Well done President Musharraf

[Awesome]

http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\11\17\story_17-11-2006_pg3_1

After a long dilly-dallying and dithering, the PMLQ government was able to table the Women’s Protection Bill (WPB) at the National Assembly with predictable success. The PPPP from the opposition acted wisely by standing by its principled position and voting for the bill; the government ally MQM returned from its offended retreat and added its votes to the bill. But the MMA walked out predictably and the PMLN abstained, once again proving that the sprit of Abbaji still presides over the bifurcated party.

The day the WPB was passed in the National Assembly was also the day when someone went to the Supreme Court against the much-amended Hasba Bill of the NWFP, saying the law violated the Constitution by bestowing on the Peshawar executive functions belonging strictly with the judiciary. The MMA in its wisdom had taken the stance that if the women’s bill was ever passed the alliance would resign. The crunch time came on Wednesday but the MMA did not resign en masse. The Jama’at firebrand chief, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, has always been more ready to get out of parliament and face the rulers in the streets, but not so the more pragmatic and better established in the present power structure, Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the JUI.

Maulana Rehman has walked away from parliament, grumbling that the MMA will soon decide what to do after it has made the determination whether the bill passed was earlier okayed by the select committee or whether by another committee of the ulema recommended by him. Although he is a qualified cleric, he wants to refer the matter to the ulema and wait for their final verdict. Needless to say, he leads the most powerful party of the ulema and they will deliver the verdict he favours. If he thinks as he has done in the past, he will not agree with Qazi Hussain Ahmad and refuse to resign, which will mean that the MMA will suffer yet another crack down the middle.

President Musharraf has understandably taken credit for pushing his party to get serious and stop its usual politicking over the bill. He took some flak over failing to achieve what most people thought was the easiest ‘moderately-enlightened’ thing to do in Pakistan. But after many false starts and hiccups on this front, he can finally show something good that his government has done. He says more pro-women laws opposing such ugly customs as vani, swara and marriage to the Quran will be passed soon. The prime minister has echoed him and more dramatically, the party chief, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, has offered his ‘conditional’ resignation to the Speaker ‘if the law is found to violate the Quran’.

The ‘other’ good laws promised to the women of Pakistan have to deal with customs rather than anything to do with religion. These customs are already against Islam and offend against the shariat as guarded by our Federal Shariat Court. These customs simply signal the low status of women in society. If the mullahs have not attacked them in the past it is because they don’t not want to lose support in the segment of Pakistani society where they are practised. Vani comes from Punjab, ‘Quran marriage’ is in vogue among Sindhi feudals, and swara is practised in the NWFP where the MMA vote-bank is located. It must be firmly kept in mind that the abolition of hudood — if they had been abolished — would have prevented the state from being cruel to women. (The latest amendment will also take care of that to a great extent.) The anti-women customs have nothing to do with the state and therefore will linger like all other anti-women customs unless there is a change in the way we conduct our lives.

The new WPB has consigned rape back in the ambit of the Penal Code and, as a sop to the pious, has made consensual sex punishable under the Penal Code. Both were originally outside the PPC. The liberals wanted the former (rape) to be in the PPC and the latter (adultery) to remain in the Hudood, making it easier to prove the former and impossible to prove the latter. Now a compromise has been stuck — rape will be easier to prove and adultery will not be impossible to prove — with which a conservative society can live. Had it not been for a timely intervention by the PPPP, however, the term ‘lewdness’ would have described what in fact would be fornication. Thus a misplaced finicky decency would have made the law a big stick with which to beat the gentle citizens of Pakistan. The world has laughed at us a long time over what we thought was the Islamic law against rape: a woman had to prove with four pious Muslim witnesses that someone had raped her. It will no longer laugh and may even be grateful that Pakistan has gone and scrapped the evil corruption of Divine Intent while the other Muslim states boasting Shariah will carry on as usual.

