Opinions of moderate scholars largely ignored, claims CII official PHOTO: ONLINE
This can be gauged by the fact that the women protection bill proposed by the council was penned down by just one member assisted by a cleric affiliated with the JUI-F, an official told The Express Tribune on Saturday.
The CII is a constitutional advisory body providing recommendations to parliament on Islamic laws, but the latter is not bound to consider the same for adoption.
‘Gentle beating’ of wife is no violence, says CII chief
The council recently proposed its own women protection bill, recommending that a wife who defied her husband’s will could be given ‘a light beating’, whipping up a new controversy.
The proposed bill has been rejected by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
Currently, the CII has 10 members and three of them belong to JUI-F, including its chairman.
According to a CII official, who requested anonymity, the council’s chairman remains dominant in the advisory body’s affairs, especially in legislating different bills based on Islamic injunctions.
According to the official, the recent bill was drafted by Mufti Imdadullah, a CII member who belongs to JUI-F and he reportedly sought help of his teacher, Mufti Sohaib Alam, in drafting the bill.
Mufti Sohaib Alam is a teacher, considered to be conservative, at Jamia Uloom-e-Islamia, Binnori Town, Karachi, the official explained and. Interestingly, Alam attended the council’s meetings between May 24 and May 26 where the bill was under discussion.
The council’s regulations do not allow any private person other than members to attend the council’s meetings.
Muniba Mazari found the perfect way to respond to CII's 'light beating' proposal
Currently, Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani of JUI-F is the chairman of the 20-member body but the remaining posts are vacant. Members are handpicked by the PM Office for a three-year period.
Two other members, including Mufti Imdadullah and Sahibzada Zahid Mehmood Qasmi, also belong to the JUI-F.
According to the official, three members, Justice (retd) Manzoor Hussain Gilani, Dr Noor Ahmed Shahtaz and Muhammad Abdullah -- all considered to be moderates -- urged the chairman and others to draft moderate draft bills. But the chairman ignored their opinion.
The JUI-F had also drafted another bill which was forwarded to the provincial government after rejecting the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence, 2015. But, religious parties and CII had rejected the bill, terming it ‘un-Islamic’.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 29th, 2016.
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