News
Monday, August 14, 2006
Clerics push govt MNAs to back Hudood lawsBy Shahzad Raza
ISLAMABAD: State Minister for Information Tariq Azeem said on Sunday that the government arranged a meeting between treasury MNAs and various religious leaders to develop consensus on the amendments to the Hudood Ordinance and hoped that the Protection of Women’s Bill, 2006, would soon be presented in the National Assembly.
Azeem said the meeting was held last week after some treasury members expressed reservations on the amendment bill. He said that according to religious leaders, man-made laws could be changed in accordance with Islamic injunctions. However, he did not disclose the names of the religious leaders.
Azeem said the religious leaders were of the view that discriminatory portions of the Hudood Ordinance should be changed because they are not in conformity to the Holy Quran. He added that the religious leaders including members of the Council of Islamic Ideology believed that the condition for women to produce four witnesses to prove rape allegation was not justifiable, and had urged the government for action against people making false allegations of adultery against a woman. However, Azeem said that the religious leaders did not defend a clause in the bill that set the minimum female adult age at 16 years.
In the last parliamentary party meeting, several MNAs had objected to the bill and demanded that the Council of Islamic Ideology thoroughly review and clear it. Some MNAs proposed that the bill should be presented in the National Assembly after the next general elections. They said the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal would use the bill against the government.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz informed them that President General Pervez Musharraf wanted to get the bill passed from the present National Assembly. However, the MNAs said that they, and not the president, would have to face the public wrath.
Courtesy http://www.dailytimes.com.pk