QUETTA: Maulana Fazlur Rehman showered ridicule at the Punjab Assembly for passing the women protection bill on Friday. He was speaking at a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam – Fazl (JUI-F) party gathering at a local hotel in Quetta. Punjab Assembly had passed the Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Bill on Wednesday which provides protection and legal recourse to victims of domestic violence.
He mocked the Punjab government saying that they did not need to present such a lengthy bill in the assembly and should have rather acted on his ‘two word’ suggestion calling the ‘husband as wife and wife as husband’. He said that he had not read the women protection law passed by the provincial assembly.
He said that a similar bill was proposed during the Musharraf era but the ruling party had opposed it proving that their earlier disagreement was due to a struggle for power and was not based on principles.
He said that un-Islamic laws were being passed under the 99 names of Allah written in the parliament. Nations who turned their faces away from the blessings of Allah the Almighty have always incurred His wrath, he added.
The attitude of the rulers in the country evidently shows that they have vowed not to make Islamic legislation, Fazl stated, adding that JUI is a movement and an ideology which has been around for a 100 years and its leadership is still determined to lead the country in the right direction.
LAHORE: Activists on Thursday hailed the passing of a historic bill protecting women’s rights in Punjab, with the legislation establishing a helpline and shelters while calling for some defendants to wear GPS trackers.
Women in Pakistan have fought for their rights for decades, in a country where so-called honour killings and acid attacks remain commonplace.
But the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Bill redefines “violence” to include “any offence committed against a woman including abetment of an offence, domestic violence, emotional, psychological and verbal abuse, economic abuse, stalking or a cybercrime”.
Zohra Yusuf, head of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), welcomed the bill and expressed the hope that efficient enforcement will help protect women and ensure that offenders do not escape justice.
“The bill appears to be a rather comprehensive attempt to institute a system for prevention of violence against women and for protection and rehabilitation of the women victims,” Yusuf said in a statement issued on Thursday.
Yusuf said the bill includes a broad definition of violence and steps to make complaint submissions easier. “These are all much-needed measures that deserve praise but it is important to remember that cosmetic and purely procedural changes have not had an impact in the past,” she said.
Abdul Qahar Rashid, spokesperson for Punjab’s provincial assembly, told AFP that the bill, which was passed unanimously, must be signed by the provincial governor before it becomes law.
Under the new legislation, the government will institute a universal toll free help line for the women, and will establish district protection centres and residential shelters under a phased programme.
Family courts must fix hearings within seven days of a complaint, the bill says, with all complaints to be decided within 90 days.
The court can also order a GPS tracker to be installed to monitor a defendant’s movements, provided an act of grave violence has been committed or is deemed likely to be committed.
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