Repeal Hadood
Ordinance
By Naseem A. Shekhani,
MD
St. Louis, Missouri
This refers to Dr. Mahjabeen Islam’s article
in the Commentary Section of your paper of October
27 2006. The Hadood Ordinance has plagued the
life of countless women in Pakistan and the bogus
laws must be speedily dispensed with. Dr. Islam
has advised to retain the Islamic part of the
Ordinance and to discard the unIslamic one. But
I humbly ask who will take a decision in this
regard and which Fiqha will we be following. Our
goal should be to discard the Hadood Ordinance
in toto.
We should look at things from a progressive point
of view. Our vision should be of an enlightened
Pakistan where there is no room for discrimination
and injustice. We should believe in justice for
all, in gender equality and human rights for all
as enshrined in the principles of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, CEDAW - the Convention
on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination
Against Women, and all charters, covenants and
protocols of the United Nations Organization on
human rights. Let us focus on Pakistan irrespective
of who is in political power.
Our goal should be:
1. To increase awareness about the existence of
human rights abuses in Pakistan by educating Pakistanis
and the international community about the existing
discriminatory laws and practices.
2. To initiate public debate about means to eradicate
discrimination and social injustice against women,
minorities and other disenfranchised groups through
seminars and conferences.
3. To help improve the human rights situation
in Pakistan through collaboration with national
and international groups engaged in the promotion
of human rights.
4. And to expose the legal, social and psychological
obstacles, ostracism and alienation faced by victims
of sexual violence in Pakistan as well as to confront
the issue of sexual violence against women through
newsletters, research reports and public seminars.
Let us organize ourselves to strengthen the hands
of Pakistanis who are fighting against this injustice
day in and day out. Let us work for the complete
repeal of the Hadood Ordinance.
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