DAWN.

EDITORIALS+OPINIONS.
09-01-2020
Loss of livelihoods.
A SPECIAL survey carried out by the Pakistan Bureau of
Statistics to evaluate the socioeconomic impacts of the
coronavirus crisis on the wellbeing of the country’s
citizens is the first such attempt by any government
agency to methodically assess the pandemic’s effects on
households, both urban and rural. Though the complete
findings of the survey are yet to be released, the exercise
is understood to have tried to measure the negative
effects of Covid-19 on jobs, incomes, remittances, food
security and health. The PBS survey has also collected
information about the assets held by households to
compile wealth quintiles.
The Planning Commission of Pakistan on Thursday
released some details about the impact of the pandemic
on employment that it believes supports the government
claims of V-shaped economic recovery from the first
wave of the virus outbreak, holding back the rest of the
survey findings for a later release. According to the
information made public so far, nearly 20.8m people —
forming nearly 37.2pc of the country’s total labour force
consisting of 55.7m workers — suffered livelihood losses
due to the shutdown of businesses and mobility
restrictions enforced between April and June 2020 to
halt the spread of the virus outbreak. A large majority of
them — about 85pc — have since returned to work once
lockdowns were lifted and the economy reopened in the
wake of declining infections from their June peak. Yet a
significantly large number of 3.2mn workers appear to
have lost their jobs for a much longer period — if not
permanently. In other words, a little less than 6pc of the
total workforce — in the age group of 10 years old and
above — is looking for work since the “recovery process
from the impact of the plague started back in July”.
Indeed, the economy is showing some signs of recovery,
no matter how fragile, since the inception of the present
fiscal year. But the subdued growth prospects for FY2021
— projected to be in the range of 0.5pc to 2pc — mean
that the economy is unlikely to create enough
employment opportunities in the near- to medium-term
to absorb the daily wage and contract/casual labour
forming the vast majority of out-of-work manpower. The
government is pinning a lot of hope on the revival of the
construction industry to create new jobs over the next
few months. Nonetheless, these hopes appear to be
exaggerated in spite of a generous incentive package and
tax amnesty given to the builders, developers and
buyers. The intensity of the second wave of the
pandemic now sweeping across most countries is also
being seen by many, including the State Bank of Pakistan,
as a potential threat to current recovery. If it does
adversely impact what little recovery was made since last
July, we may see more job losses, especially in the
informal services sector and in small- to medium-sized