The PMLQ should be congratulated, although the party hardly realises what it has done; it has overturned a misogynist law that had endured for more than a thousand years. But the truth is that the ruling party was not scared of tinkering with ‘Islam’ as it was scared of getting on the wrong side of the clergy even though the citizens in general were completely in favour of an amendment after a very effective public debate. The PPPP is equally to be congratulated because it refrained from politicising the issue and voted for the bill even after many text-tweakings and delays. The decision to vote was an act of wisdom which the PMLN has not been able to grasp and is fingering the Charter of Democracy menacingly and sending out dire warnings about the possible rupture the vote will produce within the ARD.

Finally, we must pat President Pervez Musharraf on the back. He stuck to his guns. If it hadn’t been for his determination and belief, this bill would never have been dragged again and again to the National Assembly and eventually passed. We shouldn’t quibble about why the Hudood Ordinance wasn’t altogether repealed or why a small compromise was made in the end. This was the best that could have been done in the difficult circumstances facing President Musharraf. *

Read up, Fools!

 

[Srirangan]

http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\11\17\story_17-11-2006_pg3_1



Read up, Fools!

What that for Lahori?

 

[Spring Onion]

Asim foold dont read they still beating the bush and posting and debating on the rape laws on other forums although WPB has been passed.


Its great to know that PPPP has sided with government and defently well placed to say it was doing for women's right while on the other hand PML(N) puts its own intersts above.

 

[Awesome]

What that for Lahori?

Lahori's practically a fan of Mushy when compared to some of these other guys on PFF.

 

[Srirangan]

Lahori's practically a fan of Mushy when compared to some of these other guys on PFF.

I must start reading more of the topics in this sub forum. If Lahori is a fan of Mushy, I'm in a parallel universe.

 

[Neo]

10,000 supporters of Musharraf hail WPB

KARACHI: More than 10,000 supporters of President Gen Pervez Musharraf rallied here on Friday to praise amendments to the country’s controversial Islamic rape laws.

Pakistan’s lower house of parliament on Wednesday passed the Women’s Protection Bill, which amended the 1979 Hudood Ordinance by ditching the death penalty for extramarital sex and revising a clause on making victims produce four witnesses to prove rape cases. Over 10,000 supporters of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement marched through Karachi carrying signs praising the passing of the bill as a “victory for women”. “We thank God that despite opposition by clerics, a system of perpetrating oppression against women has been ended,” said MQM leader Altaf Hussain, who addressed the rally over the telephone from London.

Lawmakers and supporters of the MMA staged small rallies in different parts of Karachi to condemn the revised legislation.

 

[Neo]

Strong feelings over Pakistan rape laws
By Syed Shoaib Hasan
BBC News, Karachi

It is not clear how the bill might affect rape victims like Mukhtar Mai
The vote by Pakistan's lower house of parliament to amend laws concerning rape and adultery has been met with mixed emotions, but the bill's likely impact is far from clear.

While the government called the legislation "historic", the religious parties are calling it "un-Islamic" and "a secular conspiracy" against an Islamic Pakistan.

The Women's Protection Bill was passed after much wrangling and posturing between the government and the religious opposition.

The bill seeks to amend the heavily criticised Hudood Ordinance laws which govern the punishment for rape and adultery.

Under the controversial Hudood Ordinance, brought in under Gen Zia-ul-Haq from 1979, a rape victim had to provide four male eyewitnesses to the crime. Failure to do so would open the way to her being charged with adultery.

The punishment for adultery is lashings and stoning according to traditional Islamic law, although such punishments were never implemented in Pakistan.

'Un-Islamic'

The new Women's Protection Bill brings rape under the Pakistan Penal Code, which is based on civil law, not Sharia.

It's going to change things, but not a great deal

Lawyer Imrana Khwaja

Liberal politicians and women's' rights activists have welcomed the reforms as progress - but say they do not go far enough.

Most campaigners want nothing less than the total repeal of the Hudood Ordinance which covers much more than sexual morality but also matters such as drinking and theft.

Nevertheless, many are calling Wednesday's vote "a small step in the right direction".

