Peshawar
March 15, 2021
PESHAWAR: The participants of an inter-provincial dialogue have stressed the need for bridging the gap between civil society and government for bringing democratic and human rights reforms in the country.
They said that human rights formed the foundation for democracy and a strong democracy guaranteed the protection and safety of human rights in society.
The speakers said the main challenge in this regard is weak engagement. The political support is vital to stop the violation of human rights.
The dialogue titled ‘Inter-Provincial Exchange: Democratic and Human Rights Reforms in Pakistan’ was organised by Democracy Reporting International (DRI).
It was attended by lawmakers, rights activists and development experts from all the four provinces of the country besides foreign diplomats. Ambassador of Germany to Pakistan Bernhard Schlagheck, who was the chief guest at the first session of the event, said his country was extending support to Pakistan for
ISLAMABAD-Bridging gap between civil society and government is vital for bringing democratic and human rights reforms in the country, stressed the participants of an inter-provincial dialogue here on Sunday.
They said that human rights formed the foundation of democracy and a strong democracy guaranteed protection and safety of human rights in a society. The main challenge in this regard is weak engagement, they said, adding that political support is vital to stop violation of human rights. Titled ‘Inter-Provincial Exchange: Democratic and Human Rights Reforms in Pakistan’, the dialogue was organized by Democracy Reporting International (DRI) that was attended by lawmakers, rights activists and development experts from all the four provinces of the country besides foreign diplomats.
LAHORE: An accountability court on Tuesday recorded the statement of another prosecution witness in Ramzan Sugar Mills reference against Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and his son Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz.
Earlier, Mr Shehbaz requested the court to delay the testimony of the prosecution witness as his lead counsel Amjad Pervaiz was not available due to an appearance before the Lahore High Court.
Presiding Judge Amjad Nazir Chaudhry turned down the request, saying the court was recording the statement of the witness only and his cross examination would be conducted in the presence of the defence counsel. The judge observed that only the suspect was required to be present during the statement of the witness.
National
February 5, 2021
LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Affairs Ijaz Alam Augustine has said the provincial government is set to introduce an interfaith harmony policy, which is aimed to promote peaceful coexistence between diverse citizenry of Punjab.
He was speaking at multi-stakeholder dialogue: âTowards Improved Human Rights Protection in Punjabâ, jointly organised by the Democracy Reporting International and Punjab Human Rights and Minority Affairs Department.
The minister said: âWe need to change societal behaviour to ensure respect for peopleâs rights, especially of minority communities.â While speaking on the occasion, Tahir Khalil Sindhu, chairperson of the Punjab Assemblyâs Standing Committee on Human Rights and Minorities Affairs, extended support to human rights stakeholders. He informed the participants that meetings of the standing committee were not being held due to the mandate limitation of the committee ch