industrial enterprises on a permanent basis.
 ‫‪TRANSLATION.‬‬
‫معاش کا ننقصان‬
‫پاکستان کے شماریات برائے شماریات نے ملک کے شہریوں کی فالح‬
‫و بہبود پر کورون وائرس بحران کے معاشرتی معاشی اثرات کا جائزہ‬
‫لینے کے لئے ایک خصوصی سروے کیا ہے ‪ ،‬یہ کسی بھی سرکاری‬
‫ایجنسی کی طرف سے شہریوں اور دیہی دونوں گھروں پر وبائی‬
‫امراض کے اثرات کا جائزہ لینے کی پہلی کوشش ہے۔ اگرچہ اس‬
‫سروے کی مکمل نتائج ابھی جاری نہیں کی جاسکتی ہیں ‪ ،‬لیکن سمجھا‬
‫جاتا ہے کہ اس نے کوویڈ ۔‪ 19‬کے مالزمتوں ‪ ،‬آمدنی ‪ ،‬ترسیالت زر ‪،‬‬
‫خوراک کی حفاظت اور صحت پر منفی اثرات کی پیمائش کرنے کی‬
‫کوشش کی ہے۔ پی بی ایس سروے میں دولت کنویٹائل کو مرتب کرنے‬
‫کے لئے گھرانوں کے پاس موجود اثاثوں کے بارے میں بھی معلومات‬
‫اکٹھی کی گئی ہیں۔‬
‫پالننگ کمیشن آف پاکستان نے جمعرات کو روزگار پر وبائی امراض‬
‫کے اثرات کے بارے میں کچھ تفصیالت جاری کیں جن کا خیال ہے کہ‬
‫وائرس کے پھیلنے کی پہلی لہر سے وی شکل والی معاشی بحالی کے‬
‫حکومتی دعووں کی تائید کرتی ہے ‪ ،‬اور سروے کے باقی نتائج کو‬
‫روک تھام کرتے ہیں۔ بعد میں رہائی‪ .‬اب تک کی جانے والی معلومات‬
‫کے مطابق ‪ ،‬اپریل اور جون ‪ 2020‬کے درمیان رونما ہونے والے‬
‫کاروبار بند ہونے اور نقل و حرکت پر پابندیاں نافذ کرنے کے باعث‬
‫‪ 55.7‬ملین مزدوروں پر مشتمل ملک کی کل مزدور قوت کا تقریبا ‪37‬‬
‫‪ 37.2‬پی سی تشکیل دینے والے تقریبا‪ 20.8 8.‬ملین افراد کو معاش کا‬
‫سامنا کرنا پڑا۔ وائرس پھیلنے کے پھیالؤ‪ .‬ان میں سے ایک بڑی‬
‫اکثریت – تقریبا ‪ 85 85‬پی سی – اس کے بعد الک ڈاؤن ختم ہونے کے‬
‫بعد اور جون کی چوٹی سے انفیکشن کے خاتمے کے بعد معیشت‬
‫دوبارہ کھل گئی تو وہ اپنے کام پر واپس آئے۔ پھر بھی ‪ 3.2‬ملین‬
‫کارکنوں کی نمایاں طور پر بڑی تعداد میں طویل عرصے تک اپنی‬
‫مالزمت سے ہاتھ دھو بیٹھے ہیں – اگر مستقل طور پر نہیں تو۔‬
‫دوسرے لفظوں میں ‪ 10 ،‬سال یا اس سے زیادہ عمر کے افراد میں –‬
‫سے تھوڑا کم کام کام کی تالش میں ہے کیونکہ ‪pc‬کل مالزمت کے ‪6‬‬
‫"طاعون کے اثر سے بحالی کا عمل جوالئی میں شروع ہوا تھا"۔‬

‫در حقیقت ‪ ،‬موجودہ مالی سال کے آغاز سے ہی معیشت بحالی کے‬

‫کچھ اشارے دکھا رہی ہے ‪ ،‬خواہ کتنا ہی نازک ہو۔ لیکن مالی سال‬
‫‪ 2021‬کے ترقیاتی مواقع – ‪ 0.5‬پی سی سے ‪ 2‬پی سی کی حد تک‬
‫متوقع ہے – اس کا مطلب یہ ہے کہ معیشت کو متوقع درمیانی مدت میں‬
‫روز مرہ کی اجرت اور معاہدہ ‪ /‬غیر معمولی مزدوری کی تشکیل کے‬
‫روزگار کے کافی مواقع پیدا ہونے کا امکان نہیں ہے۔ کام ‪absor‬ل‬
‫سے باہر افرادی قوت کی اکثریت۔ حکومت اگلے چند مہینوں میں نئی‬
‫مالزمتوں کے مواقع پیدا کرنے کے لئے تعمیراتی صنعت کی بحالی پر‬
‫کافی امیدیں وابستہ کر رہی ہے۔ بہر حال ‪ ،‬یہ امیدیں بلڈروں ‪ ،‬ڈویلپرز‬
‫اور خریداروں کو دیئے گئے سخاوت آمیز پیکیج اور ٹیکس معافی کے‬
‫باوجود مبالغہ آمیز دکھائی دیتی ہیں۔ وبائی مرض کی دوسری لہر کی‬
‫شدت اب زیادہ تر ممالک میں پھیل رہی ہے ‪ ،‬بہت سے لوگ ‪ ،‬بشمول‬
‫اسٹیٹ بینک آف پاکستان ‪ ،‬کو موجودہ بحالی کے لئے ایک ممکنہ خطرہ‬
‫کے طور پر بھی دیکھ رہے ہیں۔ اگر یہ پچھلے جوالئی کے بعد سے‬
‫جو تھوڑی بہت وصولی کی گئی ہے اس پر منفی اثر پڑتا ہے تو ‪ ،‬ہم‬
‫مستقل بنیادوں پر غیر رسمی خدمات کے شعبے اور چھوٹے سے‬
‫درمیانے درجے کے صنعتی اداروں میں مالزمت میں مزید نقصانات‬
‫دیکھ سکتے‬
‫…………………………………………………………………………ہ‬..

