KARACHI, Feb 10: Speakers at a seminar on Sunday said that though the religion and the constitution had guaranteed many rights to women, they had been deprived of those by the society.

Speaking at the seminar on “Violence on Women,” organised by the Women’s Association for Development and Education (WADE), they said that unless social attitudes were changed, the status of women in the society could not be improved.

Federal interior minister, Lt-Gen (retd) Moinuddin Haider, speaking on the occasion, stressed that the Sindh Police must register cases of murder against those involved in Karo Kari killings and arrest them. He urged the Sindh police to set an example in that regard to be followed by other provinces.

He said that the present government could be credited with earmarking 33 % seats for women in the assemblies which would enable them to highlight and discuss their issues effectively.

“Past governments of the Pakistan peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) even failed to implement 20 per cent quota for women, and unlike them we have allocated 60 seats for women which can be termed a historic move,” he said.

He said women were accorded considerable representation in the present government setup as three vital ministries- education, law and women development- were managed by three women ministers, which showed that women were held in high esteem by the present government.

Moinuddin Haider claimed that during his tenure as Sindh governor he had always strived to open new schools for girls and strengthen their education through generous funds.

Other speakers on the occasion said that on the one hand women needed to be made aware of their rights and, on the other, awareness regarding women’s rights should also be spread among men so that they did not victimise women.

They said that though Islam stressed education, a very small number of women were educated in the NWFP, Balochistan and FATA, where the people were more religious minded then those living in urban centres like Karachi where more girls were educated.

They said that though the primary responsibility of women was to properly bring up and groom children, there was no restriction that they could not get involved in economic activities.

They said that though violence against women was a global phenomenon and could be found in most advanced and developed societies of the world, it was no reason that it should be allowed to prevail in the society.

They also suggested that police officials be given trainings in human rights so that their attitude towards the victims was sympathetic.

Former Sindh minister Dost Mohammad Faizi, Rahila Tiwana, Seema Khan, Mohammad Anwer, Aiyaz Khan, Ruhana Iqbal, Saba Tiwana and others also spoke.

Later the chief guest also distributed awards among over 20 recipients who have done outstanding work in their respective field.