ISLAMABAD, Aug 24: All opposition parties on Thursday boycotted the first meeting of the Select Committee on the controversial Criminal Law Amendment (Protection of Women) Bill 2006 tabled by the government on Aug 21 amid strong protests by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA).
The MMA had already announced that it would boycott the meeting of the committee formed by Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain, the members of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) staged a walkout to protest over the decision to appoint Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Ijazul Haq as head of the committee.
The MMA terms the bill as un-Islamic and an attempt by the government to change the Hudood laws in the name of women’s rights. However, there was no word from the Pakistan Muslim League-N, another major opposition group, on whether it would boycott the meeting. The PML-N’s only member on the committee Sahibzada Fazal Karim was not present in the Parliament House at that time.
PPP members Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Sherry Rehman, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Nayyar Bokhari staged a walkout from the meeting soon after its start saying that they could not attend a meeting presided over by Ijazul Haq, the son of a late military ruler.
Later, speaking at a news conference, the PPP members said that Ijazul Haq was a controversial man and he also had no knowledge of the legal aspects of the bill. They urged the speaker to change the chairman of the committee.
A source in the PPP told Dawn that the speaker had agreed to it after the PPP’s boycott and appoint the chief whip of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) Sardar Nasrullah Dreshak as the chairman and soon a notification in this regard would be issued. There was, however, no official confirmation in this regard.
Talking to Dawn, PPP information secretary Sherry Rehman said the party would definitely take part in the committee’s proceedings if the speaker changed the chairman.
Meanwhile, according to an official handout issued by the National Assembly Secretariat, the Select Committee members reviewed 11 clauses of the Women Protection Bill during its meeting on Thursday.
The meeting was briefed about the Hudood Ordinance and the Women Protection Bill. It was also informed that since it was an important bill, therefore, it was necessary to make such legislation with consensus. The members were unanimous that there could not be a law in contravention to Quran and Sunnah in the country.
According to the handout, next meeting of the committee would now be held on Monday.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Sher Afgan, Minister for Privatization Zahid Hamid, Minister for Women Development Sumaira Malik, Minister for Political Affairs Amir Muqam, Minister of State for Law and Justice Shahid Akram Bhinder, Minister of State for Religious Affairs Dr Amir Liaquat Hussain, Minister of State for Environment Malik Amin Aslam, Minister of State for Overseas Pakistanis Raza Hayat Harraj, MNAs Mehnaz Rafi, Bushra Rehman, Kashmala Tariq, Khurheed Afgan, Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi, Mohammad Noorul Haq Qadri and Law Minister Wasi Zafar.
