KARACHI, Feb 20: Speakers at a function, on Friday, stressed that unless the women-friendly laws were formulated and implemented strictly women could not get their due rights.

They were speaking at the launching ceremony of the Urdu translation of a senior lawyer Rashida Patel's book "Aurat Banam Mard - Samaj-o-Qanoon Sinfi Adam Masawaat", organized by the Pakistan Women Lawyers Association (PAWLA).

The Urdu translation of the book, originally written in English language, has been done by a senior journalist N.H. Tamkeen. National Commission on Status of Women chief Justice (retd) Majida Rizvi, former Sindh Ombudsman Justice (retd) Haziq-ul- Khairi, Rashida Patel, Ilyas Khan, Shamiem Khan, Wallail Gohar and others spoke at the meeting conducted by Mehreen Rehman.

Giving the historical perspective of the issue, they said that in the past women had not been provided with education and an overwhelming majority of them was only allowed to learn the Holy Quran.

Owing to lack of education, the speakers maintained, a majority of the women was not even aware of their rights while a few women who got aware of their rights could not get the same due to the socio-cultural traditions prevailing in the male dominated society.

The speakers also condemned the bomb explosion incidents at a few girls schools in the Northern Areas and termed it a conspiracy against the civil society in general and women in particular, as women were not permitted to get education and become aware of their rights.

They were of the view that in many parts of the country, women were not even considered as human beings but a commodity that could be sold, bought, given in compensation or as a gift, etc.

They said that practices like karo kari, honour killings, siyahkari, walver, wani and swara were prevailing in many parts of the country. They made it clear that such practices had nothing to do with any religion. These practices were being strictly guarded and implemented by the feudal system to keep the women under firm control, they added.

They said that the book had been translated into the national language so that a larger number of people, in general and women, in particular, could benefit from it.

The 264-page book comprises six chapters - laws of marriage; family pressures; divorce; domestic violence; honour killings; and population planning. The book deals with almost all the issues being faced by women in our society. Even controversial subjects like marriage of prostitutes and trafficking in women have also been discussed in detail.

A number of laws had been formulated in the name of religion, they said. However, majority of such laws were not according to the true spirit of Islam. The speakers demanded that all such laws that were discriminatory towards any section of society must be reviewed and repealed.

They said that discriminatory laws like Citizenship Act and Hudood Ordinance had been reviewed by the national commission and it had sent its recommendations to the government, which would soon take its decision on the issue. At present, the commission was reviewing the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance, the speakers added.