Daily Times

Sir: One fails to understand if the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has any relevance in today’s Pakistan. Apparently the council has no other issues to ponder upon other than women, marriages and rape. The latest milestone achieved by the CII this week was its ruling on laws that prohibit underage marriage. The CII termed such laws unfair as there cannot be, in the Council’s expert opinion, any minimum age for marriage. We all know minor girls are married to aged men as part of deals to work out tribal and family disputes and as part of penalties against girls’ families. Vani and Sawara are common practices in rural and tribal societies in Pakistan. The Council’s recommendations to do away with a minimum marriage age are in fact an attempt to support and legalise such evil practices. The Council did not end its expressions of ‘wisdom’ on this note either. It went ahead to question why a man who intends to marry a second wife is required by law to seek permission from his first wife. The Council demands that the government scrap the 1961 Family Laws, which were enforced to discourage polygamy in society. Not long ago the CII refused to accept DNA test results as primary evidence as proof in rape cases. It insisted on keeping intact General Zia ul Haq’s legacy, the Hudood Ordinances, wherein a rape victim has to produce four male eyewitnesses to prove that she has been raped. The Council also rejected the Protection of Women Act of 2006 and declared its provisions as not in line with Islamic injunctions.

It appears that Council has become an institution whose only purpose is to work against women’s rights. It has lost its credibility as an institution for ijtihad to meet the needs of today’s world while its chairmanship has become a bribe for political affiliates. There is no way forward but to demand the abolition of the Council altogether. Parliament should have the sole right to make and amend laws, without the biased opinions of these so-called scholars and jurists.

MASOOD KHAN

Jubail,

Saudi Arabia