PESHAWAR, July 19: The Awami National Party has said that the government should repeal the Hudood Ordinance ‘instead of merely amending it.’

ANP Vice-President Haji Mohammad Adeel said in a statement that ‘the government recently initiated a debate on the Hudood laws through media to pave way for its repeal, but now it seems to have taken a somersault, opting for some minor amendments.’

The ANP leader said that after the recent TV debate on the laws in which several ulema took part. It was expected that the law would be repealed but the ‘government has bowed before the retrogressive forces by opting for merely amending it.’

He said that President Pervez Musharraf had saved the military’s ‘alliance’ with the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal by opting for changes in the Hudood laws rather than repealing them.

He said that the expected move had exposed the official policy of ‘so-called’ enlightened moderation being propagated actually to prolong the undemocratic rule in the country.

Mr Adeel said that a large number of women in the country had been suffering owing to the ‘primitive codes’ and democratic forces, human right activists and scholars had been demanding repeal of the Hudood Ordinances.

He said that the Mutahidda Qaumi Movement, which had earlier submitted a bill against the Hadood laws in the National Assembly, was silent over the expected move, and advised the party to play its secular role by seeking repeal of the laws.