Women Protection Bill, 2006 (“WPB”) has finally passed, in an overwhelming majority vote, by the Pakistani Senate. MMA in a last attempt to make WPB ineffective suggested 17 amendments, which were all rejected by the Senators. Having already been cleared by the National Assembly, the only thing left, procedurally, for the bill to become law of the land is Presidential consent.
WPB is the first step towards changing the draconian rape and adultery laws, which were implemented by the President Zia-ul-Haq. The present Musharraf government has fought very hard to get these changes through and to make these amendments possible. This is not to suggest that these amendments are in anyway adequate or enough, however, they are the first step. WPB has been severely compromised by the pressure from MMA. They were some changes suggested by them, which have been incorporated in the Bil (text of changes available courtesy of eteraz.org). However, the entire text of the Bill still remains unavailable; therefore, it is very difficult to comment on the same with any certainty.
Ali Eteraz does offer some analysis on WPB and the issues with the same:
“Rape is now tried under the secular penal code, and the Sharia courts do not have jurisdiction over rape/rape-allegations.
This means that rape does not have to be proven by four witnesses (it can now be proven by circumstantial, even DNA evidence). The part on rape is the biggest victory of this bill. Rape has been totally separated from adultery or any other crimes of chastity.
Non-rape extra-and-pre-marital sex acts are still tried by the Sharia courts.
However, “lewdness” (a new offense which includes both adultery and pre-marital sex) will be tried by the secular courts.Yes, that means that two different court systems will have power over adultery and pre-marital sex: adultery/fornication matrix for Shariah courts; lewdness matrix for secular courts.
Those two courts systems will fight over it, and I have no idea how they determine who gets to try them. That is actually the million dollar question. My lawyer friend suggests that it is a judge which determines the jurisdiction. Question is: is that a Sharia judge or a secular judge?�
The analysis further suggests that the matter would fall within the jurisdiction of Shariah court because of the Article 203D and 203DD (which describes the power of Shariah Court). This may not be necessarily true, and these questions of procedural and interpretation of law would only become clear with the passage of time and development of case law under the amended law.
However, it needs to be noted that most of the analysis is based on hearsay and is based on assertions and presumptions from other sources. Nonetheless, the analysis offered does deal with some of the legal and constitutional issues that may/will arise in respect of WPB. The limited text, which is available on Eteraz and the commentary in the newspapers all suggests that even at its best WPB, is extremely vague and there are various ambiguities and loopholes in the same. Any detailed and concrete analysis of legal issues would have to wait until the availability of the draft legislation.
Nevertheless, it would not be wrong to say that the Presidential consent would not be the end of WPB both politically and legally. Politically there is the dilemma of threat by MMA of resigning from the National Assembly. Legally there are issues of constitutional law as well as procedural law attached with this legislation. In context of legal issues, this matter will only be conclusively decided either by the decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan or by further amendments to the legislation.
Umera Ali is a lawyer and blogs at Pointless Conundrum.
its about time that musharraf gets rid of the very biased and conservative chaudry shaujat,certainly chaudry shujat is not the most liberal person to represent musharrafs ideology of “enlightened moderation”,i think kabeer ali wasti or hamid nasir chahtta should be leading the pml q
Humaira,
Yes, it is good that General Musharraf has signed the bill and it should now stop these shenanigans of the big Chaudhry and certain mullahs. Even though this bill is a small step but it is in the right direction.
“Thehri hooyi hai shab ki siyaahi wahiN magar
Kuch kuch sahar kay rang, par afshaaN hooay tau hain.” (Faiz)
[Darkness of the night still hangs heavy — But there are hints of dawn here and there ]
The good news is that the President has now signed the bill. Now onwards to more Inshallah.
as for the moderator, well all i can say is that any online or even print forum (like a newspaper’s letters column) has the moderator or owner of the forum exercising his or her discretion — i think freedom of speech is all good but in the real world (even in the US by the way) it is subject to many conditions — the moderator has to way the freedom of expression angle with the damage done when interactors misuse that freedom — then the freedom of other interactors to not be hassled and not be subjected to silly sermons is compromised
General musharraf has done it again,he has shown to the world that he is a leader who backs up his ideology with strong actions,Last week the pakistans lower house of parliament passed the much awaited women protection bill,the long and sordid struggle of pakistani women has staterted to pay dividence,although the bill doesnt totally abolish the the controversial hudood ordiance ie ( A draconian Piece of legislature inspired by the islamic shariat, implemented by Zia ul haq which penalizes women who file a compalin after getting raped ).Such was the outcry against the hudood laws,that the whole pakistani media was engulfed in a debate about getting this law revoked,after a sucessful media campaign by geo televsion network,backed up by the ruling Pml Q and pakistan peoples party ,the women protection bill was finally floated into the parliment,the story doesnt end there,the allaince of religious parties in pakistan were outraged by these suggestions ,they promised a country wide protest if any changes are made in the existing hudood laws.They even threatened to resign from the parliment if the women protection bill presented by the parliaments select committee is passed.But general mushrraf had an entirely different game plan in his mind,he was determined to get this bill passed,and to show the world ,that his policy of “enlightened moderation”is having practical consequences on the lives of ordinary pakistanis.
