50 per cent representation on CII demanded for women

PPP women activists vow not to let Council of Islamic Ideology ‘push women back into Stone Age’

LAHORE: Dozens of women from the Pakistan Peoples Party held a demonstration on Friday in front of the Governor’s House to condemn the Council of Islamic Ideology’s recent proposals about a women protection law. They condemned the claim that men could “lightly beat their wives” if the latter did not obey their directives.

The protesters carried placards reading “Remove Maulana Shirani from CII”, “Stop Insulting Women”, “No to CII”, “Stop Violence Against Women”, “Stop Promoting Women Vigilance”, “No to Shirani Violence”. They chanted slogans demanding women’s rights and against the CII proposals.



Addressing the protesters, former PPP Women Wing finance secretary Shaista Javaid Jan said it seemed that the CII was only concerned with depriving women of their rights. “They have nothing better to do in their meetings than discussing women,” she said. She said the CII had made it a habit of coming up with new recommendations concerning women in almost all of its meetings.

Naveela Faisal Mir demanded that half of CII’s 20 members should be women. She said the interpretation of the Holy Quran and Hadith needed to evolve in accordance with the needs of the society. The CII was interpreting the Holy Quran in an outdated manner, she added.

Mir said the CII should leave the women alone and should instead divert their energies towards recommending ways to end terrorism and extremism in the country.



Nadra Zarrar said that the country ranked poorly in terms of the state of women’s rights. She said CII recommendations could result in more incidents of violence against women.

Aqeela Yusaf said Benazir Bhutto’s struggle had inspired women in the country to come forward and play leading roles in all walks of life. She said the PPP would not let the CII push women back to the stone age.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2016.