KARACHI, June 21: The Sindh Minister for Women Development, Dr Saeeda Malik, has said that all discriminatory laws against women should be abolished.

She was speaking at a meeting organized by the Pakistan Federation of Business and Professional Women here on Friday.

She said that as more women have joined assemblies now, it would be comparatively easier to get the discriminatory laws abolished.

She said religion and the constitution have given rights to women. “The tradition of Karo-kari and marriage to Quran have nothing to do with religion”.

She said karo kari was a form of murder and the perpetrators should be tried and punished under the law.

Pointing out that sometimes baseless accusations are made by women themselves against the working women, she said it was damaging for the women.

Dr Malik said a nation could not progress if half of its population was denied its rights.

Dr Amir Liaquat Hussain, MNA, said he had submitted a motion, signed by many women MNAs, in the National Assembly regarding the Hudood ordinances and hopefully it would be brought into the house soon.

He hoped that with support from women MNAs and enlightened male legislators, the Hudood ordinances would be abolished and women-friendly laws would be introduced.

He said women had been exploited under the Hudood Ordinances and had suffered a lot due to such laws.

He also criticized a small group of socalled religious scholars, who misinterpreted and misused religion for their vested interests and held the society hostage and victimized women.

He said in adultery cases a lot of emphasis is placed on witnesses, but the qualification of a witness as prescribed in Islam is seldom observed during the trials.

He said there was a strict punishment for giving false evidence (Tuhmat), but hardly anyone had ever been given punished for giving a false evidence.

Earlier, the PFBPWO chief Salima Ahmad expressed concern over situation emerging in the NWFP and suggested that everybody should practice tolerance for peaceful co-existence.