RAWALPINDI, March 7: Speaker at a seminar on Tuesday said Muslim women were not aware of their status in the present society and had arrogated others to decide their place, which denied them the opportunity to play their due role in a positive manner. “It is Islam that keeps women in high esteem and treats them equally with men.”

They were speaking at debate on “family a shelter”.

They said that in pre-Islamic society women were regarded the source of all evils but Islam shattered that myth and accorded high place to women as mothers, sisters and wives. Women were not welcome lot in mediaeval times but Islam declared the birth of daughter as blessing for the family, they added. Post-industrial society spurred opportunities for women but it also derailed them from playing their conventional role in the society, thus resulting in the weakening of family bond, participants at the debate said. They said that women have an onerous responsibility for maintaining harmony in the family.