Pakistan Gender News Voice of Gender News From Pakistan
LAHORE: Chanan Development Association (CDA) has condemned a fatwa issued by Maulvi Abdul Haleem, a former Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal MNA, on Saturday, threatening women workers of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Kohistan.
CDA Executive Director Muhammad Shahzad Khan said that the fatwa against female NGO workers and girls’ education was not only against human rights, but also against the teachings of Islam. He added that it was a shame that people like Abdul Haleem, misinterpreted Islamic values just to gain fake popularity. Sana Sohail, national coordinator of Y-PEER Pakistan, emphasised that this kind of act would provoked negative impression about the women who work in NGOs. She added that all religions supported girls’ education.
Other youth leaders Bashir Ahmed from South Waziristan, Najamus Sahar from Gilgit-Baltistan, Mariam Ishaq from Lahore, Faizan Hassan from Quetta, Fatima Zafar from Multan, Qaiser Roonjha from Lasbella, Raza Ravjani from Karachi, Wiqas Ahmed from Peshawar and Shaheen Kausar from Muzaffarabad urged other religious leaders to speak against this fatwa and correct Abdul Haleem on true teachings of Islam. They also urged the government to take action against mullahs who themselves did not understand Islam. CDA is a national youth-led organisation with 100 member organisations of its network named as Youth Peer Education Network (Y-PEER) in 65 districts of the country.
