November 18, 2006	Saturday	Shawwal 25, 1427

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 ISLAMABAD, Nov 17: Chairperson Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Benazir Bhutto has sought repeal of the Hudood Ordinances, however, she congratulated the nation on the passage of the Women’s Protection Bill, declaring it “the first mortal blow to demolish the structure of apartheid laws”.

 In a statement issued here on Friday, the former prime minister said that for a quarter-century the PPP had been struggling to repeal the laws discriminatory towards women.   She said that the National Assembly demonstrated that a gigantic task could only be done if the government and opposition both are united on the issue of national importance despite their divergent viewpoints on other issues.

Ms Bhutto said the ruling party and the opposition had stood by the women of Pakistan in taking the step to repeal discriminatory laws.

While noting that the law finally presented in the Assembly was not the one that had been finalised by the select committee, she said that nonetheless it was an improvement on the existing laws.

She said that PPP has been campaigning for total repeal of all the five Hudood laws that were promulgated in the name of Islam by the military dictatorship of the 1980s which had exploited the name of Islam to rob the people of their rights.

“These laws were promulgated only to pander to religious extremists with a view to creating a political constituency for the dictator.

“The Protection of Women’s Rights Bill was the first mortal blow to demolish the structure of coercive and apartheid laws foisted on the country a quarter of a century ago,” she said.

PPP reiterates its commitment to undo all the unjust and discriminatory laws against women and minorities foisted on the people by dictatorship in the past, she said.