PESHAWAR, July 14: Some religious scholars have issued an edict declaring deportation of an Indian woman from the country un-Islamic.
The decree issued by Mufti Khalilur Rehman of the Mazahirul Uloom in Sheikh Maltoon Town, Mardan, declares that in an Islamic country a ruler or a judge has no right to issue orders for deportation of a Muslim woman.
The decree has been issued against an order of the interior division rejecting an application for citizenship submitted by the Indian woman who had converted to Islam and married a Pakistani.
The government has asked Hafsa Aman to leave the country. Mrs Aman embraced Islam last year in Karachi and married a resident of Mardan, Aman Khan, on July 16, 2003.
The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Sami), Mardan, announced three days ago that it would resist the deportation of Mrs Aman from the country. Mufti Kifayatullah, spokesman for the NWFP Nifaz-i-Shariah Council, has also stated that the deportation would be un-Islamic.
The edict written in Pushto states that if anybody wants to expel a Muslim woman it is binding on the ruler to stop the expulsion. It says that according to Islamic injunctions only those orders of a ruler should be accepted which are in accordance with Shariat.
HRCP: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on Wednesday expressed concern over the tactics of harassment adopted by police against Mrs Aman and demanded immediate end to those.
In a press release issued here, HRCP Vice-Chairperson Sher Mohammad Khan said the attitude of the administration was more questionable in view of Mrs Aman having got a stay order from the Peshawar High Court forbidding any action against her while a case relating to her citizenship was pending.
He said normally foreign women who married Pakistanis were granted citizenship when they applied for it but in the present case the interior ministry had discriminated against Mrs Aman because of her country of origin.
"The attitude of the ministry is in total violation of the Citizenship Act and fundamental rights provided in the constitution of the country. It is also against the spirit of the public stance taken by the present government for promoting a friendly relationship with India," he said.
The HRCP demanded an immediate end to harassment of Mrs Aman and termed it illegal and immoral. It demanded an end to the delaying tactics adopted by the ministry in processing the application of Mrs Aman.
