Ayaz Latif Palijo
Encyclopedia
Ayaz Latif Palijo اياز لطیف پلیجو (born November 15, 1968) is a Sindhi
Pakistani activist, lawyer, writer and teacher. Palijo was born in Hyderabad, Sindh
, Pakistan, to a Baloch
mother, the women's rights activist and artist Jeejee Zarina Baloch
, and a South Asian leftist father and founder of Awami Tahreek, Rasool Bux Palijo.
Palijo is one of the leading human rights lawyers of Pakistan, who has filed, contested and won hundreds of cases on behalf of the oppressed and victimized sections of Pakistani society. He has read papers in several international conferences and a number of British, American and other international universities including University of Yale, University of Colorado Denver
, University of Sussex
, University of Leeds
, University of Bergen
and University of Johannesburg
. He has remained a member, guest speaker and consultant of several international forums and organizations including Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD), Commonwealth Association of Science, Technology and Mathematics Educators (CASTME), International Water History Association (IWHA), Centre for Peace and Social Justice, Southern Cross University, International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM), Asian Students Association (ASA), World Social Forum (WSF) and World Commission on Dams (WCD). He has done work for victims of honor killing
, karo-kari
, bonded labor, missing persons, child labor and violence against women amongst others. Palijo
, an orator, a lawyer, a writer and a teacher, is considered as being the first person to introduce the concepts of human rights
and public interest litigation
in rural areas of Sindh, Pakistan. Ayaz L. Palijo is well known in the activist circles of Sindh and Pakistan's social movement, having worked for decades on women's issues especially those linked to violence against women and sexual harassment.
Palijo is a graduate of civil engineering
from Mehran University of Engineering and Technology
, graduate of law from Sindh University, Jamshoro
, Pakistan, has done his graduation in environment and development from LEAD Int at University of British Columbia
, Vancouver
, and has done his M.Sc. in Rural development
from SU and Wye College
, United Kingdom, and has secured first position in LL.M.. He is a LEAD fellow of cohort 7, State Department alumni and is also accredited for securing the release of more than 3500 innocent prisoners from different jails, bonded labour camps, illegal confinements, Dar-ul-Amans and police lockups.
Ayaz Palijo has written six books and hundreds of columns and his recent activities include launching a strong campaign against the man-made water shortage, child abuse
, forced conversion
of Minority girls and terrorism
. He is known for his aggressive speeches and outspoken attitude towards the dictatorships and feudalism
and has remained at the forefront of the movement for Peace, Human rights and women's rights in Pakistan for the last two decades, he specializes in Human Rights Litigation, and has conducted several cases which have become landmarks in setting human rights standards in Pakistan. He has introduced the new trends of Public Interest Litigation
on bonded labor, violence against women
, children and minorities and on honor killings, child labor
, animal rights
, prisoners' rights
, in the rural areas of Sindh, Pakistan, and has been working as a lecturer in Sindh Law College and in degree classes of Juris Doctor
. Ayaz Palijo's command over the poetry of Shah Latif, Shaikh Ayaz, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmed Faraz, Ustad Bukhari, Ibn-e-Insha and Sahir Ludhianvi and his speeches in Anti Kalabagh Dam
rallies, Lawyers Movement, Bhitshah Conferences and in 46 days Long March are of historic significance, no one in Sindh and Pakistan's history has addressed fanatics, corrupt rulers, feudals or terrorists in such a belligerent tone in rallies or on live TV. On his call against the water theft, the entire province of Sindh remained closed on 19th February 2010. He is founder of Nationalist Alliance SPNA and has also been holding the responsibilities of Chairman of the Sindh Research Council (SRC), Chairman of the Forum For Rights Justice & Peace (FRJP) for the last several years and elected as President of Awami Tahreek in October 2009. At present he has been practicing as a leading constitutional lawyer of Sindh High Court
, Hyderabad, Pakistan and he was the first lawyer who challenged the man-made breaches of dikes and embankments of Indus river at Tori, Ghouspur, Suprio and MS Bund in Sindh during Floods of 2010. He has been at the forefront of the lawyers' movement that culminated in the restoration of Chief Justice
Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, he offered court arrest after the imposition of emergency by General Pervez Musharraf
and achieved fame as a supporter of the lawyers movement in 2007-2009.