Iqbal Haider, general secretary of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, says: "I must emphasise that these are not a substitute for the repeal of the Hudood Ordinance.

"However, this is a positive step, although much needs to be done."

Religious hardliners are up in arms, however.

"We have been against the bill from the start," says Samia Raheel Qazi, a women MP from the conservative MMA alliance, and daughter of senior MMA leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed.

She maintains that the bill goes against articles 2a and 227 of the constitution of Pakistan, which state respectively that "Islam will be the state religion" and "No laws will be passed which are repugnant to the Koran and sunnah."

"The Hudood Ordinance was devised by a highly qualified group of ulema (Islamic scholars), and is beyond question," she says, adding that five elected assemblies since Gen Zia's time have found the laws valid.

She is convinced that the current legislation is part of an American agenda, and adds: "This is not the act of a sovereign parliament... It's a military dictatorship imposing its will on the people."

'Historic'

A majority in the parliament evidently, however, does not share these views.

MPs from the government coalition have hailed the legislation as a "great victory".

Haider Rizvi, an MP from the MQM, a minority party in the ruling coalition, says: "This is a historic day in the fight against the forces of feudalism and fundamentalism."

The MQM has played a key part in pushing the legislation through, bearing in mind the known religious leanings of its majority coalition partner, the PML-Q.

"When these laws come into effect, the false accusation which inflicts such cruelty and injustice on defenceless women will be brought under control," says Mr Rizvi.

He points out that there have been 5,400 cases against women in Pakistan under the Hudood Ordinance, and a majority of them are concerned with rape and adultery cases.

"Previously, all women were treated as guilty - now they can stand and ask for justice without any fear of legal action."

Enforcement

The new laws propose that all charges concerning rape and adultery will be heard by a sessions judge who will determine whether there is enough evidence to warrant an investigation.

Reporting rape cases will now be much harder, most analysts believe

If the accusations are found to be false, then the complainant will immediately have a case registered against him or her, with a punishment of 80 lashes.

Observers and analysts feel that given that the writ of the law is hardly ever enforced, and then usually on the side of the powerful, it still remains to be seen how poor rural women such as gang rape victim Mukhtar Mai would benefit from the proposed new legislation.

Mr Haider says the "real test will come with enforcement".

Imrana Khwaja, a lawyer and former women's rights activist says: "It's going to change things, but not a great deal."

She says there are loopholes to be exploited. For example, someone complaining of adultery can still decide to have the case heard in an Islamic court. As in rape cases, the complainant has to produce four witnesses to back up the accusation.

"Rural communities always react strongly against adultery cases, and finding four witnesses to testify on the complainants' behalf from the community is not hard," she says.

Another other factor is that reporting rape cases will now be much harder, most analysts believe.

Complainants will have to report rapes in district sessions courts rather than local police stations, which are open round the clock.

While women will feel safer in the court, many in rural areas will have to travel miles to register their cases.

And they will not be able to do so during long hours when the court is closed - hours which could be crucial in gathering forensic or circumstantial evidence.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6152520.stm

 

[Awesome]

In Musharraf's footsteps we allow everyone to have their total say on a political topic. Musharraf can be criticized to the fullest, so allows Musharraf himself.

However the lesser unfortunate ones without an internet connection did rally in his support today all over Karachi.

 

[blain2]

This is good. When the situation/env. is not conducive for justice to be meted out properly under the Sharia, then in my opinion, the penal code should have authority over such issues. The example of Omar (RA) not implementing sharia punishment with regards to stealing at a time of famine is something to keep in mind. Overall a very good thing for the women of Pakistan especially the poor ones.

 

[Spring Onion]

Blain the justice can be meted out only under Sharia very well its just that it cant not be meted when the sharia is misused as was in the case of this law.

so its only we need to implent the origional orders not the ones misused by some religious political parties.

