September 26, 2006	Tuesday	Ramazan 2, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Sept 25: Speakers at a seminar here on Monday demanded that the government should repeal Hudood ordinances in the best interest of the nation, saying these military-made laws had not only destroyed the lives of thousands of women but also earned a bad name for the country.

They rejected the MMA-PML deal on the Hudood ordinances and termed it extra-parliamentary and extra-constitutional and a grave violation of human rights. They also urged the civil society to resist the proposed amendments to the law by the so-called ulema committee.

Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) had organised the seminar titled “MMA-PML (Q) deal on Hudood ordinances: a civil society perspective.”

Dr Arfa Sayeda Zehra, chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women, criticised some sections of the ordinances and the extra-parliamentary process of consultations on the proposed amendments to the laws.

She said every time when there was a discussion on women issues the legislators did not adopt a routine procedure rather established new traditions. She said the government first formed a special committee on the amendment bill and then opted for an ulema committee.

She said the law was supposed to compensate the oppressed but the Hudood ordinances were doing injustice to the women victims of violence.

All these injustices were done in the name of religion, which was based on justice and advocated respect and honour for women, she added.

Ridiculing the formation of extra-parliamentary body of ulema committee of MMA and the ruling PML, she said the committee had bypassed parliament.

Ms Zehra said the Hudood ordinances of Gen Ziaul Haq were extremely discriminatory against women.

She said when someone committed dacoity the law used to punish the dacoit not the owner of the house; whereas under the Hudood ordinances the victim got punishment.

Naeem Mirza of Aurat Foundation spoke on Hudood debate in parliament and certain amendments proposed by the select committee. He also highlighted the socio-political impacts of these discriminatory laws on women.

Thousands of women and men have suffered due to this discriminatory legislation. The number of females sent to prisons under the Hudood ordinances was unprecedented in the history of Pakistan, Mr Mirza said.  He said the select committee had introduced certain good amendments though the civil society had demanded its total repeal. He said the select committee incorporated some demands of the civil society such as differentiating between rape and adultery etc., while maintaining the controversial clauses of Rajm and adulthood.

But the ulema committee not only undid these amendments at the initial stage but also introduced some other changes such as definition of lewdness. He said the Hudood ordinances equated adultery with rape by requiring four pious Muslim male witnesses in the rape case, which was a requirement only in the case of adultery in Islam. It dismissed women and minorities as witnesses in the case of Hadd punishment.

It treated minor girls of nine and 10 years of age as adult if she had attained puberty and subjected her to the same punishment as adults in Hudood cases.

While strongly rejecting the Hudood ordinances, poet Kishwar Naheed recited her poem Hazab-i-Do Jehan Mere in which she portrayed the plight and miseries of the Pakistani women.