Sindhi people
Sindhis are a Sindhi speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating from Sindh, a province Formerly of British India, now in Pakistan. Today Sindhis that live in Pakistan belong to various religious denominations including Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity...
Pakistani activist, lawyer, writer and teacher. Palijo was born in Hyderabad, Sindh
Hyderabad, Sindh
is the second largest city in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is the seventh largest city in the country. The city was founded in 1768 by Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro upon the ruins of a Mauryan fishing village along the bank of the Indus known as Neroon Kot...
, Pakistan, to a Baloch
Baloch people
The Baloch or Baluch are an ethnic group that belong to the larger Iranian peoples. Baluch people mainly inhabit the Balochistan region and Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the southeast corner of the Iranian plateau in Western Asia....
mother, the women's rights activist and artist Jeejee Zarina Baloch
Zarina Baloch
Zarina Baloch was a Pakistani folk music singer and composer. She was also an actress, writer, teacher, political and social worker....
, and a South Asian leftist father and founder of Awami Tahreek, Rasool Bux Palijo.
Palijo is one of the leading human rights lawyers of Pakistan, who has filed, contested and won hundreds of cases on behalf of the oppressed and victimized sections of Pakistani society. He has read papers in several international conferences and a number of British, American and other international universities including University of Yale, University of Colorado Denver
University of Colorado Denver
The University of Colorado Denver, shortened as CU Denver, UC Denver, or UCD, is a public university in the United States state of Colorado. It is one of three schools of the University of Colorado system. The university has two campuses — one in downtown Denver at the Auraria Campus, and the other...
, University of Sussex
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is an English public research university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, within the city of Brighton and Hove. The University received its Royal Charter in August 1961....
, University of Leeds
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
, University of Bergen
University of Bergen
The University of Bergen is located in Bergen, Norway. Although founded as late as 1946, academic activity had taken place at Bergen Museum as far back as 1825. The university today serves more than 14,500 students...
and University of Johannesburg
University of Johannesburg
The University of Johannesburg came into existence on 1 January 2005 as the result of a merger between the Technikon Witwatersrand and the Rand Afrikaans University . Prior to the merger, the Daveyton and Soweto campuses of the former Vista University had been incorporated into RAU...
. He has remained a member, guest speaker and consultant of several international forums and organizations including Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD), Commonwealth Association of Science, Technology and Mathematics Educators (CASTME), International Water History Association (IWHA), Centre for Peace and Social Justice, Southern Cross University, International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM), Asian Students Association (ASA), World Social Forum (WSF) and World Commission on Dams (WCD). He has done work for victims of honor killing
Honor killing
An honor killing or honour killing is the homicide of a member of a family or social group by other members, due to the belief of the perpetrators that the victim has brought dishonor upon the family or community...
, karo-kari
Karo-kari
In Pakistan honor killings are known locally as karo-kari . Karo-kari is part of cultural tradition in Sindh and is a compound word literally meaning "black male" and "black female , in metaphoric terms for adulterer and adulteress...
, bonded labor, missing persons, child labor and violence against women amongst others. Palijo
Palijo
The Palijo are Sindhi tribe of Sindh province, Pakistan. Palijo is a Sammat tribe. During the Talpur dynasty and before, this tribe held lands on the banks of the Indus River when that area was under official administration of the Palijo tribe and was called Palijar'pargana, ranging from Choriya...
, an orator, a lawyer, a writer and a teacher, is considered as being the first person to introduce the concepts of human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and public interest litigation
Public interest litigation
In Indian law, Public Interest Litigation OR जनहित याचिका means litigation for the protection of the public interest. It is litigation introduced in a court of law, not by the aggrieved party but by the court itself or by any other private party...
in rural areas of Sindh, Pakistan. Ayaz L. Palijo is well known in the activist circles of Sindh and Pakistan's social movement, having worked for decades on women's issues especially those linked to violence against women and sexual harassment.
Palijo is a graduate of civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
from Mehran University of Engineering and Technology
Mehran University of Engineering and Technology
The Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro informally shortened as Mehran University is the largest engineering degree-awarding institute in Pakistan. It is in the university town of Jamshoro in the Sindh province, along with the University of Sindh and Liaquat University of...
