Speakers at a seminar on ‘Global Day of Social Justice and the Role of Lawyer Fraternity’ jointly organized by the Institute for Social Justice (ISJ) and the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) at the bar room, urged the lawyer fraternity to play its role to address injustice in society.
On the occasion, advocate Rafaqat Ali from the ISJ said that Islam is a religion of social justice which does not allow for the concentration of wealth in few hands. He urged for land reforms, abolition of slavery and fair distribution of resources among all people.
Abdullah Khoso from the Child Rights Movement (CRM) said that lawyers can contribute in building a just society by doing pro-bono work which means work for public- mainly for poor people who cannot afford to defend their rights in the procedural justice system of judiciary. He added that pro-bono work is basically motivated by a desire to advance social justice. He said lawyers can play important role by helping people to access opportunities and rights in the procedural justice. He said that fair system of law and due process are central in social justice because these help to develop a mechanism by which everyone has access to rights and opportunities.
Syed Nayab Hasan, President IHCBA said inequality is wide spread across the country which is, not poverty, a crucial to the negative effects in Pakistan. He condemned the promotion of separate education and health systems for rich and poor and widening gap between them; none of the governments have adequately addressed issue of inequality in these spheres of life.
Anwar Shah, President District Bar Association, said those nations die if there is no social justice among them. Pakistani nation is going to such death if the rulers did not address the mass scale of injustice immediately. Advocate Riaz Rohi said people in Pakistan have forgotten to follow Quran and last sermon of holly prophet. In the last sermon, the Prophet said there is no superiority for Arab over non-Arab and for a non-Arab over an Arab, not for the white over the black, nor for the black over the white.
The speakers also emphasized that the lawyer fraternity to play its role in monitoring of procedural justice and judicial policies vis-a-vis fundamental rights given in the Constitution, reviewing the state of human rights in detention centers/facilities, contributing/influence judicial policy reforms through Bars/Associations and supporting poor victims and offenders who cannot afford to get justice through courts.
Junaid Chudhry, General Secretary IHCBA and others also spoke in the occasion.