Police violence.
THE removal of the IGP Islamabad is but total eyewash —
a lame attempt to cover up the alleged murder of Osama
Satti by the capital police in cold blood and cool down
mounting public anger over police excesses.
The sincerity of the authorities to conduct a transparent
inquiry into the incident and punish those policemen
who were involved in the killing was exposed the
moment the record of the case was ‘sealed’ to hide the
glaring contradictions in different accounts of what
actually transpired on Kashmir Highway last weekend.
Initial accounts allegedly show that Satti was shot dead
after the counterterrorism police had him pull over his
car.
In a country where rights activists, journalists, political
workers and others go missing every other day — in
several cases, only to eventually be discovered dead —
the murder of young Satti, who the police claim had a
prior criminal record, is anything but an aberration. It is
not for the first time that the police have killed someone,
innocent or not. They are notorious for ‘wiping out’
suspects in custody as well as in staged shootouts. Sadly,
successive governments have endorsed this gruesome
practice of fighting crime by looking the other way and,
in many cases, rewarding the practitioners of this
strategy.
Take the example of the infamous ‘encounter specialist’
Rao Anwar. Backed by all-powerful spy agencies and
politicians, he rose rapidly through the ranks for allegedly
killing more than 400 people in the course of his career
— most notably his alleged involvement in the staged
encounter killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud in January
2018. Likewise, the Sahiwal counterterrorism police
gunning down three family members — husband, wife
and their 13-year-old daughter — and their friend in
January 2019 is a memory that is still fresh in the minds
of the people. The way in which the survivors and
families of the deceased were brought under pressure to
keep them from pursuing the case against the suspected
policemen, and the manner in which their release was
managed by the state, reflect how deep the rot has
already gone.
‫‪Satti’s killing will test Prime Minister Imran Khan‬‬
‫‪government’s commitment to reforming law‬‬
‫‪enforcement in the country. So far, it hasn’t betrayed‬‬
‫‪signs of any such plan. It had failed the victims’ families‬‬
‫‪and the public in the Sahiwal case. Its failure now to‬‬
‫‪transparently investigate Osama Satti’s killing and punish‬‬
‫‪the policemen involved will further disillusion citizens.‬‬

‫‪TRANSLATION.‬‬
