KARACHI: Religious bodies give strike call for Friday
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Dec 19: Majlis Tahaffuz-i-Hudood Allah (Sindh), an alliance formed by various religious parties to strive against the Protection of Women Act, on Tuesday formally called for a strike in Karachi on Friday as a part of their protest against that bill recently made into law by parliament.
“Religious scholars of all schools of thought have resolved to continue struggle against this anti-Shariah law until it is withdrawn clause-by-clause by the government,” Dr Mohammad Adil Khan, convener of the MTHA Sindh, said at a press conference held at the Karachi Press Club.
Mufti Abdul Hameed Rabbani, Dr Mairajul Huda Siddiqui, Maulana Abdur Rauf, Maulana Mohammad Arshad, Mufti Usman Yar Khan, Siddiq Rathore, and Qari Mohammad Iqbal were also present on the occasion.
Dr Khan said it was religious and moral obligation of all the Pakistanis to raise voice against the enemies within and against those elements who wanted to transform Pakistan into a secular state.
He said that by transforming women’s act into law the present regime had started lawmaking against Quran and Sunnah. We believe that women’s act is just tip of the iceberg and the country will turn into a sex-free zone if we remain tightlipped and let the rulers do at their will, Dr Khan added.
He said the MTHA had already showed its strength by holding a convention in Karachi on December 10 and hoped that people would fully cooperate to make the call a success.
“The strike will be completely peaceful, it is for sure. We have already assured this to the authorities and now assure the people that we do not believe in violence,” said Dr Khan.
He appealed to the traders and businessmen, transporters, political and non-political organisations and rest of the population to support the call. “It is national and moral duty of all of us to protest over such issues,” he said.
Dr Khan blamed the government of creating ‘legal justification’ for women’s disgrace in the name of their protection.
“The government has opened all the floodgates of obscenity by putting divine laws in the cobweb of manmade penal codes,” he added.
He said the religious scholars had already met the leaders of the PML-Q and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and had got assurances from Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Altaf Hussain that they would not allow any law, which was not in conformity with the Shariah.
Dr Khan said the MTHA leadership would soon meet PPP leadership to exchange views on the issue and try to convince them that the Protection of Women Act was un-Islamic.
