During General Zia’s regime Islamic laws were introduced under pressure from religious leadership. The Islamization was done in haste with expectations that now God’s blessing will start pouring on Pakistan. God’s blessings never visited Pakistani society in spite of Islamic laws. The laws under Islamization miserably failed to improve justice system rather they subjected the weaker elements of the society to more repressive treatment at the hands of the powerful. The women and children are often the victims of the Hadood laws that comes into action when a women reports of kidnapping /rape and or sexual assault. Under queer legal interpretation of the Hadood Laws the victim of rape is often made party to be blamed and hence punished. The rapists go free. The most infamous of the so-called Islamic laws happens to be Hadood Ordinance. In the feudal culture of rural Pakistan women are subordinate to the male dominated macho attitude that make women and children easy object of cruel treatment without any real legal recourse. There are reports that after the promulgation of Hadood Ordinance the number of women prisoners incarcerated in jails has multiplied. Many are languishing in jail for alleged sexual misconduct without trial even after years have gone by. Rape of these incarcerated women is reportedly very common in Pakistani prisons. **In Pakistani feudal culture abduction and rape of women by influential Zamindars, Waderas, Sardars and henchmen of powerful politicians as well as by police officials is so common that such reports find minor coverage in the media. **The legislators of Pakistan mostly come from the oppressive feudal culture. They are the ones who either engage in oppression against women themselves or seriously resist any effort to do away with the oppressive laws and oppressive attitude against women. An example of the anti-women attitude of our legislators was witnessed when they angrily rejected a resolution aimed at condemning the honor killing of women. The resolution was presented in the Pakistani Senate by a few legislators a couple of years ago. A recent honor killing of Peshawar women, Samia Sameer by her own parents, moved them. Samia wanted divorce from her husband, her cousin whom her parents gave her away in an arranged marriage. The woman was killed by socially and politically influential parents who took Samia’s bold action as a rejection of family tradition of arranged marriage. Samia, they thought dishonored the family by seeking legal help from a human rights attorney based in the city of Lahore. The parents visited their daughter in the office of Samia’s attorney. The parents of unfortunate Samia brought a hired killer with them. It was their duty to punish their daughter for disregarding the family tradition of not asking for divorce. When the resolution was moved in the Senate to condemn this act of honor killing there was an uproar in the Pakistani Senate against the resolution. The resolution could not pass and was not supported even by it’s sponsors including the Senate Chairman, Wasim Sajjad, himself an attorney by profession.
We should appeal to our Govt to show moral courage and do away with the Hadood Ordinance in spite of fear of serious opposition from the religious group. Somebody has to stand up for the protection of women and children who cannot protect themselves in Pakistan. Hadood Laws never brought God’s blessing on Pakistan, it’s doing away with may.
[This message has been edited by TARIQ786USA (edited July 28, 2001).]