KARACHI, Nov 10: Women legislators of the Sindh Assembly, as well as lawyers, politicians and human right activists discussed the draft legislative bills, on Monday, prepared by the Aurat Foundation regarding the issues of honour killings and crimes against women.

Shedding light on the proposed amendments to the Pakistan Penal Code, former law and human rights minister Iqbal Haider said that the police had been taking advantage of the loopholes in the Qisas and Diyat law since its enforcement to help those who committed murder in the name of honour.

He said it had been observed that in most of the honour killing cases, the murderers were relatives of the victim. He added that there was no justification for invoking the Qisas law in such a case.

Mr Haider said that honour killings were non-compoundable cases. He explained that since both the murderer and the victim belonged to the same family there could be no compromise.

The leader of the opposition in Sindh Assembly, Nisar Khuhro, asked Mr Haider whether amendments to the Qisas and Diyat law could be carried out at the provincial level. The former law minister explained that it was a concurrent subject. He added that despite the fact that it was a federal statute, the Sindh Assembly could deal with the law, which pertained to the province.

Mr Haider said that under the law only the complainant could file an appeal upon the acquittal of the person, accused of committing an honour killing. He said it had been observed that most of such cases were resolved in an unsuitable manner. (He used the term Muk-mukka.) He stressed the need for allowing a concerned citizen to file an appeal with a court of law because honour killings were crimes against society.

He deplored that most religious leaders and politicians had been supporting honour killings.

The leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly urged women lawmakers to do their homework before introducing the legislative bill in parliament. “When the government introduces a bill, it has no problem in railroading it through parliament. But, when private members introduce a bill, they encounter numerous problems. It is important that the private members go to the Sindh Assembly armed with their arguments and counter-arguments,” he said.

The deputy speaker of the Sindh Assembly, Rahila Tiwana, said women legislators were playing a historic role in parliament. She added that no difference existed among them about the need for eliminating crimes against women.

The programme coordinator of the Aurat Foundation, Nuzhat Shirin, said women parliamentarians could play a very important role in doing away with crimes like honour killings. She added that human rights organizations like the Aurat Foundation would back up the women parliamentarians.