PESHAWAR, Feb 12: The way Qisas and Diyat laws were interpreted, enacted and enforced in Pakistan subverted the rights and status of women enshrined in the Islamic injunctions, participants of a three-day-long consultation meeting said.

The consultative meeting on the "Concept of Justice in Islam versus Qisas and Diyat Ordinance" was arranged by the National Commission on the Status of Women.

On the first day of consultation with religious scholars on Thursday, Syeda Viqar-un-Nissa Hashmi, a research associate affiliated with the NCSW, read her research paper, pointing out loopholes in the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance besides outlining the leniency of the judiciary in cases related to the Ordinance.

Religious scholars from all over the NWFP suggested various recommendations to eliminate loopholes in the Qisas and Diyat laws. Miss Hashmi said that of the total honour killing cases reported in Punjab only 28 per cent of the accused were convicted while 71.9 per cent accused were acquitted, adding out of 239 similar cases reported in the NWFP, only seven per cent of the accused were convicted while 92 per cent of the accused were acquitted.

"Honour-killing is not condoned either legally or religiously but it has strong roots in our socio-cultural traditions ... Even the judiciary shows leniency towards such crimes that is why the percentage of acquittals is higher than the convictions", Miss Hashmi said.

The law, meant to protect oppressed persons, was being used to protect offenders in cases of honour killings and domestic violence, Miss Hashmi said.

Stressing the need to review provisions of the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance affecting the status and the women's rights in the light of Islamic jurisprudence, she said that it was necessary to eliminate the widespread discrimination against women.

Maulana Mushtaq Ahmed of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F said that the implementation of Islamic laws in an un-Islamic way was depriving the women of their due status. He said while Islam advocates women's rights, it prohibits vulgarity.

Jalaluddin Khan, lawyer and a member of the NWFP local government commission, said that the police should thoroughly investigate cases involving the QIsas and Diyat laws, adding it should not neglect forensic evidence in this regard.

"The custom of Swara must be declared illegal and a punishable offence", he proposed. Dr Farooq, a religious scholar, said that if a murderer and a victim were related to each other then the state should be made responsible to punish the victim eliminating the possibility of a compromise, adding the present laws favour the accused in honour killing cases.

Dr Rasheed Ahmed of the Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre said that Islamic injunctions should be included in law curriculum, adding it would enable lawyers and jurists to decide cases in a proper way.

Religious scholars, he said, should try to increase public awareness about Islamic laws and practices prohibited by Islam. The chairperson of NCSW, Justice Majida Rizvi, said that the commission is a body to give recommendations for the emancipation, equalisation of the opportunities, elimination of discrimination against women. "NCSW also promotes research to achieve these objectives", she added.