ISLAMABAD Oct 21: The Hudood Ordinance is strictly based on the teachings of Quran and Sunnah thus it cannot be repealed even on recommendations of the National Commission on Status of Women (NCSW), however, some procedural changes can be suggested and implemented where inevitable.
These views were expressed by Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) member National Assembly and former member of the NCSW, Dr Fareeda Ahmed, while speaking at a news conference at the Parliament House on Tuesday.
She alleged that the move to reopen a settled matter was a handiwork of those NGOs which were getting huge foreign funds without any check. The government wants friction in the opposition on this question and to divert the attention from the LFO issue, she added.
She said talks with the People’s Party Parliamentarians for withdrawal of the bill co-sponsored by one of its female MNAs were continuing and MMA’s secretary general Maulana Fazlur Rahman had been tasked to resolve this issue with the PPP.
Otherwise, she threatened, the relations between the MMA and PPP could be severed on this issue if the latter continued to pursue the said bill in the lower house.
She told newsmen that she, as member of NCSW, had proposed a number of changes in procedure, including nomination of the accuser male so as the victim women could get him punished under Qazaf law.
Moreover, she had suggested that in Islam there was no concept of putting women in prisons and hence the accused should be bailed out on personal surety.
Dr Fareeda also proposed setting up of Qazi courts which should be bound to give verdicts within six months.
She said the NCSW report was in-fructuous as it was presented when the commission’s chairperson and the committee members had competed their legal tenure, because its last meeting was held on August 20 while its tenure of three years ended on August 11.
This report, she said could only be termed of an individual’s report.
The female MNA contradicted portion of the report where it was alleged that 88 per cent of the women held in jails were charged under the Hudood Ordinance. According to a Karachi jail superintendent’s report, only 80 out of 300 women in jail were held under the said ordinance whereas 50 were detained on narcotics related charges, 45 for theft, 70 in murder cases and 55 on miscellaneous charges, she added.
She said overall five categories of women were detained in jails, prostitutes, divorcees, second marriage, ran away, rape cases or those who were convicted on their husband’s accusation of bad character.
She totally rejected the objections of the NCSW that the punishment of ‘Rajam’ (stoning to death) was un-Islamic since it was not in the Holy Quran and said it was part of the Sunnah.
Similarly, she regretted that the champions of repealing of this ordinance instead of fighting the cause of women who did not get their heritage rights and many other ills were advocating waiving of ‘punishment’ for Zina (adultery) committed by youngsters under-18 years of age.