NCSW proposes repeal of Hudood ordinances

The National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) has recommended that the Hudood ordinances should be repealed, removing all discriminatory laws against women.
NCSW Chairperson Justice Majida Rizvi said this, while launching a report on "Hudood Ordinance 1979" 2003 here on Thursday, urging the government to table a bill in the Parliament for debate.
The second Annual Report 2002 of the commission was also unveiled on the occasion.
Addressing the gathering, she said that this was unanimously agreed in a special committee meeting of the NCSW that Hudood Ordinances in its present form were full of anomalies and the enforcement of law has brought about injustice rather than justice.
The special committee recommended that all the four Hudood Ordinances, 1979 should be repealed and the original laws with regard to the offences mentioned in these ordinances be restored forthwith, she added.
However, the NCSW special committee suggested that after making amendments as suggested by the committee, the draft bill on Hudood Law should be first widely circulated with a view to seeking opinions of various sections of the civil society in general, and women rights groups, in particular, and subsequently, it should be placed before the Parliament for a full-fledged debate.
Justice Majida Rizvi said that as a result of deliberations held during the meeting it was agreed upon that the attainment of puberty should not be de-linked from adulthood as how can a girl at the age of 11 years or a boy of 15 years, if attained puberty, have enough understanding to know the implications of Zina or Zina-bil-Jabr.
The committee said that it was just that a law was made applicable to non-Muslims, but they were debarred from being represented by a non-Muslim counsel.
The entire ordinance was repugnant to the Islamic injunctions and it required to be repealed and drafted afresh, or it could be modified through some amendments and brought in conformity to the Islamic injunctions.
It was decided that each ordinance would be discussed section by section to have an in-depth study of the law.
Justice Majida Rizvi said, "In my opinion, various sections of the ordinance do not reflect the correct principles of Islamic criminal law and are not in accordance with the Islamic injunctions.
These have caused great misery to women and ought to be repealed and the original laws should be restored."
NCSW Special Committee Member and renowned religious scholar Dr Farooq said the situation in 1979 was different than that of today, therefore, Hudood Law should be repealed in the larger public interest as no relief had been given to women to protect them from stigma in the name of Zina or Zina bil-Jabr.
Zia Awan, a human and women rights activist, also spoke about the defective clauses of the law and said that female convicts should be treated humanely and provided with proper facilities as per the jail manual.