Social Justice in Pakistan: Progress, Setbacks, and the Way Forward
Injustice in Pakistan (essay)
Social justice in Pakistan is a major issue that needs to be addressed in this essay. I will explore how the Taliban's actions are impacting the education of young girls, and how social justice can fight against these inequalities. Pakistan is facing many challenges in terms of social justice, especially when it comes to gender, race, and religion. The Taliban are targeting girls' schools, and this has resulted in many young girls being unable to attend school, and therefore, losing out on an education. This is a clear example of how social justice can play a role in fighting for what is right for those who are different than the average person. The Civil Rights Movement in the US is a great example of how people fought for their rights and were able to achieve freedom and equality. By examining the issue of social justice in Pakistan, we can learn from the experiences of others and work towards creating a more just and equal society for everyone.
Malala is a young Pakistani girl that grew up in Swat, Pakistan. The Taliban have basically took over. They have over powered the government and have started making drastic changes, changes against the Pakistani Constitution which is a big role in all of this. They believe that woman shouldn’t go to school. They play the gender roles meaning woman are in the kitchen or cleaning and the men are bringing in the money, it’s like that in many cultures. Malala’s father is an activist for the people of his country and so was Malala. She was fighting for the right of an education for woman she ended up getting shot but she survived and told her story.
The Taliban is this group of army like people and they came and overpowered the government. They believe that everyone should follow them and if they don’t follow them then the result is death. Anyone who is an activist, non-believer, and even just innocent people they kill. They have made plenty of videos of it. As seen in the documentary we seen in class it is a public thing and the message is very clear. The Taliban in Pakistan has been around since 1994.
The activist are a huge part in all of this, they are the voice of the people. They are the ones that risked their own lives and stood up and spoke. Speaking out causes attention especially in Pakistan. The Taliban becomes aware of all of this and they automatically put that person on the death list. Malala’s father is on that death list. Malala’s father had a school an all girl school which is promoting the fact that girls should go to school, which is a big deal with the Taliban because they do not believe in this. In the documentary many of the girls stopped going to school when they heard about the bombings causing Malala’s father to not be able to afford the school. They thought eventually that the school would’ve gotten blown up. Malala and her family except for her father ended up leaving and he stayed with other activist to keep on fighting.
The Pakistani people are in their own country and aren’t even allowed to be themselves, they aren’t free. The Pakistani people have a constitution was laws and they aren’t even followed due to the Taliban. They deserve the right to live their lives as who they are, female or male, it shouldn’t matter. The Pakistani constitution Chapter 1: Fundamental Rights Section 25-25a states that: “All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law. There shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex. Nothing in this Article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the protection of women and children. Right to education: The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law.” This states that woman should be treated the way they are in Pakistan. Woman can’t leave the house without a man and no longer can go shopping in certain places. Woman also don’t have any health care at all. That is due to the lack of education they have and fear of actually seeking the care. Also its states the children meaning boys and girls can all go to school not just boys, which means girls should be able to go to school freely without the worry of their school being blown up. This constitution has been around since 1973 which means this has been put into order way before the Taliban even came to Pakistan.
The constitution has a huge part in all of this because the constitution is basically what states a citizens right of that country. In cases like this, this is a time for an activist to bring up the constitution to higher up people. All throughout the constitution are laws that the Taliban is breaking For instance, in the Pakistani Constitution Article 14 states “The dignity of man and, subject to law, the privacy of home, shall be inviolable. No person shall be subjected to torture for the purpose of extracting evidence.” (Citation). Yet the Taliban is invading peoples home. In Malala’s documentary the Taliban were going through the homes taking their radios. The radio is the only source that they have to get information about what is happening in their country. Even the Taliban use the radio to send threats out to everyone. Another example would be Article 19 of the Pakistani Constitution states, “Every citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall be freedom of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, security or defense of Pakistan or any part thereof, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, [commission of] or incitement to an offence.” (Citation). The Taliban are killing off those people who are actually stepping forward in front of the crowd and actually saying what they believe in. Right there in the constitution says they have the right to speech the right of expression lots of freedoms to actually say what they want but the Taliban has taken that away from them. It is their own laws. The constution is a variety of principles and laws that that country sat down and came up with so that everyone has equal rights it was meant to be followed, yet in Pakistan it is not due to the Taliban.
In the Pakistani Constituion there is a whole section stating the social justice rights of the Pakistanis. In Chapter 2, Section 37 it states : “The State shall: promote, with special care, the educational and economic interests of backward classes or areas; remove illiteracy and provide free and compulsory secondary education within minimum possible period; make technical and professional education generally available and higher education equally accessible to all on the basis of merit; ensure inexpensive and expeditious justice; make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work, ensuring that children and women are not employed in vocations unsuited to their age or sex, and for maternity benefits for women in employment; enable the people of different areas, through education, training, agricultural and industrial development and other methods, to participate fully in all forms of national activities, including employment in the service of Pakistan; prevent prostitution, gambling and taking of injurious drugs, printing, publication, circulation and display of obscene literature and advertisements; prevent the consumption of alcoholic liquor otherwise than for medicinal and, in the case of non-Muslims, religious purposes; and decentralise the Government administration so as to facilitate expeditious disposal of its business to meet the convenience and requirements of the public.” (Citation). Once again these principles that are in their constitution and yet many of these are broken and nothing is done. The Taliban is breaking many of the important laws and principles that the Pakistanis deserve.
Countries like Pakistan are a male dominant country. Even though the constitution states that are people are not to be discrimanted and treated equal no matter what gender they aren’t. Woman are there to breed and provide food and the men are there to control woman and bring in an income, the gender roles. Pakistani woman’s health is a big issue. There is a shortage of females doctors and many Pakistani woman would rather be helped by a female doctor. In the article “Women’s Health Problems in Pakistan” states, “There are a lot of government hospitals which provide free or low fee treatment to women but those are not preferred because of: The casual and offhand behaviour of doctors; More than one male doctor examining the patient at one time; The fear of crowds of medical students present at time of examination; The fear that doctor may misuse this opportunity for some evil deed” (Butt, Dr Manzoor Ahmed. "Health Problems in African American Women." PsycEXTRA Dataset (n.d.): n. pag. Women's Health Problem in Pakistan. 2004. Web. 22 July 2015.)
In conclusion there is no social justice in Pakistan. When people try to speak out the are killed. More and more people need to get together so they can over power the Taliban and put their constitution back in order. They have the right to education and be freely who they are. Malala didn't care and she stood up.