‫پولیس تشدد۔‬
‫آئی جی پی اسالم آباد کو ہٹانا صرف چشم کشا ہے – دارالحکومت‬
‫پولیس کے ذریعہ اسامہ ستی کے مبینہ قتل کو سرد خون میں چھپانے‬
‫اور پولیس کی زیادتیوں پر عوام کے غم و غصے کو ٹھنڈا کرنے کی‬
‫ایک لنگڑا کوشش۔‬
‫اس واقعے کی شفاف تحقیقات کروانے اور ان پولیس اہلکاروں کو سزا‬
‫دینے کے اخالص سے جو اس واقعے میں ملوث تھے ان واقعات کا‬
‫انکشاف ہوا جب اس واقعے کے ریکارڈ کو 'مہر لگایا گیا' جس سے‬
‫مختلف معامالت میں واضح تضادات کو چھپایا جاسکتا تھا کہ حقیقت‬
‫میں کشمیر پر کیا ہوا تھا۔ گذشتہ ہفتے کے آخر میں شاہراہ۔ ابتدائی‬
‫کھاتوں میں مبینہ طور پر دکھایا گیا ہے کہ انسداد دہشت گردی کی‬
‫پولیس نے اسے اپنی گاڑی پر کھینچنے کے بعد ستی کو گولی مار کر‬
‫ہالک کردیا تھا۔‬
‫ایک ایسے ملک میں جہاں حقوق کے کارکن ‪ ،‬صحافی ‪ ،‬سیاسی کارکن‬
‫اور دیگر ہر دن الپتہ ہوجاتے ہیں – متعدد معامالت میں ‪ ،‬باآلخر اسے‬
‫مردہ دریافت کیا جاسکتا ہے – نوجوان ستی کا قتل ‪ ،‬جس کے بارے‬
‫میں پولیس کا دعوی ہے کہ اس کے پاس پہلے سے ہی مجرمانہ ریکارڈ‬
‫موجود تھا ‪ ،‬تخفیف یہ پہال موقع نہیں ہے جب پولیس نے کسی کو بے‬
‫گناہ مارا ہو یا قتل کیا ہو۔ وہ مشتبہ افراد کو حذف کرنے کے ساتھ ساتھ‬
‫اسٹیج فائرنگ کے تبادلے میں بھی 'مٹانے' کے لئے بدنام ہیں۔ افسوس‬
‫کی بات یہ ہے کہ یکے بعد دیگرے حکومتوں نے جرم کا مقابلہ کرنے‬
‫کے اس بہیمانہ عمل کی توثیق کرتے ہوئے دوسرا راستہ تالش کیا اور‬
‫‪ ،‬بہت سارے معامالت میں ‪ ،‬اس حکمت عملی پر عمل کرنے والوں کو‬
‫بدلہ دیا۔‬
‫بدنام زمانہ ‘انکاؤنٹر اسپیشلسٹ’ راو انوار کی مثال لیں۔ تمام طاقتور‬
‫جاسوس ایجنسیوں اور سیاستدانوں کی حمایت میں ‪ ،‬انہوں نے اپنے‬
‫کیریئر کے دوران ‪ 400‬سے زیادہ افراد کو مبینہ طور پر ہالک کرنے‬
‫کے الزام میں صفوں میں اضافہ کیا – خاص طور پر جنوری ‪2018‬‬
‫میں نقیب ہللا محسود کے مرحلے میں ہونے والے انکاؤنٹر قتل میں ان‬
‫کا مبینہ ملوث ہونا۔ اسی طرح ‪ ،‬ساہیوال کی انسداد دہشت گردی پولیس‬
‫نے جنوری ‪ 2019‬میں خاندان کے تین افراد – شوہر ‪ ،‬بیوی اور ان کی‬
‫‪ 13‬سالہ بیٹی – اور ان کے دوست کو گولی مار کر ہالک کردیا تھا جو‬
‫آج بھی لوگوں کے ذہنوں میں تازہ ہے۔ جس طرح سے ہالک ہونے‬
‫والوں کے لواحقین اور اہل خانہ پر دباؤ ڈاال گیا کہ وہ مشتبہ پولیس‬
‫اہلکاروں کے خالف مقدمے کی پیروی کرنے سے باز رکھیں ‪ ،‬اور‬
‫ریاست کے ذریعہ ان کی رہائی کا طریقہ جس سے ظاہر ہوتا ہے کہ یہ‬
‫سڑک کتنی گہری ہے۔‬
‫ستی کے قتل سے ملک میں قانون نافذ کرنے والے اداروں میں‬
‫اصالحات النے کے لئے وزیر اعظم عمران خان کی حکومت کی‬
‫ اس نے ایسی کسی منصوبہ بندی‬، ‫وابستگی کی جانچ ہوگی۔ ابھی تک‬
‫کے اشارے کے ساتھ دھوکہ نہیں کیا ہے۔ اس نے ساہیوال کیس میں‬
‫متاثرہ افراد کے اہل خانہ اور عوام کو ناکام بنا دیا تھا۔ اسامہ ستی کے‬
‫قتل کی شفاف طور پر تحقیقات اور اس میں ملوث پولیس اہلکاروں کو‬
‫سزا دینے میں اب ناکامی شہریوں کو مزید مایوسی کا باعث بنے گی۔‬
…………………………………………………………………………..

