75% of the votes of the delegates representing 100 countries, he was first in the four-member contest. Two directors were elected on Tuesday. Jacques Terray of France was the other.
Weliamuna is the first Sri Lankan to be elected to this prestigious position at TI’s highest policy making body. As an anti-corruption activist, he steered TI’s national chapter – Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) as Executive Director for eight years.
AARTI DHAR Eight Indian States are home to 421 million multidimensionally poor people, more than the figure of 410 million in 26 poorest African countries. The Multidimensional Poverty Index — which identifies serious simultaneous deprivations in health, education and…