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KARACHI, March 8: Various functions were organized by different organizations to observe the International Women's Day in the city on Monday. Speakers at these functions stressed that women would have to wage a long struggle to get their due rights which were not being given to them by society.
They added that the people who either failed to understand the religion or misinterpreted it for their personal gains were victimizing women in the name of Islam.
Princess Sarvath El Hassan of Jordan was the chief guest at a seminar that was presided over by former chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah while deputy speaker of the Sindh Assembly Rahila Tiwana was the chief guest at the other meeting.
Speakers at a seminar held at YMCA demanded that all those laws which discriminated against women, minorities, and marginalized sections of society be abolished.
The seminar was organized by the Joint Action Committee for People's Rights. Rahila Tiwana, Anis Haroon, Zahida Hina, Nuzhat Shirin, Shamim Mumtaz Wasi and others spoke at the seminar organized by the Joint Action Committee for People's Rights which comprises Amnesty International, Aurat Foundation, PILER, HRCP, Shirkat Gah, Women Action Forum, Takhleeq Foundation, War Against Rape, YWCA, YMCA, NGO Resource Centre, Sindh Women Councillors Ittehad, URC, Actionaid, Irteqa Institute, Wada, Interflow.
The speakers said that gender discrimination was a global phenomenon and it was not restricted to any particular region or country. They said that in civilized countries there were laws that protected weaker sections of society, like women, minorities, etc.
They said that it was unfortunate that women were purchased and sold in many parts of the country and they were also given as compensation to settle disputes, or as gifts to others, and all such practices were covered under social and cultural traditions.
They said that though the country had signed various international conventions, including the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and it was morally bound to make all laws in conformity with its international commitments, very little work had been done in that direction and numerous discriminatory laws still were in force.
They demanded that the international conventions against slavery and prostitution be signed and steps be taken to eliminate these practices from the country.
Speaking about rampant sexual violence against women in jails, they demanded that jail reforms be introduced to improve the condition of the inmates. They also demanded that the feudal and jagirdari system, which oppressed women, be abolished.
Plays highlighting women's issues were staged by street theatre groups. Women activists also sang songs that highlighted the injustices being committed against women.
KWPC function: Another seminar on "Impact of Hudood Ordinance on the Empowerment of Women in Pakistan" was organized by the Karachi Women's Peace Committee at the Arts Council of Pakistan.
Princess Sarvath said that Islam treats men and women equally and it does not discriminate on the basis of gender. She said that during the days of the Prophet (Peace by upon him), women used to conduct business and at certain times even participated in wars and jihad. She said that those people who were using the name of religion while denying women their rights had in fact not understood the true meaning of the religion.
She said that even Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah acknowledged the potential of women which was clear from the fact that one of his most trusted deputies was a women.
His sister Fatima Jinnah remained with him till his death and even after the death of her brother she tried to carry on his message and ideology for the newly-created country.
Princess Sarvath said that if the founding fathers of the country were living today, they would not be happy to see what had been happening to, or what had been done by some people in power with, women during the past couple of decades in the country.
Former chief justice Sajjad Ali Shah said the qualifications for a witness under the Hudood Ordinance were so strict that even he (Justice Sajjad himself) did not qualify to become a witness.
Others speakers - Dr S.H. Jafri, Dr Fazlur Rehman, Raheel Qazi, Zia Awan, Qazi Faez Isa, Dr Zakia, Nargis Rehman - were divided in at least three groups: one group demanded that the laws be kept as they are; the other demanded that only those laws be retained which were in accordance with the true spirit of Islam; and the third group demanded the outright abolition of the Hudood Ordinance.
APMA demo: The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance took out a procession from the Regal Chowk which concluded at the Karachi Press Club. The demonstrators, led by Shahzadi Michael, were demanding that women be given their rights. They were also protesting against the murders of Sassi and Hajra in Gadap.
