Daily Times

It was for a good reason that everybody who breathed a sigh of relief when Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) got the domestic violence bill passed by the National Assembly in April also expressed scepticism when Advisor to PM on parliamentary affairs, Babar Awan, wrote to the NA speaker to have it vetted by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII). Now, just as feared, the crux of what was supposed to be a very progressive debate has shifted to unelected bodies that represent only the extreme right fringes of our divided society. And the waters have already been muddied by Jamiat e Ulema e Pakistan (JUP) taking it upon itself to express serious reservations about the bill and sending letters to the CII, Chairman Senate, Speaker National Assembly, interior minister, religious affairs minister, law minister and parliamentary affairs minister; calling its contents “un-Islamic” and all its supporters “deaf, dumb, and blind.”

This is particularly disheartening because the domestic violence bill, which legislates against gender-based violence and encourages an egalitarian society where everybody is empowered enough to know their state- and God-given rights, is exactly in keeping with the most revered laws and teachings of our great religion. And for members of a group, which in the past has opposed minimum age for marriage, the centrality of DNA in rape cases, even forced conversions, and gone out of its way to give its actions a religious colour, to be allowed to take control of such matters dilutes the impact of even the best-intentioned pieces of legislation.

Perhaps it would be a better idea for all camps, especially the far-right, to present a detailed breakdown of the bill for an exhaustive, and enlightening, explanation. That would, at the very least, very quickly settle any concerns any parties might, and do, have about the legitimacy of its contents in as far as our religious principles are concerned. Let us not forget that it was the Prophet of Islam (Peace Be Upon Him), after all, who shattered all concepts of societal injustice and prejudice when he explained in detail the greatest teachings of Islam. And let us not shy away from the reality that our society has strayed far away from such principles. It is to be appreciated that our country’s legislators are not completely oblivious of the need for legislation that stresses undeniable equality in society. Hopefully, sanity will prevail and the needless controversy that has begun to surround the domestic violence bill will die an early, natural death. *