November 22, 2006	Wednesday	Shawwal 29, 1427

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PESHAWAR, Nov 21: Ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said on Tuesday that the Hasba law would be used by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) to appoint its workers on key posts. Addressing a PML women’s convention here, he said: “The Hasba Bill has nothing to do with Islam.”

He alleged that the MMA wanted to impose its own brand of Islam on people. He said the MMA would exploit the bill during its election campaign but, he added, it would not be able to “deceive the masses”.

About the MMA lawmakers’ threat to resign from the National Assembly in protest against the passage of the Protection of Women’s Rights Bill, Chaudhry Shujaat said they would have submitted the resignations to the speaker had they been serious about quitting the assembly.

He said the MMA legislators had handed over their resignations to the leadership of their parties instead of submitting them to the speaker's office.

The PML chief said he had tendered conditional resignation from his assembly seat and pointed out that if any clause of the women’s rights bill was found to be repugnant to the injunctions of Quran and Sunnah his resignation would stand effective.

He asked the MMA to refrain from using religion for political ends.

PML’s provincial chief Amir Muqam also criticised the MMA for adopting the Hasba Bill and said the law, if enforced, would usurp the fundamental rights of the people of the province.

Federal Minister for Tourism and PML’s women wing president Nilofar Bakhtiar described the Protection of Women’s Rights Bill as a gift of the government to the oppressed women.