Ruet chief’s decision.

WHILE the sighting of the moon for every new Hijri
month in Pakistan is usually a quiet affair, when it comes
to spotting the crescent for Ramazan and Shawwal,
controversies are common. For example, there have
been years when three Eids have been celebrated in the
country. While the central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee —
officially tasked with the duty of moon-spotting — says
one thing, clerics of other self-appointed ‘committees’
often disagree, which results in varying dates for religious
occasions. Though this problem has persisted for
decades, a solution may be in sight, as the newly
appointed head of the moon-sighting committee says he
is willing to use scientific methods “within the limits of
Sharia” to spot the crescent. Maulana Abdul Khabir, who
recently replaced long-time Ruet chief Mufti Muneebur
Rehman, said this on Thursday after meeting Science and
Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry. Mr Chaudhry and
the previous Ruet chief, along with other clerics, had very
publicly disagreed over introducing scientific methods to
augment the religious duty of moon-sighting, with the
men of the cloth telling the minister to keep out of
religious matters.
While hardliners will likely dismiss the new Ruet chief’s
efforts to harmonise faith and science, the move is surely
a good omen. Credit should be given to Mr Chaudhry for
standing his ground over the matter, while Maulana
Abdul Khabir has also shown that modern methods can
complement religious requirements. Some overzealous
clerics in the past have ‘spotted’ the moon when there
was absolutely no chance of it appearing on the horizon
scientifically, while others have decided to follow Saudi
Arabia in the matter, which is an equally confusing
solution considering the difference in time and
geographical distance between the two countries. To
prevent such farcical situations from arising again, clerics
should be encouraged to work with the ministry in order
to ensure that the nation observes Eidul Fitr and Eidul
Azha on the same day countrywide, though some
‫‪elements are likely to cling to their own outdated‬‬
‫‪notions.‬‬

‫‪TRANSLATION.‬‬
‫رویت چیف کا فیصلہ‬
‫جب رمضان اور شوال کو ہالل ہلکا کرنے کی بات آتی ہے تو ‪ ،‬جب‬
‫پاکستان میں ہر نئے ہجری مہینے میں چاند نظر آنا عام طور پر ایک‬
‫پرسکون معاملہ ہوتا ہے تو ‪ ،‬تنازعات عام ہیں۔ مثال کے طور پر ‪،‬‬
‫ایسے سال ہو چکے ہیں جب ملک میں تین ایڈز منائی گئیں۔ جبکہ‬
‫مرکزی رویت ہالل کمیٹی – جس کو سرکاری طور پر چاند نظر آنے‬
‫کی ذمہ داری سونپی گئی ہے – ایک بات کہتی ہے ‪ ،‬دوسری خود‬
‫مختار ‘کمیٹیوں’ کے علما اکثر اس سے متفق نہیں ہوتے ہیں ‪ ،‬جس کے‬
‫نتیجے میں مذہبی مواقع کی تاریخ مختلف ہوتی ہے۔ اگرچہ یہ مسئلہ‬
‫کئی عشروں سے بدستور موجود ہے ‪ ،‬لیکن اس کا حل شاید نظر میں‬
‫آجائے ‪ ،‬کیوں کہ چاند دیکھنے والی کمیٹی کے نومنتخب سربراہ کا کہنا‬
‫ہے کہ وہ ہالل احاطہ کرنے کے لئے سائنسی طریقوں کو "شریعت کی‬
