“You must never forget that you owe a debt to the community and to the nation. To do that, you must appreciate the extent of social injustice around you and the enormity of the challenges that lie ahead,” Chief Justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jillani told the graduating class of Kinnaird College for Women on Sunday.
He was addressing the 77 convocation. As many as 354 first degree students, 59 graduates and 217 MPhil graduates received degrees. Of these, 35 were on the principal’s honour and merit lists.
“You live in a country where more than half of the population under the age of 22 cannot go to schools, where more than 1,000 schools and colleges have been destroyed by insurgents, where only 1.9 per cent of the national budget is spent on education. You live in a country where just last year 56 women were killed for giving birth to a girl and 491 cases of domestic violence, 334 cases of assault, 90 of acid attacks and 835 of violence against women were registered. You are living in a country where children die of draught, malnutrition, hunger and disease but billions go waste,” he said.
The chief justice said the true test of a nation was recognising its failings.
“An overwhelming majority of people do not subscribe to the myopic interpretation of our faith and there is a broad consensus that education the most important cornerstone of all human societies,” he said.
He praised Malala Yousafzai, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy and Arfa Kareem, saying that Pakistan had no shortage of talented women.
“The Constitution of Pakistan mandates equality between all citizens. It says this equality shall not prevent the State from making special provisions for protection of women and children,” the CJP said.
He said for advancement of a society, it was necessary that everyone contribute towards its development.
“Men and women are two wheels of human civilization,” he added.
Earlier, he laid the foundation stone of the law department at the college. The college is said to be the first law college for women in the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 30th, 2014.