This is interesting, while I have strong personal reservations about a few of the recommendations. Many Womens organisations based in Peshawar are calling some of the proposed laws very progressive and far more radical then any of the so called pro womens parties have ever done.
NSC’s proposals guarantee women rights
By Shadab Raza
PESHAWAR: The dawn of January 22, 2003 saw the creation of Shariah Enforcement Council in NWFP, a new chapter in the legislative history of the country in line with the election manifesto of the ruling Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal in the province.
The 21 members-council consist of religious scholars, minority members, legal and constitutional experts with Mufti Ghulamur Rehman as its chairman. It was also for the first time in the history of Pakistan that the MMA leaders put their heads together aimed at Islamisation of the society, giving relief to the masses and particularly, improving the lot of females, being neglected by successive governments due to reasons best known to the rulers.
Unlike the popular belief, the clergy promises to move to guarantee provision of the rights of female enshrined in the Islamic Shariah and thus uplifting the status of women in the male-dominated society.
The council members and the chairman said that they have held brainstorming sessions for weeks to furnish the much-awaited recommendations and various proposals, which were finally submitted to Chief Minister Akram Khan Durani-led government in the province for implementation. The most outstanding of them which in according to Mufti Ghulamur Rehman are that the council has proposed that a separate university should be set up for those females, who could not continue higher studies due to their religious and social background. However, the detractors of the MMA government and some civil society groups have termed the plan as impractical due to lack of resources and the expected pressure, which the federal government could exert on the provincial government, on the demand of those in favour of combined education. Similarly, a separate medical college for girls is also under consideration and part of the recommendations.
Secondly, the council deemed it wise to agree on deciding about the issue of inheritance, which in majority areas of the Pashtun land has been denied to women so far. Though, the issue could invite criticism from the legislators having feudal background once the recommendations are placed before the NWFP Assembly. Interestingly, the encouraging factor is that unlike some hardliners and conservatives, the chairman of the council believed and took the stand that majority of the female, who remain deprived of this basic Islamic right due to host of reasons must be rescued and the council, he explained, has taken steps in this direction by making it a part of law.
Another significant feature of the recommendations made by the Shariah council was that the MMA government would create a “Hisba Force” in every district comprises both male and female police to reach out to those far-flung areas where females have no access to justice. “This force will be on a door-to-door campaign on regular basis to inquire about the plight of the voiceless women and help them in accordance with the law,” Mufti Ghulamur Rehman said.
Another encouraging development expected from the MMA government is that it plans to go after those male murderers, who in one way or the other uses the term “honour killing” to eliminate women suspected of committing adultery and bringing dishonour to families. In most cases it has been noticed that female members of the families have been killed in the name of so-called “Honour”, but in fact the motive behind the murders remained shrouded in mystery. “But under the new legislation, this shameful act will be considered as a crime and dealt with in accordance with Islamic Shariah,” he said.
But for the Pashtuns, it is an honour of test to comply with the new proposed law in regard to the custom of ‘Swara’, which the council has recommended to be abolished altogether. The custom of Swara is considered a curse in the Pashtun society in which, the aggressor party gives away female members of the family to the aggrieved party in a blood feud as compensation aimed at winning the forgiveness for the killers. The ousted Taliban regime in Afghanistan with the single executive order issued by their supreme leader, Mulla Muhammad Omar also banned the Swara custom.