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| Pakistan Approves Women Protection Bill |
| Fierce opposition from critics of the new law |
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Asim Yasin (Asim)  |
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Published 2006-11-16 15:12 (KST) |
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On Wednesday, the lower house of Pakistan's legislature, the National Assembly, passed the fiercely contested Women Protection Bill (WPB) that will bring changes in Islamic laws that have been used to the detriment of women.
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FROM THE SECTION |
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| The Islamist parties, under the aegis of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), a six-party oppositional coalition, had already threatened to resign from parliament if the WPB passed, but did not follow through.
The MMA opposed the bill and boycotted its final passage. The Pakistan People's Party, chaired by Benazir Bhutto, supported the bill, despite being members of the opposition.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was cheerful and received congratulations from the ruling coalition MPs over the smooth passage of the bill on the last day of the fourth parliamentary year of the National Assembly.
In 1979, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the military dictator of Pakistan, enforced the Hudood Ordinances as part of the Islamization process, with a view to implementing Muslim Shari'a law, which imposes sanctions for a number of crimes mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah.
The MMA, despite its passionate intent to block the bill, finally showed itself to be a toothless tiger.
"We will decide about quitting the Assembly after determining if the approved bill is the one cleared by the Select Committee or the one that contained the recommendations of the Ulema Committee," Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, leader of the opposition and MMA secretary general, told reporters after the boycott.
Opposing the WPB immediately after its introduction earlier, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman told the National Assembly that, if passed in its present form, the bill would be a shameful attempt to make Pakistan a "free sex zone."
A leading opponent of the bill, MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed, president of the Pakistani Islamist Party, left the Assembly on other business nearly two hours before it was voted on, having deputized Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, the MMA point man on the WPB, to handle the situation.
Firing off a powerful political salvo, Pakistan Muslim League (PML) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain handed over his resignation to Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain, saying that it should be accepted if it was proved that the bill was un-Islamic. The Speaker returned it, however, saying it might be relevant if it was established that the bill was un-Islamic.
Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman said the bill was neither the one that had been approved by the Select Committee nor did it contain the amendments proposed by the nine-member panel of religious scholars, which was formed by the government and the MMA. "Neither of the two was shown any respect. It is a confused document."
The government did not accept Maulana's entreaty to table the bill until the development of a consensus.
Maulana said that no clause has been included in the bill acknowledging the supremacy of the Quran or Sunnah, undermining the recommendations of the Ulema Committee.
He said a misleading impression of Pakistani women was being given to the world, and no legislation was being enacted to get rid of cursed customs and traditions, such as child marriage. A perception is also being spread that Western civilization is being imposed on Pakistanis, who are turning against Islam, he said.
"These changes," the MMA leader said, "don't meet the requirements of the Quran and Sunnah," and demanded that the Ulema Committee's recommendations be inserted in the bill in toto saying, "We aren't satisfied with this bill."
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr. Sher Afghan Niazi contested Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman's assertion and challenged him to cite any recognized person or institution to the effect that even a single word of the bill was against the Quran or Sunnah.
Federal Law Minister Wasi Zafar said the Ulema Committee had not pointed out even a single clause of the bill that was un-Islamic.
The Speaker said he has before him the bill that was cleared by the Select Committee and explained that whatever amendments were to be made in it would be included during its reading in the National Assembly.
Interestingly, while moving the bill, Wasi Zafar skipped the words "as reported by the Select Committee."
Justifying the PPPP support for the bill, Central Information Secretary Sherry Rehman, while taking part in the debate, said that it was always her party's stance that all the antifeminist laws be replaced.
"It is the PPPP's moral responsibility to support the bill that gives protection to women from injustice," she added.
Sherry Rehman said the PPPP paid a heavy price, facing hardship, baton-charges and imprisonment during the Zia-ul-Haq era for opposing the Hudood Ordinances, which, although enacted in the name of Islam, were widely abused.
She said people should not misuse religion for political purposes.
Parliamentary leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Dr. Farooq Sattar, said that, with the passage of this bill, "We are starting a new political journey to turn the country into a true Islamic welfare state."
He said in the past efforts were made by religious seminaries to implement their narrow-minded interpretation of Islam and that the WPB would provide equal opportunity for women to work shoulder-to-shoulder with men for Pakistan's development and prosperity.
Farooq Sattar said the freedom of women had been curbed at the behest of a particular group but now the dream of Quaid-e-Azam (Muhammad Ali Jinnah) would be realized.
He said that discriminatory treatment was meted out to women after 1985 but that now the situation has changed.
While greeting President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, coalition partners and the PPPP, the MQM leader said the representatives of the majority have ended the hegemony of a minority group in politics.
MMA's Dr. Farid Piracha opposed the bill and said that it paved the way to turn the country into a free sex zone and that the bill was moved to please the United States, with every effort being made to implement America's agenda.
"The U.S. has already formed an agenda to repeal the Hudood Ordinances, the blasphemy law and all laws relating to the Quran and Sunnah," he added.
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©2006 OhmyNews
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