PESHAWAR, March 10: Jamaat-i-Islami women MPAs on Saturday said that they were sitting on reserved seats in the NWFP assembly to counter ‘liberal and secular’ women legislators.

“We have not come to assemblies on our will or happiness. We have to follow the JI women’s wing decision as we cannot let the secular elements take over the provincial assembly,” JI women MPAs Shagufta Naz, Inayat Jadoon, Fauzia Farrukh, Zubaida Khatoon and Sabira Shakir told a gathering here.

Ms Naz said that the prime responsibility of a woman was to take care of her family and bring up her children in the best possible way.

Ms Jadoon was of the view that women should stay at home because domestic responsibility was a fulltime job.

The JI MPAs said that although the government had passed the so-called Women Protection Bill, it had failed to take practical steps to protect women.

“When Zille Huma, Punjab’s Social Welfare Minister, was killed there were protests, but when many innocent women and children were killed in Damadola village of Bajaur last year no one protested against the attack,” they pointed out.

They said that extremist elements by confining girls to their homes and not allowing them to get education were defaming Islam. “We don’t believe in forcing things on anyone in the name of Islam. We believe in preaching and creating awareness,” Ms Naz added.

“There were some elements trying to create lawlessness in the name of Islam. The provincial government is providing free education but if people don’t send their daughters to schools, it is not our fault,” said Ms Jadoon.

She said some extremist groups in tribal and other areas of the NWFP were threatening female teachers and girls going to schools with suicide attacks.

“There’s a foreign hand which is creating law and order situation in the NWFP. We are against suicide attacks as it is a conspiracy to destabilise Pakistan,” the JI MPAs observed.