ISLAMABAD, March 8: President Pervez Musharraf has said that the country is facing ‘serious threats’ of suicide bombing and extremism which need to be checked before it is too late.
"The menace of terrorism, particularly suicide bombing and extremism, is eating up the fabric of society like a termite and we all have to play our role in combating it," he said while addressing the International Women’s Day Convention held here on Thursday. The event was also attended by Shaukat Aziz.
The president appealed to women, especially mothers, to influence their children not to pursue the path of extremism and suicide bombings because these were un-Islamic.
"This scourge could only be defeated with the support of the women as they can certainly influence their family members in this respect," he said, urging women to support government's efforts to combat extremism and terrorism.
The president said the government had taken a number of steps to empower women politically and economically and assured that more steps were being taken for their emancipation.
He said that women had been empowered politically right from the union council to the federal level and 40,000 of them were represented at different tiers of the government.
He said the Women Protection Law was aimed at giving honour, respect and dignity to women. "But a few elements created the misperception that the law was against Islam and Sunnah."
He rejected the notion and said the law was in complete conformity with the essence of Islam. He said no law could be enacted in Pakistan which was an Islamic republic.
He said that in the past women were ignored for top-level government positions but the present government had decided to give them representation in decision-making at district, provincial and national levels. "Today women are sitting on various important positions in various walks of life," he said, adding that even in some of the developed nations women did not have such representation.
The president said equal opportunities were being provided to them in all government departments and 10 per cent quota had been reserved for them in the public sector. He said this quota was not being fully utilised and urged educated women to come forward and take up government jobs.
He said women were also represented in all branches of the armed forces and some of them had become even pilots.
He referred to a number of initiatives for the economic empowerment of women and said that the micro-credit programme was aimed at enabling poor women to start their own businesses. He said all banks had been directed to extend loans to women so that they could support their families by starting their business ventures.
The president said that under the Rozgar Pakistan Scheme, low-interest loans of Rs50,000 and Rs100,000 would be given to women, especially in rural areas.
Gen Musharraf asked women parliamentarians to strive to create awareness among women about their rights.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that never in the history of the country women were empowered the way they had been under the present government.
He said there was no bar on women to pursue their careers in any field. He said several women had been appointed on senior positions, like the State Bank governor.
The prime ministers said the government would ensure that women were facilitated in every walk of life. He said the job quota for them had been enhanced from five to 10 per cent and promised to further increase it.
ISLAMABAD, March 8: President Pervez Musharraf has said that the country is facing ‘serious threats’ of suicide bombing and extremism which need to be checked before it is too late.
