Day: November 19, 2006

PESHAWAR: Women working in various fields have expressed concern about their liberty and freedom to work which they fear would be misinterpreted as un-Islamic by the Hasba law enforcers.They were commenting on the Hasba law recently passed by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government in the province. Under the controversial law an institution of Hasba will be established headed by a ‘mohtasib’ who will be working to ‘propagate virtue and prevent vices’.These women said the ‘mohtasib’, who would be delegated vast powers under the Hasba law, might misuse his authority and interfere with the life and work of working women by misinterpreting ‘Nahi un Al-Munkir’ or preventing vice.

“The ‘mohatsib’ can pester working women coming late from offices as he will possibly misinterpret any activity as unethical,” said Shahida Parveen, a journalist associated with a local newspaper.Provincial Law Minister Malik Zafar Azam has said that women’s rights will be protected under the Hasba law, but the women interviewed by Dawn fear they will be losing their personal liberty.”It is a strong possibility that Hasba force and ‘mohatsib’ will harass the working women on different pretexts. I fear a time will come when women will not be allowed to go out for work,” said Ms Parveen.

“If the Hasba law is going to be handled the same way the MMA has treated the Shariah law, which was passed in 2003 but not implemented in the province, then I have no fear whatsoever about this law,” said one working woman on condition of anonymity.Momina Arifeen, working for an NGO on women issues, said: “I feel my public and private life might not be secure once the Hasba department is established.”She pointed out that NGOs already had a bad image in the eyes of the conservative society and the religio-political government and said that women working in different sectors could be targeted for doing un-Islamic activities like holding seminars in which both men and women take part.

“Anybody can take revenge on a woman worker for rivalry and can file a complaint against her. By the time she clarifies her position enough damage will have been done to her repute,” said Uzma Mehboob, a lawyer. “Anyone can file a complaint with the Mohtasib and accuse a working woman of indulging in un-Islamic activities,” she added.
“I fear my personal freedom will be curtailed if, suppose, any one from the Hasba department tells me to cover my face or brands any of my activity un-Islamic,” said another working woman.Sitara Imran, who runs a shelter house, feared that the Hasba officials may treat the working women like the Taliban did when they ruled Afghanistan in 1996.

She alleged that the MMA government of clerics was already against the women working in the social welfare sector and said that the attitude of the Hasba staff to them would not be different. Rafia, another working woman, however, expressed no such apprehension. “I am least concerned about the Hasba law. When the MMA came to power I thought they would treat us like the Taliban but they have done no such thing even though they passed the Shariah law three years ago. It is all done for political mileage,” she said.
Source: Dawn
Date:11/19/2006

LAHORE: The Women’s Action Forum (WAF) has thanked the political parties and individuals who advocated the amendment of Hudood laws and praised those who had categorically stated their commitment to repealing the Hudood Ordinance altogether. In a statement issued on Saturday, the WAF said it hoped that the Women’s Protection Bill passed by the National Assembly on November 15 would help women by eliminating the possibility of rape victims being prosecuted for zina and the abolition of whipping and stoning to death. “This will only be confirmed when the text of the bill is made public,” the statement said, adding that the WAF viewed the political compromise made in approving the bill as “unwarranted and dangerous”.

“WAF is convinced that the new clauses relating to fornication will be used to victimise people in the same way that the clauses on zina were used under the Hudood Ordinances,” the statement said. “The introduction of the Hudood Ordinances in 1979 resulted in tens of thousands of cases being registered against innocent women each year,” it said. “It enabled family members and others to use the Zina Enforcement Ordinance to imprison and persecute women (and men) who married of their own choice, and orally divorced women. It is unclear whether the bill has removed the previous contradictions between Muslim Family Law Ordinance (1961) and the Hudood Ordinance.”

“WAF is committed to its long-standing position that the Hudood Ordinance violates all norms of decency, justice and human rights,” it said. “It is the poorest of the poor who are subjected to the worst of the punishments. Hundreds of women are imprisoned and many more are on trial for allegedly committing offences under other aspects of Hudood laws.” “On behalf of Pakistani women, WAF reiterates its demand to repeal the Hudood Ordinances in their entirety and urges members of all political parties committed to the repeal of the ordinance to continue their efforts.”
Source: Daily Times
Date:11/19/2006

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party Benazir Bhutto has congratulated the PPP Parliamentarians and other Pakistanis on the passage of the Women Protection Bill by the National Assembly. In a statement on Friday, she said that for a quarter of a century the PPP had been struggling to repeal laws discriminatory towards women. She said the passage of the bill by the National Assembly demonstrated that this gigantic task could only be achieved when both the government and the opposition united on an issue of national importance despite their divergent viewpoints on other issues. She said the ruling party and the opposition had stood by the women of Pakistan in taking a step towards repealing laws discriminatory towards them. While noting that the law finally presented to the assembly was not the one that had been finalised by the select committee, she said that it was an improvement on the existing laws.

She also commended the PPP Parliamentarians for voting for the bill with unity, faith and discipline. Benazir said the party had proved that the PPP stood for principles and that it was a party that strived for the modernisation of Pakistan free from backwardness, which guaranteed to the women the equality promised by both religion and the Constitution.
She said the PPP has been campaigning for the total repeal of all the five Hudood laws that were promulgated in the name of Islam by the military dictatorship of the eighties, which had exploited the name of Islam to rob the people of their rights. “These laws were promulgated only to pander to religious extremists with a view to creating a political constituency for the dictator.”

The PPP wants total repeal of the 1979 Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, she said, adding, “The Protection of Women Rights Bill is the first mortal blow to the structure of coercive and apartheid laws foisted on the country a quarter of a century ago.” The PPP reiterates its commitment to undo all unjust and discriminatory laws against the women and the minorities, foisted by dictatorship in the past, she said. She said the PPP is committed to working for democracy, gender equality, minority rights, provincial rights and for the emancipation of the people from poverty, hunger, discrimination and prejudice.
Source: The News
Date:11/19/2006