ISLAMABAD, 15 September 2006 — Pakistan’s government has delayed presenting to Parliament a bill to protect women’s rights after a key ally rejected a compromise with Islamic parties, officials said yesterday.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said late Wednesday that the bill amending the current Hudood Ordinance law would not be tabled in the house “in haste”. He was speaking to journalists after a parliamentary party meeting of the ruling coalition.
The government will keep trying to achieve a broad consensus on the bill, Aziz said.
Opposition groups and rights activists expressed outrage over the government’s decision.
“They (the government) take on these initiatives with great fervor, and then chicken out,” said Asma Jehangir, chairwoman of the non-governmental Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
The government gave in last week to Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) alliance, the largest opposition bloc in the chamber, after it threatened to quit Parliament if the laws were changed.
But the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a major ally of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, said it would not accept the deal because of ideological differences with Islamists.
“We don’t want to cave in to conservative people who want to take the country back to mediaeval times,” Kunwar Khalid Yunus, a senior MQM leader, said yesterday. “The government should not allow itself to be blackmailed by these people.”
Some observers say the government decision to delay presentation of the diluted bill might be aimed at saving President Pervez Musharraf from embarrassment during a visit to the United States next week.
Musharraf, who promotes an ideology of “enlightened moderation”, had earlier assured rights activists he would back any moves to amend or repeal the laws.
The government said it wanted more time to consult political parties on the proposed changes.
“We want to bring this bill in the Parliament with consensus,” Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani said.
“There is no pressure on us. We are not in a hurry to present it. We want to take all on board,” he added.
Rights workers say the current law is discriminatory against women and is open to abuses that have led to unjust prosecutions of thousands of women in the past three decades.
The law requires a woman who claims she’s been raped to produce four witnesses. Women trying to press charges have sometimes faced charges of adultery, which can draw harsh punishment.
