The seven-year-old daughter of an environment lawyer has sued the Pakistan government for violating the right to a healthy life. According to Dawn, Rabab Ali in her petition, filed through her father has pleaded in the Pakistan Supreme Court that the government should offer her and her friends a safe environment to “grow up in”. Rabab has also sought help from the government to “conserve it for future generations”.
Incidentally, the registrar of the Supreme Court had earlier rejected her petition on the ground that she was still a minor. The chief justice, however, entertained her plea and clarified that minors could approach the court through an attorney if the issue was of public interest.
Her father, Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, Asia director of Climate & Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) has applauded the ruling, hailing it as a landmark observation. It is the first time that a minor has filed such a petition in Pakistan.
The petition is essentially against the mining of lignite coal in the Tharparkar district of the Sindh province in Pakistan. It is feared that carbon dioxide emissions from the mining will do enormous damage to air quality even for future generations and will contribute to global warming.
Interestingly, the petition also states that the proposed mining site is located in an area where Dalits dwell, who would be displaced and whose livelihood would be affected by the mining.