Pakistani Society and Human Rights

In the Pakistani society, human rights are frequently seen through a very narrow lens. Our tendency is to think of rights as a litigation tool for individuals and not as a force for broader social change. We focus on a few civil and political rights, ignoring the full set of human rights that also encompasses economic, social and cultural rights. In addition, we think about human rights in their ‘negative’ sense only – as a check on the abuse of state power, forgetting that they also have an important ‘positive’ dimension, empowering people to reach their potential and live life to the full. As the consequence of a failure to understand that human rights are centrally relevant to many challenges we face at home, include discrimination, poverty and increasing political disengagement from formal political processes.