, graduate of law from Sindh University, Jamshoro
Jamshoro
Jamshoro is a city in Jamshoro District, Sindh, Pakistan. It is located on the right bank of Indus River, approximately 18 kilometres north-west of the city of Hyderabad and 150 kilometres north-east from the provincial capital Karachi....
, Pakistan, has done his graduation in environment and development from LEAD Int at University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
, Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, and has done his M.Sc. in Rural development
Rural development
Rural development in general denotes economic development and community development actions and initiatives taken to improve the standard of living in non-urban neighbourhoods, remote villages and the countryside...
from SU and Wye College
Wye College
The College of St. Gregory and St. Martin at Wye, more commonly known as Wye College, was an educational institution in Kent, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1447 by John Kempe, the Archbishop of York, as a college for the training of priests. It is located in the small village of Wye, Kent, 60...
, United Kingdom, and has secured first position in LL.M.. He is a LEAD fellow of cohort 7, State Department alumni and is also accredited for securing the release of more than 3500 innocent prisoners from different jails, bonded labour camps, illegal confinements, Dar-ul-Amans and police lockups.
Ayaz Palijo has written six books and hundreds of columns and his recent activities include launching a strong campaign against the man-made water shortage, child abuse
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
, forced conversion
Forced conversion
A forced conversion is the religious conversion or acceptance of a philosophy against the will of the subject, often with the threatened consequence of earthly penalties or harm. These consequences range from job loss and social isolation to incarceration, torture or death...
of Minority girls and terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
. He is known for his aggressive speeches and outspoken attitude towards the dictatorships and feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
and has remained at the forefront of the movement for Peace, Human rights and women's rights in Pakistan for the last two decades, he specializes in Human Rights Litigation, and has conducted several cases which have become landmarks in setting human rights standards in Pakistan. He has introduced the new trends of Public Interest Litigation
Public interest litigation
In Indian law, Public Interest Litigation OR जनहित याचिका means litigation for the protection of the public interest. It is litigation introduced in a court of law, not by the aggrieved party but by the court itself or by any other private party...
on bonded labor, violence against women
Violence against women
Violence against women is a technical term used to collectively refer to violent acts that are primarily or exclusively committed against women...
, children and minorities and on honor killings, child labor
Child labor
Child labour refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in many countries...
, animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
, prisoners' rights
Prisoners' rights
The rights of civil and military prisoners are governed by both national and international law. International conventions include: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the United Nations' Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and the European Committee for the...
, in the rural areas of Sindh, Pakistan, and has been working as a lecturer in Sindh Law College and in degree classes of Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
. Ayaz Palijo's command over the poetry of Shah Latif, Shaikh Ayaz, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmed Faraz, Ustad Bukhari, Ibn-e-Insha and Sahir Ludhianvi and his speeches in Anti Kalabagh Dam
Kalabagh Dam
The Kalabagh dam is a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Indus River at Kalabagh in Mianwali District of the Punjab province in Pakistan. The project has been controversial since its inception.-History:...
rallies, Lawyers Movement, Bhitshah Conferences and in 46 days Long March are of historic significance, no one in Sindh and Pakistan's history has addressed fanatics, corrupt rulers, feudals or terrorists in such a belligerent tone in rallies or on live TV. On his call against the water theft, the entire province of Sindh remained closed on 19th February 2010. He is founder of Nationalist Alliance SPNA and has also been holding the responsibilities of Chairman of the Sindh Research Council (SRC), Chairman of the Forum For Rights Justice & Peace (FRJP) for the last several years and elected as President of Awami Tahreek in October 2009. At present he has been practicing as a leading constitutional lawyer of Sindh High Court
Sindh High Court
The High Court of Sindh is the highest judicial institution of Sindh province. Established in 1906, it is situated at provincial capital Karachi. Apart from being the highest Court of Appeal for Sindh in civil and criminal matters, the Court was the District Court and the Court of Session in...
, Hyderabad, Pakistan and he was the first lawyer who challenged the man-made breaches of dikes and embankments of Indus river at Tori, Ghouspur, Suprio and MS Bund in Sindh during Floods of 2010. He has been at the forefront of the lawyers' movement that culminated in the restoration of Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, he offered court arrest after the imposition of emergency by General Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
and achieved fame as a supporter of the lawyers movement in 2007-2009.