CII to take up K-P domestic violence bill

Province claims draft has been pending for two months

ISLAMABAD:

The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) will take up the domestic violence bill tabled recently in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly in its 202nd meeting to be held today (Wednesday). The meeting will continue till March 4.

The CII is a constitutional body which advises the legislature whether or not a certain law is compliant with Sharia. JUI-F Senator Muhammad Khan Sheerani is the chairman of the 20-member body, which only has only one woman member.

I respect Pakistan's Constitution more than Qadri's religious sentiments: CII chairman

The K-P government has sent the much-delayed bill to the advisory council to seek its opinion as the matter involves interpretation of Islamic injunctions. The government claims the proposed law has been pending with the CII for the past two months.

K-P Law Secretary Muhammad Arifeen told The Express Tribune the law department sent the bill to the CII after consultations with the social welfare and women development department.

He, however, refused to share the content of the draft, saying it would be shared after the council’s recommendations.

The bill was on the agenda of the last CII meeting held in December 2015. The council did not take up the issue after the meeting was cut short after a scuffle broke out between the council chairman and former member Tahir Ashrafi.

The proposed law was tabled in the K-P Assembly during the previous government, but the PML-N and other parties resisted the bill. Due to opposition to the draft, the legislation was referred to a committee but later it lapsed as the government completed its term.

The Punjab Assembly also recently passed the Protection of Women against Violence Bill without sending it to the CII. The provincial law department vets the drafts of proposed law to decide whether or not they need to be sent to the council.



Religious parties have vehemently criticised the bill, terming it “against the culture and social fabric of Pakistani family structure”.

Bill on torture of children

The CII will also discuss its own bill against physical torture on children that will be submitted before the council for approval before being sent to parliament.

A senior official, who requested not to be named, said the bill was prepared keeping in view Islamic injunctions on child rights. “The basic objective is to protect the rights of children through Islamic legislation,” he said.

The council will also take up two proposals against distribution of hate material and culture of dowry submitted by Allama Ashrafi, who retired last month after completing his term.

Ashrafi told The Express Tribune that dowry was an archaic tradition which was destroying many families. He said there should be a law to protect such families who could not afford keeping up with the tradition.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2016.