October 04, 2006	Wednesday	Ramazan 10, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 3: All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) has called for expanding the scope of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) by giving representation to the minorities in it with a view to promoting inter-faith harmony.

In a statement issued here on Tuesday, APMA Chairman Shahbaz Bhatti stressed that the religious minorities should be consulted in the policy matters of national level.

He said the Hudood ordinance was an Islamic law which should not be applied to non-Muslims. He pointed out that Article 227 (3) of the Constitution and section 2 of Shariat act guaranteed that Shariat laws would not be applicable to the minorities.

The APMA chief lamented that the proposed Women Protection bill recently tabled in the National Assembly ignored the concerns, demands and recommendations of religious minorities as well as the National Commission on the Status of Women. This has added to the despondency among the women and religious minorities of the country.

Mr Bhatti said non-Muslim women suffered the most due to application of Islamic Shariat and Hudood ordinances. They are abducted, raped and forcefully converted, he alleged.

He said Hudood cases were tried in the Federal Shariat Court, where a non-Muslim could neither be appointed presiding officer nor allowed to practise as a lawyer.

The APMA chief said Hudood ordinances was extremely unjust and infringed upon the respective religious laws of minorities. He said the minorities, human rights organisations and women had been constantly raising their voice against the Hudood ordinances.

He sought total repeal of Hudood ordinances, and announced that he would challenge the discriminatory sections related to minorities in the Supreme Court as these laws stood in violation of fundamental rights and International Declaration of Human Rights, which had been ratified by Pakistan. He also appealed to the chief justice of Supreme Court to take suo motu action to mitigate the anxiety and despondency caused by the implementation of Hudood laws.

Mr Bhatti emphasised that the provisions of these laws were unjust and discriminatory against non-Muslims.