‫حدود میں رہ کر" استعمال کرنے پر راضی ہے۔ یہ بات موالنا عبد‬
‫الخیر ‪ ،‬جنہوں نے حال ہی میں دیرینہ رویت کے سربراہ مفتی منیب‬
‫الرحمٰ ن کی جگہ لی ‪ ،‬نے جمعرات کے روز سائنس اور ٹیکنالوجی کے‬
‫وزیر فواد چوہدری سے مالقات کے بعد یہ بات کہی۔ مسٹر چودھری‬
‫اور پچھلے رویت کے سربراہ ‪ ،‬دوسرے علما کے ساتھ ‪ ،‬چاند نظر کے‬
‫مذہبی فرائض کو بڑھانے کے لئے سائنسی طریقوں کو متعارف‬
‫کروانے پر بہت عوامی اختالف رائے رکھتے تھے ‪ ،‬کپڑوں کے آدمی‬
‫وزیر کو مذہبی معامالت سے دور رہنے کو کہتے تھے۔‬
‫اگرچہ سخت گیر لوگ رویت کے نئے سربراہ کی عقیدے اور سائنس‬
‫کو ہم آہنگ کرنے کی کوششوں کو مسترد کردیں گے ‪ ،‬تاہم یہ اقدام‬
‫یقینا‪ .‬ایک اچھا شگون ہے۔ مسٹر چودھری کو اس معاملے پر اپنا کھڑا‬
‫کرنے کا سہرا دیا جانا چاہئے ‪ ،‬جبکہ موالنا عبد الخیر نے یہ بھی‬
‫دکھایا ہے کہ جدید طریقے مذہبی تقاضوں کو پورا کرسکتے ہیں۔‬
‫ماضی میں کچھ حد سے زیادہ جذباتی مولویوں نے چاند کو 'داغ' بنا دیا‬
‫تھا جب سائنسی طور پر افق پر اس کے نمودار ہونے کا قطعی امکان‬
‫ہی نہیں تھا ‪ ،‬جبکہ دوسروں نے اس معاملے میں سعودی عرب کی‬
‫پیروی کرنے کا فیصلہ کیا ہے ‪ ،‬جو وقت کے فرق پر غور کرکے اتنا‬
‫ہی الجھا ہوا حل ہے۔ دونوں ممالک کے مابین جغرافیائی فاصلہ۔ اس‬
‫طرح کے فرضی حاالت کو دوبارہ پیدا ہونے سے روکنے کے لئے ‪،‬‬
‫علما کو وزارت کے ساتھ کام کرنے کی ترغیب دی جانی چاہئے تاکہ یہ‬
‫یقینی بنایا جا سکے کہ قوم عید الفطر اور عید االضحی ایک ہی دن‬
‫ملک بھر میں منائے ‪ ،‬حاالنکہ ممکن ہے کہ کچھ عناصر اپنے پرانے‬
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OPINIONS.
Right to protest
A.G. Noorani.
RECENT events in India have brought to the fore the
dimensions of the right to protest, which is itself absolute
except in cases of extreme necessity. The problem arises,
as it does in all cases of human rights, where the
fundamental rights of other citizens and also the
legitimate, recognised rights and duties of the state are
involved. Protest can be expressed through the media,
public meetings, or processions marching through public
streets. Mammoth processions and sit-ins pose the
greatest challenge.
One was the famous Shaheen Bagh meeting comprising
mostly women, Muslim women at that. It predictably
polarised society, with the BJP pouring scorn on the
protestors. The law and administrative measures Modi’s
extremist government proposed affected mostly, if not
only, Muslims. The sit-in was spontaneous and efficient.
They prayed and protested, and aroused international
admiration.
A petition was filed in the supreme court challenging
their right to do a ‘sit-in’ similar to those of the 1960s US
civil rights movement. The court delivered a brief
judgment, noting that “the grievance… was that the
persons opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act and
the National Register of Citizens had adopted a method
of protest which resulted in the closure of the Kalindi
Kunj — Shaheen Bagh stretch, including the Okhla
underpass. It was submitted that the public roads could
not be permitted to be encroached upon in this manner…
.”
