04 January 2005	Tuesday	22 Ziqa'ad 1425

ISLAMABAD, Jan 3: The ongoing discussion on Hudood ordinances is unnecessarily being made a political issue, National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) Chairperson Justice (retired) Majida Rizvi said here on Monday.

She was presiding over a consultation on 'Hudood Ordinances: The Islamic Perspectives' organized by Aurat Publication and Information Service Foundation at a local hotel.

Ms Rizvi said only religious scholars and jurists concerned should deliberate on the ordinances. She said according to norms of a civilized society "we should discuss them in totality instead of making them a political issue".

Everyone talking on Hudood Ordinances seems to be securing some political mileage which does not speak of the seriousness of their attitude towards the issue, she said. Ms Rizvi said there was no second opinion that these laws were made with mala fide intentions by the then military regime.

The commission, headed by Justice Rizvi, after a lengthy consultative process, had recommended that Hudood Ordinances should be repealed forthwith. However, the government is yet to decide whether these recommendations should be taken to the parliament for open discussion or not.

It is worth mentioning here that after the passage of the 17th Amendment which was supported by the MMA under which Legal Framework Order (LFO) was made part of the Constitution, the government gave a cold response to the NCSW due to the religious parties opposition to the commission.

Being appreciative of Dr Tufail Hashmi's book, she said there was general acceptance of the NCSW's recommendations on Hudood Ordinances and "we are happy that our efforts have started producing some results".

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Tufail Hashmi, a religious scholar, talked extensively about various clauses of Hudood Ordinances and termed their promulgation a major blunder in the constitutional history of the country.

Dr Hashmi, in his book, discusses how Hudood laws were made and what are the lacunas which need to be removed from them. In total, Hudood Ordinances comprise 101 clauses, of which 54 are about Tazeer, 47 definitions and 18 clauses talk about Hadd punishments, he said.

"However, unfortunately, these laws have been termed Hudood laws meaning that they are divine laws," Dr Hashmi said. Therefore, religious scholars, who objected to these laws, were warned that Hudood Ordinances were divine laws and nobody had the right to touch them.

But, when one ruffles through Hudood Ordinances, it takes no time to ascertain that there are a number of misinterpretations of Islamic injunctions which need to be done away with, he added.

Referring to a number of incidents, Dr Hashmi said Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) always avoided Hadd punishments, whereas, as per the Hudood laws more stress was given to Hadd.

Speaking at the discussion, PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar supported Dr Hashmi's argument and informed the participants that he had already submitted a resolution to the upper house, seeking clear definition of Hadd and Tazeer punishments.

Hadd is the maximum limit of punishment for a crime described in the Holy Quran, whereas Tazeer is a punishment recommended by religious scholars through Ijtihad. During the day-long deliberations, the participants were of the view that Hudood Ordinances did not hold any ground, hence be repealed immediately.