October 16, 2003	Thursday	Sha'aban 19, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 15: Declaring the Hudood Ordinance un-Islamic, Sherry Rehman, an MNA of People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP), has demanded its immediate repeal and vowed to continue her party’s struggle for women empowerment.

Talking to newsmen at the party’s media office here on Wednesday, the PPP MNA said that she had already submitted a bill titled “Protection and Empowerment of Women Act 2003” to the National Assembly secretariat seeking repeal of the Hudood laws.

Chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) Justice Majida Rizvi (retired) also attended the briefing for some time, but left when reporters started putting political questions to her.

Before leaving, she clarified that she had no links with any political party, and that she had come here only to explain some technical points in her report and to defend it. “I am ready to go to the MMA and the PML-Q people as well if they want a briefing from me on my report,” she said.

In her brief remarks, she said the Hudood laws were totally un-Islamic and these should immediately be repealed. The NCSW chairperson said: “If there are some exceptional incidents in the Islamic history, then these are exceptions and cannot be considered the rule,” she added.

The NCSW chairperson said that she was not a scholar, but as a lawyer and a judge it was her duty to see whether any particular law was Islamic or un-Islamic.

Replying to a question that the MMA had arranged a rally outside the National Assembly against her report, she said the next day there was a bigger rally in support of her report.

Later, Sherry Rehman briefed reporters on the main points of the bill on women empowerment and distributed its copies. She dispelled the impression that the NCSW had been constituted by Gen Musharraf. It was constituted by Benazir Bhutto, she claimed.

The draft bill demands that the Federal Public Service Commission and each provincial public service commission start giving women one-third share in the total recruitment from January 1, 2005.

It urges an end to “the discrimination in pay on the basis of gender”.

A part of the draft reads: “Domestic violence, including honour killing or bodily harm, will be punishable in the same manner as personal injury or culpable homicides under the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). Whoever being a husband or relative of the husband of a woman subjects the woman to violence or to cruelty which may be mental or physical shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to a fine of Rs500,000. Each bench of the high court shall assign one judge to try offences under this act.”

On the issue of stove burning cases, it states: “the husband of a woman or in his absence the eldest male resident of a household will be held responsible in all cases of stove burning and liable to grievous harm or culpable homicide under the PPC 1860.”

Moreover, “every woman shall be entitled to marry a person of her own choice,” the draft bill says, adding: “the use of undue influence, duress or coercion in the marriage of a woman will be an offence punishable with one-year imprisonment and a fine.”

Through the bill, it is demanded that a separate and independent enclosure controlled by women police will be established in each and every jail by the end of 2003. Each prison shall appoint an additional inspector-general for the women ward having the same powers and duties as the inspector general.

The PPP MNA also demanded that at least one-thirds of on the Council of Islamic Ideology, Planning Commission, Board of Directors of PIA and University Grants Commission be reserved for women.