The Shaheen Bagh sit-in aroused international
admiration.
In their pursuit of an out-of-the-box solution, the court
considered it appropriate to appoint two interlocutors to
meet the protesters and submit a report. The court
noted, “In what manner the administration should act is
their responsibility and they should not hide behind the
court orders or seek support therefrom for carrying out
their administrative functions. The courts adjudicate the
legality of the actions and are not meant to give shoulder
to the administration to fire their guns from.
Unfortunately, despite a lapse of a considerable period of
time, there was neither any negotiations nor any action
by the administration, thus warranting our intervention.”
That is a tall order to the police; for involved are complex
issues of law that troubled in Indian, British and US
courts in the past. India’s apex court tried to come to
grips with them years ago. A century ago, Justice Benson
of the Madras High Court said, “No doubt a highway is
primarily intended for the use of individuals passing and
re-passing along it in pursuit of their ordinary avocations,
but in every country, and especially in India, highways
have, from time immemorial, been used for the passing
and re-passing of processions as well as of individuals
and there is nothing illegal in a procession or assembly
engaging in worship while passing along a highway, any
more than in an individual doing so.”
He added, “The practice of using the public highways for
religious processions has existed in India for thousands of
years. … That alone is sufficient to raise a presumption
that it is lawful and to throw on those who allege it to be
unlawful the onus of showing that it is forbidden by law,
but this it admittedly is not. The law recognises the use
of the highway by processions as lawful, and gives the
magistrate and superior officers of police powers to
direct the conduct of assemblies and processions
through the public streets and to regulate the use of
music in connection with them.”
In 1973, the apex court ruled that processions may be
regulated to a reasonable degree but that conferment of
absolute discretion in the police was violative of the
fundamental right to assemble peaceably without arms.
The best statement of law was made by Justice K.K.
Mathew: “Public meeting in open spaces and public
streets forms part of the tradition of our national life. …
[T]he people have come to regard it as a part of their
privileges and immunities. The state and local authority
have a virtual monopoly of every open space… . [If] the
state or municipality can constitutionally close both its
streets and its parks… the practical result would be that it
would be impossible to hold any open-air meetings in
any large city. The real problem is that of reconciling the
city’s function of providing for the exigencies of traffic
[and] recreation… with its other obligations, of providing
adequate places for public discussion in order to
safeguard the guaranteed right of public assembly.”
Politics has marched ahead of the law. Unresponsive
regimes create public dissatisfaction. The supreme court
appointed ‘interlocutors’ in the Shaheen Bagh case. For
over a month, Punjab’s farmers have assembled in huge
numbers on the borders of Delhi. Their organisation
inspires respect. Old and young women and the youth
set up a virtual city, sleeping in the bitter cold. Try and
teach the law to them. It is sincere conciliation that is
called for. This concept is alien to Narendra Modi.
The writer is an author and lawyer based in Mumbai.
…………………………………………………………………………..

Child marriage complexities.

Sara Malkani.
ENDING the harmful practice of child marriage has been
a priority for human rights advocates in Pakistan for
many years. The global Sustainable Development Goals
that aim to eliminate child marriage by 2030 have also
led to increased efforts to address the issue.
Implementation of child marriage laws, however,
remains fraught for many reasons. Some of the causes
behind poor enforcement are widely recognised,
including traditional norms, low rates of birth and
marriage registration, weaknesses in the police and
judicial system. A significant challenge that has not been
widely discussed, however, is posed by early marriages
that are not forced by parents but are in fact initiated by
the minors themselves. Such cases, which appear to be
coming before courts in increasing numbers, challenge
policy approaches that emphasise criminal regulation of
early marriages.

