KARACHI, July 26: Scholars, intellectuals and leaders of various civil society organisations have demanded repeal of the Hudood Ordinance, maintaining the ordinance had been promulgated by a dictator quite a big number of women has been victimised through it over a quarter of a century.

They were speaking at a forum organised jointly by the National Commission on Status of Women (NCSW) and the Aurat Foundation here on Wednesday.

They said that the government intended to introduce cosmetic amendments to the Hudood Ordinance and Islamic laws but such initiatives were not acceptable to the civil society that had struggled for more than 27 years to get these discriminatory laws repealed.

They said that the government had signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and was bound to modify all local laws in conformity with its international commitments, but little work had been done in this regard so far.

They observed that people did not dare to speak against the Hudood laws at the time they were promulgated because they had assumed that they were in accordance with Islam. However, owing to the long struggle waged by the civil society over a couple of decades now, not only people had started discussing the issue without any fear, but the government had also been forced to review the laws.

Presiding over the forum, NCSW chief Arfa Zehra Sayeda said that nobody could oppose the ‘Hudood Allah’ as these had been prescribed to ensure justice and equality in society. But whatever fabricated by human beings and promulgated in the name of Hudood laws was not in conformity with Islam and could be changed and repealed like other laws if these were found discriminatory against any section of society, particularly women.

She said that the NCSW had already sent its recommendations to the government and now it was latter’s turn to act.

Justice Javed Iqbal said that Islam had been exploited by vested interests to mislead masses and achieve their goals, and the Hudood laws were one such example which had been promulgated by a dictator to prolong his rule. He called for immediate repeal of the laws.

He was of the view that the present government also was amending these laws just to create and spread the impression globally that it believed in ‘enlightened moderation’.

Justice Iqbal suggested a review of the entire judicial system, and said that judges, besides holding trials, be empowered to conduct investigation into the cases in hand to ascertain facts before convicting someone.

Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid said that the Hudood laws were contrary to Islamic teachings and the Constitution both of which guaranteed gender equality in every field.

He also suggested that a case of zina should not be registered unless the complainant brought four witnesses and if the four witnesses were not produced, then not only the case should not be registered but the complainant be awarded 80 lashes for making a false accusation.

Justice (r) Shaiq Usmani pin-pointed discrepancies in Hudood laws, and indicated that under these laws, adultery and rape were similar crimes. He observed that it was up to the police whether to register a case under PPC or the Hudood laws. This discretion, he said, made police to exploit the accused. He was of the view that these laws were full of flaws and if amendments were made to them, these laws would complicate the situation further.

A religious leader, Dr Tufail Hashmi, said that only four clauses of the Hudood Ordinance were in conformity with Islam while the rest 97 were in conflict with Islamic teachings. He pointed out that nobody had been punished under the Qazef clauses of the Hudood Ordinance, under which evidence of a woman was not acceptable.

Iqbal Haider of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan stressed on creating awareness of Hudood laws in masses, especially of the rural areas as the government would listen only when a popular movement was launched to force it to move. The civil society alone would not be able to achieve the goal of getting Hudood laws repealed, he added.

He apprehended that the recent presidential ordinance on release of women on bail could also be misused by unscrupulous elements who might try to use women for their wrongdoings and get them released on bail easily.

PPP MNA Sherry Rehman said that she had submitted bills long ago for the repeal of the Hudood and other laws discriminatory against women but the same had not yet been taken up in the parliament.

MPA Shama Mithani of PPP, Marium Palijo of Sindhiyani Tehrik, Rasheeda Patel of the Pakistan Women Lawyers Association, Shaista Zaidi of Bazm-i-Amna, Khalida Qadri of War Against Rape, Zahid Farooq of the Urban Resource Centre, Danish Zuberi, Beena Khan, Hassan Pathan and Nuzhat Shirin were among others who spoke at the forum.