Elderly Pakistani parents – finally home and safe?
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An interesting new human rights law has been instituted by the Pakistan government which seeks to protect parents against forced evictions from their homes by their own children. The mere need for such a law masks just one of the dark sides of Pakistani society: the often-cruel mistreatment of senior citizens at their most vulnerable moments by their own families.
Under the new law, parents have been guaranteed protection to reside in their houses if they desire, even if their children are owners of houses or have rented them out. In cases where ownership rights vest with parents they can now simply ask their children to vacate the home. After receiving a notice, the children will have to mandatorily vacate the house, failing which they can be jailed or fined, or both.
The law was badly needed. According to a 2019 British Council study, 25.2 percent of parents in the capital, Islamabad have experienced physical assault at the hands of their children, often related to ownership of property, making every fourth home a theatre of conflict for the elderly who find little or no legal or social protection.
In Islamabad, 31.8 percent elderly fathers and 16.7 percent elderly mothers experience mistreatment at the hands of their children. In Balochistan province, 14.7 percent of parents have experienced oppressive behavior from their own children followed by Sindh with 8.2 percent of parents mistreated, Punjab at 6.1 percent and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 2.4 percent.
Within weeks of the promulgation of the law, the first conviction under the law was handed down last week in Muzaffargarh city of Punjab province where a man was jailed for 30 days for forcefully evicting his ageing parents who had to then find shelter in a graveyard. The man was evicted from the house and his parents reinstated in their own home. The same week in Peshawar, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, three brothers were arrested under the same law after a video of their assault on their mother and sister over ownership of the house went viral.
Pakistan has made some good strides in the past few years fixing its appalling human rights situation through social justice reforms especially by instituting a string of landmark legislations seeking to, among other things, prevent sexual harassment of women at the workplace, safety of children against rape, banning of underage marriages etc.
According to a 2019 British Council study, 25.2 percent of parents in the capital, Islamabad have experienced physical assault at the hands of their children
Adnan Rehmat
To this is now added the law that seeks to prevent parents from being thrown out from their own homes. The law banning the eviction of parents under any circumstances from their own homes, addresses one of the most persistent injustices of Pakistani society – inadequate care for the aged when they are especially frail.
Official data shows that as of 2020 there were over 15 million people living in Pakistan aged over 60, the official retirement age, which is 7 per cent of the country’s total population of 210 million. The proportion of older people is expected to double to 12 percent in 2050 with 40 million people aged over 60. This will put a strain on their needs for shelter and healthcare.
But is the law itself protection enough? A law is only as good as its enforcement – not always Pakistan’s strong point in governance. For starters, the current law is a temporary law – issued as an ordinance by the president valid for 120 days unless passed by parliament within this timeframe. The government of Prime Minister Imran Khan has a poor track record of mobilizing parliamentary consensus on legislative matters. While it is difficult to conceive the opposition not supporting converting this useful law into a permanent legislation, it has happened before.
Even more important is the structurization of the law into a mechanism to operationalize it on a long-term basis, including the establishment of helplines, adequate financial resources and free legal aid for the elderly to optimize intended results of the law. Also, since social justice support is a provincial subject under Pakistan’s federal constitution, the country’s four provinces must bring their own versions of the law to allow for greater ownership of it and need-based implementation resources at the local level.
Pakistan is not an economic powerhouse with widespread multi-generational economic and social prosperity. After a lifetime of often selfless blood, sweat and tears providing for their children, the senior citizens of Pakistan richly deserve to spend their last years in peace, especially in the homes they have built. Not too much to ask from their children or state, surely.
- Adnan Rehmat is a Pakistan-based journalist, researcher and analyst with interests in politics, media, development and science.
Twitter: @adnanrehmat1