It is not difficult to see why adolescents could choose to

marry in our social contexts. Sexual activity outside
marriage in Pakistan is not only a social taboo but is also
illegal and subject to criminal penalties. This means that
adolescents have no legal means of engaging in
consensual sexual activity. And the only social and
culturally acceptable way for them to explore romantic
relationships is through marriage. This poses a real
dilemma for child rights activists – and one that cannot
be easily brushed aside in light of prevailing social
realities: in advocating for the enforcement of laws
prohibiting child marriage, we are effectively proscribing
legal and culturally acceptable means for adolescents to
explore romantic relationships.
A significant if not widely discussed challenge is posed by
self-arranged early marriages.
Due to emerging trends in South Asian countries, child
rights advocates and feminists have stressed that a
distinction should be drawn between forced child
marriages and self-arranged early marriages. While
forced child marriages involve a clear element of
coercion, self-arranged early marriages are usually the
result of young persons, especially adolescent girls,
exercising their agency to pursue romantic relationships,
often in the face of opposition by family and community
members and sometimes to escape a forced marriage.
While there are good reasons for penalising parents or
adult males who coerce a girl under 18 into marriage,
criminalising self-arranged marriages would expose the
girl to greater risks, making her more vulnerable to harm
by family or community members.
The denial of a distinction between forced and self-
arranged early marriages is based on the assumption that
persons under the age of 18 lack maturity and are
therefore incapable of consenting to relationships. This
assumption is not only inconsistent with child and
adolescent psychology, but also with international
human rights principles that recognise the evolving
capacities of children as they grow older, particularly
during their adolescent years.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which
Pakistan is a party, requires state parties to ensure that
laws and policies protect the best interests of the child
while keeping in mind that “children progressively
acquire competencies, understanding and increasing
levels of agency”. The Committee on the Rights of the
Child, comprising human rights experts with the
authority to interpret the convention and monitor its
compliance, has also emphasised that minimum legal age
limits must recognise the rights of any child “below that
minimum age and able to demonstrate sufficient
understanding to be entitled to give or refuse consent”.
While we do not have clear data regarding the numbers
of self-arranged early marriages in Pakistan, we do see
many instances of courts grappling with the dilemmas
posed in these cases. We see courts validating marriages
where girls claim to have chosen their marriage by
appealing to Muslim personal law, which is interpreted
to permit marriages where a boy or girl under the age of
18 has reached puberty. Counter-intuitively for some, it
is Muslim personal law that is used to uphold the free
will of the adolescent girl. It is also invoked, however, in
cases of forced child marriages and is therefore used to
legitimise coercion.
It is undoubtedly difficult to establish whether a marriage
is forced or not since there any many forms of overt as
well as subtle coercion. Given their young age and
vulnerability, it is important that girls be counselled and
provided a safe space to express their views before the
determination of ‘free will’ is made. However, these
options are unavailable and courts often decide these
cases based on limited information.
In dealing with cases where the consent of the girl or her
age is ambiguous, courts often place a girl in a shelter or
in the custody of her parents. Neither option is a
‘solution’ to the problem: a girl should not be placed in
her parents’ custody when there is a likelihood that she
will be harmed there, and a shelter necessarily means
constraints on the girl’s freedom of movement.

Policy measures cannot turn a blind eye to the agencies

and capacities of adolescents. It is clear that the many
complex and diverse contexts in which child marriages
take place pose a challenge to the view that
criminalisation is an effective policy response. Much of
the policy discourse around child marriage in Pakistan,
however, revolves around the minimum age of marriage
and harshness of criminal penalties, without adequate
focus on crucial services, such as shelters, financial
support for young persons, implementation of
empowering education policies as well as sexual and
reproductive health services for adolescents.
The challenges posed by self-arranged -marriages
highlight the limited options available in our society for
young people, especially girls, to exercise agency and
imagine lives that are free from harmful social and
cultural confines. Our legal and policy responses, as well
as our activism, must be much more nuanced and
imaginative if we wish to allow young people to achieve
their potentials.
The writer is a lawyer.