ISLAMABAD, Sept 13: Civil society organisations have rejected the three proposals of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) in the Hudood Ordinances and termed it the result of extra- constitutional process and political blackmailing.

Representatives of over a dozen civil society organisations said at a press conference here on Wednesday that they strongly condemned government’s ‘politicking’ over the Hudood Ordinances which has been responsible for violating the rights of thousands of women and poor.

“The government’s shameful capitulation to the blackmailing of religious alliance of MMA, which is known for its anti-women stance and its use of Islam to gain political power and control, shows that the government’s move to introduce amendments in Hudood Ordinances was politically motivated rather than out of genuine concerns for the protection of women’s rights,” said Saba Gul Khattak, while reading out a joint statement on the part of NGOs seeking repeal to the controversial law.

Representatives of Women Action Forum, Pattan Development Organisation, Human Right Commission of Pakistan, Sungi, Aurat Foundation, Rozan, Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Actionaid, Strengthening of Participatory Organisation (SPO), The Network, Sach, Bedari and PODA were present at the press conference held at the camp office of Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press Club.

Ms Khattak said that they strongly denounced the government for initiating an extra-constitutional process to involve the MMA which boycotted the select committee formed to review the Protection of Women (Criminal Law Amendment) Bill, 2006.

Now the government’s decision to override the bill approved by the National Assembly’s select committee in order to accommodate MMA’s standpoint and table the redrafted bill made a mockery of the process of legislation in the country, she said.

“We strongly condemn the government and MMA for adopting an undemocratic extra-parliamentary process to review the bill approved by the select committee,” she observed.

Farzana Bari of Pattan said: “We fear that the most immediate conflict will be between the definition of adult as one who has attained puberty, as under the Zina Ordinance, and the definition of statutory rape under section 375 PPC as proposed in the current bill.”

She said it would render women and men vulnerable to charges of zina in instances of exercising choice in marriage, re- marriage after divorce, especially when men and women fail to register divorce. “This will be yet another tool to harass innocent citizens,” Ms Bari added.

The protesting NGOs said that the bill proposed a special complaint mechanism for the registration of zina cases, which required four adult male eyewitnesses at the registration of complaint stage. If the court should dismissed the complaint it could automatically sentence the complainant and the witnesses, as the case maybe, under Qazf liable to Hadd.