People are dying of hunger: SC

 

 

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) has asked what kind of Islamic welfare state Pakistan is where people are dying of hunger and they are made to pay for even breathing.
The observation came during the course of the hearing of a petition filed by the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Secretary General Liaquat Baloch against the increase in flour (atta) price.A two-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Mushir Alam, took up the case on Monday.

The apex court constituted four committees to ascertain the price and availability of flour (atta) across the country in the context of the fundamental rights of the masses.During the course of the hearing, Taufique Asif, the counsel for the petitioner, suggested a sound basis for on-the-spot determination of flour and its availability in various parts of the country.

The court termed the suggestion of the counsel reasonable having the support of all counsel and law officers in the matter, and constituted four committees comprising Syed Attique Shah, Additional Attorney General for Pakistan, Taufique Asif, counsel for the petitioner, and the law officer of each province respectively.

The committees will ensure on-the-spot checks to assist the court in ascertaining the price and availability of flour in the context of fundamental rights enforcement.The court also directed the federal government to convene a meeting of the Federation and officials of provincial food ministries, who would propose possible ways and means through which the fundamental rights under articles 9 and 14 of the Constitution could be assured to citizens.

Rafique Rajwana, who has been appointed amicus curie (friend of the court) in the case, submitted that it was the state’s responsibility to provide essential food items at reasonable prices to citizens.

He proposed to the court to direct the federal government to convene a meeting of the responsible government functionaries of the Federation and the provinces to inform the court about the possible ways and means through which the fundamental rights could be ensured to citizens.

He contended that the procurement procedure was very difficult as the middlemen directly contacted the growers and after buying wheat from farmers exported it to Afghanistan. He informed the court that the government also bought wheat from the farmers hence, there was a need to check the attitude of flour mills.

Additional Attorney General Attique Shah said that a total of Rs40.1 billion subsidy on wheat was given by the federal and provincial governments to citizens. The AAG submitted the report which contained the input of the advocate general of all the provinces.

The court, however, termed the instant report incomplete and observed that it did not contain the relevant information and statistics to enable the court to ascertain whether the fundamental rights were indeed being ensured to citizens or not.

The court directed the law officers to submit a complete consolidated report which should also include the relevant statistical data showing that the fundamental rights had been ensured to the people.

During the hearing, Dr Shakeelur Rehman, Food Security Commissioner, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, said that a person in Pakistan required a minimum of 2,350 calories per day, which come from wheat. The government had made sure that wheat was supplied to every part of the country adding that in the whole year there was no wheat problem.

The court, in its order, recalled that on the previous date of hearing, it had noted that the minimum wage of an unskilled worker in the four provinces was Rs7,000 to Rs9,000 a month. Therefore, Dr Shakeel was asked to prepare a table to show as to how a family comprising two adults and two minors would be able to survive with dignity as per Article 14 of the Constitution within the minimum wage.Later, the court adjourned the hearing till April 22.

Punjabi men go on hunger strike in U.S. detention facility

Over hundred Punjabi men were said to be held in detention facilities for undocumented immigrants in El Paso, Texas, this week, with 42 of them embarking on the fourth day of a hunger strike to protest against authorities’ alleged denial of access to outside resources to the inmates.

Satnam Singh Chahal of the North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) expressed concern at the “miserable plight” of these “young men who are languishing in U.S. jails charged with illegal entry without valid entry visas”.

Howvever, when contacted by The Hindu the press officer at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement El Paso Processing Centre, Leticia Zamarripa, said, "I checked and there are no hunger strikers reported at the... Centre."

She said that she did not have any additional details available on the case but would be looking into it.

Speaking to The Hindu Mr. Chahal said that the men began their journey from India in July 2013 from India and reached Mexico via a circuitous global route involving Moscow, Havana, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

When they reached an unknown city of Mexico, he said, the entire group was held in a single room and not permitted to go outside the room.

At some point prior to November 11 2013, when they found themselves in the U.S. detention facility, they either attempted a border crossing into the U.S. or were transported across.

While in the facility the Punjabi youths were not permitted to use telephones or other means of communication to update friends and family on their situation, Mr. Chahal said.

NAPA extends legal aid
Following this NAPA sought to extend “legal assistance and moral support” to the detainees, including by filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency of the Department of Homeland Security.

In an April 10, 2014 email to the ICE that was shared with The Hindu NAPA said, “This is our third email request to you for which we are looking forward to have your response. Several undocumented persons of Indian Origin are detained in El Paso Processing Centre 8915 Montana Ave El Paso TX 79925. We are… concerned about their future. We got information that some of the detainees of Indian origin are on hunger strike [for] three days for… unknown reasons… Please provide us [with] information about this and also let us know when our representatives can visit this facility to meet these detainees.”

NAPA sources also said that one among the Punjabi youths in detention had “committed suicide by hanging himself” because he was “unable to bear the pressure of leading this troublesome life” in detention.

NAPA, some of whose members said they were planning to “soon leave for Texas to meet these detainees after getting the permission from detention centre authorities,” also said that it sent his body to his native village in Punjab for cremation.

The organisation also flagged the problem of “human trafficking” as a criminal act that had victimised Punjabis, adding, “Punjabis enthusiasm to migrate to affluent countries in search of greener pastures has given the traffickers to exploit them. Using different modus operandi, people of different back grounds involved in human trafficking and often put the lives of their clients in considerable danger.”

Khursheed to go on hunger strike till death

ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah on Thursday threatened to go on hunger strike till death if the PML-N government went ahead with its plan to terminate the services of about 60,000 daily wagers and contractual employees.
“I will go on hunger strike in front of the Parliament House along with the daily wagers and contractual employees working in different departments,” Khursheed Shah said while speaking on a point of order in the National Assembly.

He said he had received reports that the government had finalised a plan to terminate the services of these employees while a number of employees serving in the Pakistan Electronic Media Authority (Pemra) and the Employees Old-Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) had also met him in this regard.

Warning the government to refrain from taking such decisions, the opposition leader reminded the PML-N leader that in the past such acts had resulted in premature end of their governments.

He said he had also talked to the prime minister whom he called an innocent and decent person and discussed the issue with him. “The prime minister told me that he is not aware of any such plan,” the PPP leader said.

But, he said, now he had received reports that the employees working on temporary basis were being shown the door.Syed Khursheed Shah also regretted the statement of the finance minister on the floor of the House that the government was not considering any raise in salaries and pensions for the next fiscal year. “What was the need to make such a statement that will only add to the frustration of the salaried people?” he asked.

The opposition leader claimed that the PPP government had raised the salaries of government employees by 125 percent in five years.

APP adds: Khursheed said that the youth of the country must not be made jobless as there had been no investment in the country for the last 15 years due to terrorism. The sacking of the youth might trigger a new wave of lawlessness as the unemployed youth might indulge in anti-social activities. The large-scale sackings might create frustration among the people, which would certainly benefit the anti-democratic forces.

Criticising the metro bus project of Rawalpindi and Lahore, he said over Rs80 billion was being squandered on such projects. Whereas the per annum salary of 100,000 employees was not more than Rs4 billion. He said the PPP government had regularised the services of 125,000 contractual employees without any discrimination. He said he personally knew that the financial position of the sacked employees of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) and Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) was pitiable. After the induction of new employees, during the PPP era, the profit of EOBI had jumped from Rs5.3 billion to Rs11 billion due to the efforts and hard work of these employees, he claimed.