The people of Pakistan don’t trust the judicial system of the country
ISLAMABAD: Men can ‘lightly’ beat their wives — this statement created quite a stir with all Pakistanis. When the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) proposed an amendment to the Women Protection Bills passed by the Punjab Assembly, the civil society and human rights activists strongly rejected the suggestion. The question remains, why is there so much confusion over the issue of violence against women?
Mukhtaran Mai was gang-raped in June 2002 on the order of the village council as a punishment for something her male relative had done. This punishment was condemned nationwide and worldwide. While many human rights activists supported Mukhtaran Mai, she continued to receive threats from influential persons of her village (Muzaffargarh) and there was no law that could protect her from that persecution.
Our nation is home to multiple laws - first, we have a body of religious law; second, the state law which is legislated by the elected representative of the different legislative assemblies; third, laws or norms that emerge from the traditional values ingrained in our society. The people of Pakistan don’t trust the judicial system of the country and that’s why they find shortcuts to resolve their problems — which, of course, isn’t a solution either. The fact of the matter is that people don’t want to follow the country’s laws, don’t wish to disobey the sharia either and are just not willing to forego their traditional decrees. Until we revolutionise our mindsets, there will never be a better, more tolerant Pakistan.
Azhar Ali
Published in The Express Tribune, June 14th, 2016.
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