Under the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's government Constitution of Pakistan was passed by the National Assembly on April 10, 1973 and received the presidential approval on April 12, 1973. Today The Senate of Pakistan, in collaboration with the four provinces, is going to celebrate the Constitution Day but the dilemma is that people are unaware of the rights that have been gifted to them by Pakistani constitution. This is mainly due to lack of reading and research habit in our people.
We don't find time to read and study about our religion, our country, our society and most importantly about our rights. Constitution of 1973 comprises of 280 articles and seven schedules, since then we have amended our constitution 20 times. Today I want to recall some of the fundamental rights that have been awarded to you by the constitution of Pakistan. These are the very basic rights every Pakistani must know.
Point to be noted is that where our constitution provides us liberty of speech it prohibits us as well from hate speech or making any offensive remarks that is against any sector that can sabotage peace in the society.
But in Pakistan we see thousands of children begging on the roads or working as labourers in the workshops, food streets etc. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimated in 1990's that there are 11 million children living as child labourers and half of them were under the age of ten.
Definition by the book: Every citizen shall have the right to form associations or unions, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan, public order or morality.
But in Pakistan we have divided into class system which is breaking all the values of our society.
State is responsible for not providing these rights to citizens. How could we question an authority If we will unaware of our rights? Reading and sharing awareness about our rights is very important to become active and vibrant citizens. Through this article I request my readers to please know your rights.