The passing of the bill apart from protecting women from religious obscurantism has also exposed the extent of polarization in the pakistani society ,the society is now clearly divided into two distinct schools of thought,the first segments consists of the ones who are enlightened and willing to give up pre dated religious practices but they remain a very small minority,and the second group encompasses the the vast majority of pakistanis who firmly adhere to the principles of islam,and cannot even accept minor changes in religious scriptures relating to public code of conduct,fortunately for pakistan, president musharraf has Vehemently sided with the liberals,general musharaf who openly admires kamal ata turk,is slowly and gradually leading pakistan towards the “turkish model”.Only time will tell if General musharraf can completely save pakistan from the pawns of islamic extremism.The next general Elections are a good chance to implement the gradual but effective Secularizaion of pakistani society,as from the look of things ,its certain that general mushrraf wants to do away with the 6 party religious allaince (MMA).If that is the case the next pakistani parliment would consist of the very liberal pakistans peoples party(PPP) headed by former prime minister benazir bhutto,and mushrafs hand picked party PML q,if this is the scenario,The religious parties will loose their voice in the pakistani parliment,and that is certainly on the cards in the current political enviorment.
The pakistani society in general,specially the rural population is extremely conservative and infinetely religious,most the the pakistani villagers are symapathic to the taliban and al qaeda,and that poses a minor problem to musharraf,he cannot change the outlook of the whole nation in one day,but atleast he is willing to change the status quo.General mushrraf is a brave man to take up these things,as religion is a very complex issue in pakistan,but we must also remember the fact that pakistan was never a religious society before General zia ul haq took power,most of the big cities had night clubs,the party scene was flourishing,before general zia unleased his reign of islamization,and in a span of just one decade pakistan went from a progessive and liberal country ,to a country fully in the clucthes of religious clergy,women rights were systematically impinged upon,The media was “veiled” ,calls of jiahd came from left ,right and centre,and hence people like mullah omar became leaders.
If general zia fuelled by his religious passions ,changed the the outlook of pakistan society in just a decade,why cant another “moderate” general backed up by washington and brussels,reverse the process of islamization? He surely can ,and he is doing just that,by getting the women protection bill the the good old general has sent a chilling message to all the religious people and political parties of pakistan,that no matter what they say or do,he wont be dettered in his efforts to secularize the pakistani society and promote a soft image of pakistan to the rest of the world.Pakistan is a unique country in the sense that all countries of the world have an army,but in pakistans case “army has a country”since its creation since 1947 pakistan has just seen 15 years of civilian rule,that speaks volumes about the state of control army exerts over the country.
Taking into consideration Musharrafs complete grip over power,His undiluted admiration for secular and western values,his strong commitment towards the war against islamic extremism,its not unlikely that musharraf will press for even bolder secular reforms in the country in the coming years.He shouldnt have any logistical problems in making these reforms a reality,as in all likelyhood he would be able to do away with the religious elements in the pakistani parliment in the next general elections,when you have state machinery at your disposal nothing is impossible,and thats a very good thing for pakistan,musharraf is doing his best to save pakistan from talibinazation,he should get full credit for that.
The Vicitmisation of the common man and women using draconian religious laws must end with the total abolishment of hudood laws and all laws that do not adhere to basic human rights principles,the hudood ordiance is totally against the United nations Human rights charter and hopefully the pressure on saudia arab and iran will also increase to ammend the hudood laws,general musharraf is a trend setter for the islamic world,he should be the role model for all aspring young muslim leaders.
If islam ever needed a martin luther king,they have been provided with one in the form of General pervaiz musharraf,this a perfect opportunity for him and the rest of the world,to recitify all the mess created by religious totalarianism.I am sure if general mushrraf stays for another five more years,pakistan will be a different country completely devoid of islamic extremism,with a secular consistution,and just and pragmatic laws.All this might sound too good to be true ,but nothing is impossible when you are general pervaiz mushharraf,he has clearly shown that he has the will and the drive to force the islamists on defensive.The changes in pakistan will have a domino effect in the rest of the islamic world,and eventually all obstructive islamic regimes in the middle east will fall one by one.This is the sole reason the west must continue to back General mushraraf no matter what the odds are ,as musharraf happens to be the last man standing against religious fanaticism in the islamic world.As for now Musharrafs long and bumpy ride towards moderation and secularizaton continues,and he is taking it all in his stride with a smile on his face.