 

[Neo]

The two steps that show Musharraf means business

By Rauf Klasra

LONDON: After last week's two developments in Pakistan ñ the passage of the Women Protection Bill in the National Assembly and the release of Briton Tahir Mirza -- General Pervez Musharraf is being seen here as a leader who after his seven-year rule is finally getting ready to take on the MMA -- to the much satisfaction of the West -- despite enjoying political support of the religious alliance in parliament at one stage for his own survival.

Musharraf’s bold decision to change controversial women’s laws, followed by the release of Mirza Tahir despite serious threats from these violent elements, is being seen as a clear indication to the Western media and public that he is ready to wage a war on his old political supporters who once bailed him out in parliament at the time of the passage of the 17th Amendment that he badly needed to stay in power.

A close look at last week’s newspapers here show that Western capitals and media organisations are so excited about these procedural changes in the women’s laws that neither top policymakers nor politicians, journalists, commentators and experts are referring to drastic changes made in the first draft of the Women Protection Bill originally conceived in a bid to put an end to the long legacy of General Zia. No one is here talking about the real issue: how under the mounting pressure of these religious forces Musharraf retreated and agreed to allow massive changes in the original draft bill to such a disappointing extent that the actual spirit of this bill was buried. But, strangely, no one wants to talk on this important issue here as all are satisfied with the fact that Musharraf has brought a bill against the wishes of religious extremists.

But certain elements who always try to read between the lines accuse the president of simply "balancing" his own questionable acts as they claim he has shown these two important gestures of change ahead of Tony Blair’s visit as Britain is angry over Pakistan’s alleged support to Taliban killing Nato troops in Afghanistan.

It is being believed here that after General Musharraf took power in 1999, he always told the Western powers that he wanted to repeal the laws but was stopped by protests from religious political parties. Part of the West's concern is that he has turned to these parties for political support. But now the introduction of the womenís bill in parliament followed by the release of Mirza is an indication to Western capitals that finally Musharraf is to "take on themî.

But then certain commentators watching these developments in Pakistan with keen interests are also warning that the womenís bill and the release of Mirza may be a just a "gesture" before Blair's visit; otherwise, Musharraf has been heavily banking upon the political support of these religious parties against whom he now claims to have launched a war in the name of modernity.

Some feel perhaps Musharraf is trying to "balance" his acts after coming under pressure from both external and internal forces and the women’s bill and the release of British national were part of an attempt to show the world that he meant business in his war against extremist forces within Pakistan and his Western allies should not get disappointed in him at all.

Another strong realisation is that the passage of women’s bill was actually meant to give a message to Western countries that he was pursuing the agenda of modernization by taking many risks at home and only he was capable of delivering on account of both the war on terror and the opening up of a rigid society like Pakistan by repealing some controversial laws. But the response from the media here clearly show that the two bold steps taken by General Musharraf have gone quite well with the Western capitals, particularly London, where almost every newspaper and columnist have praised these move.

In that context, commentators have argued that Tony Blair's trip to Pakistan is "well timed and well worth making". For the British media, the return of Mirza shows President Musharraf would like to do what he can to keep relations with the UK warm.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=32639

 

[blain2]

Jana,

You are right that justice can be meted out with Sharia, however the one linchpin of implmenting sharia is to have folks in charge who are God fearing and not predisposed to be influenced by money, power etc. The Pakistani society will only misuse sharia under such circumstances....maybe I am wrong.

 

[Neo]

Thursday, 23 November 2006

Pakistan senate backs rape bill

The upper house of Pakistan's parliament has backed a bill amending an Islamic law on rape and adultery.
Until now rape cases have been dealt with in Sharia courts. Victims had to have four male witnesses to the crime - or else face prosecution for adultery.

The new law, which must be approved by Pakistani leader Gen Pervez Musharraf, allows civil courts to try rape cases.

The senate rejected objections to the bill put forward by Islamist MPs who boycotted last week's lower house vote.

Khurshid Ahmed, a leader of an opposition coalition of religious parties, described the bill as "an attempt to promote an alien culture and secularism in Pakistan", according to the Associated Press news agency.

The new law allows for DNA and other scientific evidence to be used in prosecuting rape cases.

