Rejecting
the Hudood Bill Syed
Munawar Hasan
The Hudood amendment
Bill presented by the PML(Q) government in the National Assembly, with
mollified intention for creating wedge in the ranks of opposition ahead of
no confidence movement against the Prime Minister, has nothing to do with
the aims and objectives envisioned in the Bill.
Upholding the practice of
bulldozing important laws or going for legislation through the Ordinances,
the government presented the amendment Bill pertaining to Hudood
without due home work to gain political mileage out of it as against the
publicized objectives.
An august House, which
blossoms with the first kalmia atop its building entrance gate, can not
legislate on the issues repugnant to Quran and Sunnah. The proposed Bill,
in nutshell, was sheer violation of the Hudood punishments
enshrined in the Quran and Sunnah.
The fully alive opposition,
which did never remain oblivious of its legislation duty in the elected
house, timely reacted in this situation and offered tough resistance
forcing the treasury benches to set up a select committee to review the
cherished Bill put forward by the government for which unprecedented
hype was created in the media to deceive the people.
Scenes of emotional
commitment manifested in the form of ripping off copies of the Bill were
witnessed in the National Assembly when the government committed the folly
of presenting it for approval despite strong opposition and rejection by
the people of Pakistan. The imprudent treasury benches tried to play the
natural reaction of opposition about the Bill out of proportion in
media.
The civilian batman[MQM] of
Musharraf regime was ordered to show their street muscles on this
occasion. People of Pakistan can vividly recall that these lovers of
Holy Prophet (PBUH) maintained tactful mum when the European papers were
misusing the freedom of _expression_ and publishing sacrilegious cartoons of
the Holy Prophet (pbuh) to hurt the feelings of worlds
Muslims.
The self-proclaimed
progressive, moderate and enlightened MQM did not dare to issue a single
statement to condemn the custodial martyrdom of Amir Cheema at the hands
of German authorities. But their furor to condemn the sacrilege of
word Quran, Hudood and Sunnah hit the headlines as their uniformed
mentors were literally embarrassed after opposition strong protest in the
NA.
This situation warrants that
other side of the story should also be told to the people enabling them to
decide what the Bill has to offer the oppressed women folk of Pakistan.
The certain loopholes pointed out in the Bill do not
relate to the flaws in the Ordinance itself. The misuse of Hudood
ordinance results from the Anglo-Saxon laws upon which our current legal
and procedural system is based. The rotten legal system of the country is
the root cause of the extra judicial settlement of scores by the people.
Hudood cases were no more exception in this
regard.
If the treasury benches were
sincere in ameliorating the sufferings of people they should have
orchestrated media trial of the British laws but to the utter dismay they
used the media tool to scrap the Islamic laws which ensure the sanctity of
our society and protect its deterioration on the same lines which had
taken heavy tool of family life in the west.
As far as the repression
against women in the form of rape (zina biljabr) is concerned, it
is not the fault of Ordinance rather it is the ignorance of police and the
judges about the requirements of Hudood in letter and spirit.
Justice Wahiduddin and Justice Hafiz Lakh have conceded the demands of
Mufti Munib-ur-Rehman and Maulana Abdul Malik vis-à-vis appointment of
competent Shariah judges to try the Hudood cases.
The Islamic punishments did
not come in vogue after the promulgation of 1979 Hudood Ordinance
rather their history dates back to 14 hundred centuries in the past.
Criminals liable to Hudood were not imprisoned in the past unlike
the present judicial system therefore no cruel action ever took place
against the violators of Hudood.
Legal actions were taken
against them under the Islamic laws wherein cardinal principle of benefit
of doubt goes to accused was amply applied to defer the Hadd in maximum
cases. Those who oppose Hudood laws are doing so because of the
severe nature of the punishments envisioned in it. They forget the
philosophy behind the severe Hadd that it is meant to prevent the
perpetrator from committing the same sin and deter the others to have
recourse such crime.
Divine religions like
Christianity and Judaism were changes by their followers to suit their
mood but it is the hallmark of Islam that its commandments remain
unchanged until today. Anyone drawing their political strength from the
military uniform should not think that they will be allowed safe sailing
against the Islamic laws in the parliament of Islamic Republic of
Pakistan. Those who ripped off the Bills copies in the NA actually
manifested their disgust against the condemned intentions of rulers who
were trying to misguide the people in the name of amendments in the
law.
The nation is fully aware of
the backdoor initiates which are being brought to lime light through
media. The introducers of amendment Bill have committed the sin of
introducing the culture of waywardness in the country. They are turning
blind eye towards what is happening in the Western societies due to
legalization of Zina with consent. Load of single parent children
on the shoulders of Western women speaks of the empowerment which the west
had bestowed upon their women to satisfy the lust of
men.
The proposed enactment is
nothing but a tool to open the doors of similar culture here in Pakistan
under the slogan of women empowerment. The MMAs legislators did not
commit any wrong when they ripped off the Bills and expressed their anger
on it. No sane person can allow the disrepute of women folk by making them
easy prey to waywardness.
This is not womens
empowerment rather enmity with the delicate creature of this world. The
media managers of the military regime should know that historically
speaking once a mosque was demolished because the enemy used it to ambush
the Islamic army. Now, the political partners of uniformed Musharraf were
trying he repeat the history and use the slogan of women
empowerment.
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The writer is secretary
general of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan. He can be contacted at:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] |