Gender discrimination

The national media has duly highlighted a case of gender discrimination and the National Commission of Human Rights (NCHR) has accordingly expressed serious concerns about the rejection of a female candidate for the post of Director General Hajj allegedly on the basis of her gender. Saima Sabah, a BS-20 officer petitioned the Islamabad High Court that she secured first position in a written test for the position by obtaining 71 marks out of 100 but was dropped due to gender discrimination. The petition alleged that the minister in charge of Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony passed strange remarks against the gender of the petitioner during the interview proceedings. Along with her petition she had also submitted a transcript of the alleged interview which is doing rounds on social media. NCHR mentioned that the eligibility criteria for this position did not exclude women. It was also mentioned that there existed a precedent of a woman serving as Saudi Arabia’s DG Hajj for 19 months stating that why should Pakistan impose restrictions on the best qualified candidate just because she is a woman. NCHR added that while Saudi Arabia was encouraging women to manage Hajj pilgrims, Pakistan’s religious affairs ministry was rejecting qualified candidates on basis of gender. TW

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