ISLAMABAD, Oct 23: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has demanded that the recommendations of the National Commission on Status of Women (NCSW) on Hudood laws should be put before the parliament for debate.

Talking to Dawn here on Thursday, MQM MNA Kanwar Khalid Younis said the Hudood laws should immediately be repealed as these were un-Islamic and anti-women.

He regretted the stand of the Muttahida Majlis-i- Amal (MMA) on the issue and asked its leadership to review the policy. He said out of 57 Muslim countries, these laws had been enforced only in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. “Are the remaining 55 countries not Islamic states?”, he questioned. He said Indonesia was the largest Muslim country where all communities had equal rights.

Commenting on the statement of MMA MNA Dr Farida Ahmed, in which she stated that Hudood laws could not be repealed, Mr Kanwar said it seemed that she had issued the statement following the party policy and not as a woman.

He said the MNA had given the example of Karachi, where, according to her, out of 300 women in jail, only 80 had been detained under the Hudood laws. He said Dr Farida should know that Karachi was an urban city where most of the women were caught on crimes of petty nature like theft. He further said out of the 80 cases in which women were behind bars under Hudood laws, over 90 per cent male accused had been set free.

Mr Kanwar said in rural areas, 5,000 to 6,000 women were behind bars under the law. He said most of the cases were reported in the Punjab. He also claimed that in most of the cases, women were being killed without even registration of an FIR.

He said all Muslims learnt lessons from Holy Quran and there was no mention of ‘Rajam’ (stoning to death sentence) in it. “As far as Hadiths are concerned, there are different interpretations in different schools of thought,” he added. He claimed that the practice of this type of punishment originated from pre- Islamic era.

The MNA said his party was against Hudood laws as these were not approved by the parliament. Therefore, he said the recommendations of the NCSW should be debated in the parliament. Only then the MMA will realize how the majority of the country’s population feel about the Hudood laws.