Row over fate of women's rights bill

An opposition parliamentarian on Thursday accused the Pakistani government of blocking a women-specific bill, moved in the country's national assembly on Tuesday, which focuses on the elimination of gender discrimination as well as calling for a repeal of the controversial Hudood Ordinances. "It met with total opposition from the government. The advisor for women's development, Nelofar Bakhtyar, stood up and said 'I oppose it'. She clearly opposed it twice, which means that she won't let it get to the committee stage," Sherry Rahman, a Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) legislator, told IRIN in the capital, Islamabad. One of the key proposed measures in the Protection and Empowerment of Women Bill moved by Rahman, along with eight co-sponsors, is the repeal of the Hudood Ordinances, which were promulgated in 1979 by then military dictator, Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, as part of his "Islamisation" programme. The bill also proposes compulsory primary education for all children under 10 years, equal participation of women in all areas, equal pay for equal work, prohibition of violence against women and honour killings, freedom for every woman to marry the person of her choice and separate women's wards in jails. It also calls for at least one-third of seats for women on the Council of Islamic Ideology and the country's Planning Commission, as well as on the board of directors for the state-run Pakistan International Airlines. A second bill, due to be moved in parliament next week, would focus specifically on honour killings and would seek to amend the Criminal Procedure Code and the Pakistan Penal Code, to make sure that offenses such as honour killings or hurt are not treated as compoundable, the parliamentarian said. Meanwhile, the PM's adviser said in parliament that the government agreed with some of the points mentioned, Rahman said. "Bakhtyar said: 'Some of the things we agree with and we are already implementing them.' The point is that if they agree with it, then they should let it go to the committee stage and there's no problem, it becomes a joint issue, then," Rahman explained. "The minute it goes to the committee, it's not PPPP or the government, it's just something we're all working on," she stressed. Rape cases are registered under the Hudood Laws according to which a rape victim who is unable to prove her case risks being accused of adultery. These laws make consensual sex outside marriage an offence, while marital rape and raping a child-bride are no longer offences. In addition to adultery and fornication (Zina) offences, the Hudood Laws deal with offences related to theft, alcohol and drug consumption, and false accusations in court (Qazf). Their fifth component is the Whipping Ordinance, which prescribes hard punishments such as up to 100 lashes or stoning to death. "It's either a lack of political will or she's busy pacifying the mullahs [the right-wing coalition of Islamist parties that garnered surprising gains in the 2002 elections on the back of anti-US sentiments] because one of the points contains the repeal of the Hudood Ordinance," Rahman said, alluding to what she called the adviser's opposition to her bill. "So I don't understand why they're creating road-blocks. Maybe they want credit and they're very late in getting cabinet approval, or whatever. The point is: they should not have blocked this bill. We would have been happy to join it and club it and make it a government bill," she maintained. However, Nelofar Bakhtyar, the special adviser to the Prime Minister for women's affairs, told IRIN in Islamabad that the bill had been opposed on technical grounds and had nothing to do with the proposed repeal of the Hudood Ordinances. "She had included 11 different subjects under one bill and I explained that to her, that this could not be treated as one bill. She had to bring it in as 11 different legislations," Bakhtyar clarified. "Our government actually worked on the report on the Hudood Ordinances. We have finished the report. It has come out and now has been sent to the Ministry for Law and Parliamentary Affairs and, unless it comes back to us from there, we cannot put it to the cabinet," she explained. "So we're going through the process. They were actually going to score a point, trying to show to the world that they are very keen on these things and the government is not pushed. This government is very keen on women's issues because the president of Pakistan himself is supporting us outrightly," Bakhtyar stressed. "We have to go through the process because we are the government. The same is the case with the honour-killing legislation because we have also worked on that very comprehensively and the legislation is now sitting in the Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs," she said. "Once it comes from there, with their comments and reviews, then we'll put it again to the federal cabinet and once it's approved from the cabinet, it'll come to the parliament for debates and discussions," Bakhtyar added. The issue about the bill had never arisen because she had opposed the legislation, Bakhtyar said. "I told Sherry on the floor of the house that I'm not opposing it. I'm not opposing the philosophy of it; it's just that we have to follow certain rules and regulations and procedures," she explained. "She should bring it back in different forms, because, as one whole package, it will never be approved," she emphasised.