It also drops the death penalty for people having sex outside marriage.

A woman is raped every two hours and gang-raped every eight hours in Pakistan, according to the country's independent Human Rights Commission.

Correspondents say these figures are probably an under-estimation as many rapes are not reported.

Campaigners have said Pakistan's existing laws make it virtually impossible to prosecute rape.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6178214.stm

 

[Neo]

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Musharraf to announce more pro-women initiatives on 5th

ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf will announce the government’s future strategy on addressing problems faced by women at a convention on December 5, Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani said on Saturday.

The Women’s Protection Bill, which Gen Musharraf signed into law on Friday, marked the start of a government effort to eliminate all laws and customs that are unjust and affect women, Durrani told a press conference at PTV headquarters. More laws would be enacted to protect women’s rights, he said

He said his ministry would launch a public awareness campaign on the new law today to tell women how the act would affect their lives. He said the act was applicable in all parts of the country including NWFP and Balochistan.

Durrani said the government had 30 days after the passage of the Hasba Bill through the NWFP Assembly to decide whether to challenge the bill in the Supreme Court. In the meantime, the government would continue telling the public that the bill would create a parallel judicial system and “chaos” in the province, he said.

He said the government was always ready to negotiate with the MMA and was in touch with all opposition parties. “We have always been in touch with Amin Fahim also,” he added. He rejected any possibility of amendments to the blasphemy laws, saying: “No one can think of this.”

He said Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had invited MMA General Secretary Maulana Fazlur Rehman to negotiate on all issues during their recent meeting. The MMA was being ruled by one party, Durani said, referring to the Jamaat-e-Islami. Durrani said Benazir and Nawaz Shairf could not come back to Pakistan due to “their misdeeds of misdeals”.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\12\03\story_3-12-2006_pg7_18

 

[Neo]

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Hudood Allah can’t be changed, but Hudood Ord can: Musharraf

* President unveils 5-point agenda for women’s empowerment
* Urges nation to vote for moderates in general elections
* Announces Rs 2,000 allowance for women councillors

ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday rejected criticism of the Women’s Protection Bill as “un-Islamic” and rejected the notion of the Hudood Ordinances as divine law.

“The Hudood Allah cannot be changed as they are divine, but the Hudood Ordinance is man-made and it can be changed,” Gen Musharraf said in an address to the Women’s Convention 2006, held here to celebrate the passage of the bill.

The president said the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) had declared the bill to be in consonance with Islamic laws, and this should be enough to satisfy critics of the bill as “un-Islamic”.

He said those who opposed the bill but did not vote against it – an apparent reference to the PML-Nawaz - were hypocrites. There were those genuinely opposed to the bill, but they were the descendants of men who had opposed the use of the printing press to print the Quran and who declared Qauid-e-Azam ‘Kafir-e-Azam’.

The president urged voters, especially women, to reject the “hypocrites” and extremists at the polls and elect the “moderates” who had supported the bill. “Remember, you have to vote for moderates. Reject those who do not want to see you progressing.” He also announced a five-point strategy for women’s emancipation. First, women must be empowered politically by giving them representation in elected bodies. Second, they must be empowered economically through equal job opportunities. They must be given equal education opportunities to bring them into the mainstream of national development. They must be empowered legally by enacting new laws. And finally, all unjust social practices and violence against women must be eliminated.

He said the government had already given women 33 percent representation in elected bodies. “However, more steps are needed,” he added. Though job quotas for women had been increased and they had started entering new fields such as the armed forces, “their capacity-building is very important to get maximum benefit from their talent”.

He said the government would try to push through a bill submitted by PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain in parliament. The bill would address six major issues: inheritance rights, selling of women, forced marriages, marriages with the Quran, ‘vani’ and laws related to divorce.

He said he backed NGOs trying to eliminate violence against women, but urged them not to raise the issue at international forums, as this hurt Pakistan’s image. The president also announced a Rs 2,000 monthly allowance for women councillors.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\12\06\story_6-12-2006_pg1_1