Need to enforce women-friendly laws
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Nusrat Javeed
Despite very serious threats to his person, General Pervez Musharraf is constantly visiting this or that city or town of Pakistan these days. Taking all risks, he also addresses the public rallies there for spreading the message that this country can only progress by adhering to moderate and tolerant values and attitude.
As a mercy-seeking sinner, I hardly have any objection to this message. Before addressing the next public rally for drumming the same message, however, he must have a heart-to-heart meeting with Wasi Zafar, the federal minister of law.
During the suggested meeting, the general should try to make this minister realise that the government of Shaukat Aziz, which draws all the strength from Musharraf's uniform, must provide the legislative substance to his ideas of "enlightened moderation." And for this, it has to enforce some women-friendly laws as well. All the efforts of General Musharraf would sound hollow, if the government under his patronage failed to deliver on this front.
One insists for Musharraf's initiating a straight talk with ministers of this government after watching the foolishly obstinate conduct of Wasi Zafar in the National Assembly of Pakistan Tuesday evening.
It was a private members' day, which the MMA legislators mostly squandered in wailing over the havoc, recent rains and snowing had brought to their home constituencies. Member after member from their benches kept claiming that the government was callously indifferent to alleviate sufferings of the rain victims. Doing that they conveniently forgot that the MMA exclusively rules the NWFP, where most devastation occurred. If the mass of people feels abandoned there, the bearded rulers of the religious-right are equally responsible for their misery.
Our political Maulanas also failed to build the impression as if the central government was not offering any help. Maulana Abdul Karim was "the star" speaker from their side. The assembly rules do not allow reading of a written speech. But the chair allowed him for the prodding of Qazi Hussain Ahmad. Instead of invoking any sympathy, however, the said Maulana stirred giggles with his schoolboyish essay on Kohistan, the area he had been elected from.
After his finishing, another Maulana grabbed mike from the same benches for telling the speaker that a "massive army of rats have taken over the parliamentary lodges in Islamabad" and the government must do something about it. The chair suggested launching of a counter-army of cats for taking care of the growing menace.
But Maulanas, speaking after them, shamelessly exposed what was really bothering them. One, for example, complained that aid for the rain victims that came "via a Saudi plane" was "not distributed through members of the national or the provincial assembly from the affected areas." The MNA from Kark had the same complaint. Although he also belongs to the MMA, the NWFP chief minister is not very fond of him. Little wonder, he preferred doling out the emergency aid "through non-elected bureaucrats."
In short, Maulanas' real grudge was not the lack of alleviating aid to rain victims. What really annoyed them was the manner of its distribution, which did not project the elected Mullahs as patronage-doling vehicles of the state of Pakistan.
Most of these Maulanas travel in heavy-duty inter-coolers and often are guarded by gangs, flaunting very latest weapons. Can't they collect funds from their "Jihad-financing sources" for alleviating the misery of people, they wailed so loudly in the assembly?
After the hypocritical noise making by our political Maulanas of the religious-right, some vocal members of the PML-N tried to make a rowdy show over the alleged rigging of the bye-election of Lahore the other day. That ended with staging of a token walkout and finally we came to real business of the day.
Although most media had projected Ms Kashmala Tariq as a stunningly pretty face only, she definitely is a person with some convictions. Empowering and protecting women top the list. Since coming to this assembly, she has been assiduously trying to deliver something in this context. Ironically the most vicious opposition she endured for this mounted from her own colleagues of the ruling Muslim League. Some of them used very derogative words against her on the floor, while a few preferred "harassment by other means." Courageously she refuses to budge.
As if to prove her persistence for another time, she privately suggested some amendments in laws that deal with honour killing. After much delay, they came for the National Assembly's approval Tuesday. But the law minister shocked us all by saying that he was opposing amendments, suggested by a fellow Muslim Leaguer. He even went to the extent of pronouncing her amendments "un-Islamic."
That surprised and shocked Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan as well. He was justified in protesting that some weeks before Ms Tariq, Sherry Rehman and Dr Fehmida Mirza from the PPPP had also posted proposals for changes in laws covering the honour killing. That protest would still not stop him from forcefully supporting Ms Tariq's amendments. He was very right in stressing that changes, brought by the Musharraf-Aziz government in these laws, were "cosmetic."
Who must act like the "WALI" of a victim of honour killing is the fundamental question? Without addressing the same, you can never discourage such killings in Pakistan. The "WALI", lest you forget, is empowered to "condone" the killing of his or her relative. As a very experienced lawyer, Aitzaz could quote case after case, where for example three brothers collectively conspired to kill a sister for "violating the family honour." Now, one of them would commit the murder and when the state came to punish him, the rest of two brothers "condoned him as the legitimate WALI of the murdered sister."
With full force of his lungs, Aitzaz insisted that Islam does not permit or condone "such conspiracies for murder that are premeditated by all stretch of imagination." In the peculiar context of Pakistan, he demanded, the state must act like the WALI of a person, visibly murdered in the name of "family honour."
The forceful speech of Aitzaz put the MMA benches on the defensive. After much yelling, Asadullah Bhutto got the mike from their side to announce, "Islam does not condone honour killings." After saying this, he switched to mere point scoring. "Hudood laws, which mostly cover the honour killings as well, have been there since 1979. Since then the PPP twice came to power. Why it did nothing for changing these laws?"
After making this somewhat valid sounding argument, he took a funny position. After 9/11, he claimed, the US feels very uncomfortable with the Islamic laws and does not want them enforced anywhere in the world. People like Aitzaz want to change these laws for their pleasure only. "We must not please the Americans, however," he thundered, "for they promote the culture of adultery and alcohol consumption."
Ejaz-ul-Haq, the heir of Ghazi Zia-ul-Haq Shaheed, who had introduced the Hudood laws in this country, was sitting in the hall. Ms Tariq showed tremendous presence of mind by urging the chair to "seek the opinion of the minister of religious affairs on this matter as well." Given the mike, Ejaz was categorical in revealing that he had discussed the issue of honour killing with superior judges of Saudi Arabia and they told him that in such cases "the state acts like the Wali."
The reference of Saudi Arabia should have helped the government benches to push for the suggested changes, but the ministers of law and the parliamentary affairs were not pushed. Their indifference rather facilitated Maulanas to articulate their reservations far more aggressively. Only Sardar Bahadur showed the courage of speaking against them from the ruling benches.
If someone really cared to promote the reputation of "enlightened moderates" about the Musharraf-Aziz government, many opportunities were there to at least defer the headcount on proposals suggested by Ms Tariq. Thanks to obstinate steering of Wasi Zafar, however, the matter had to be decided by a clear division in the House.
Ms Tariq hardly had any support from her comrades, while everyone from the PPPP benches stood by her. With the MMA support, the ruling coalition defeated the attempt of providing some solace and security to hapless women of Pakistan. |
