Undo Women’s Protection Law by 27th or else

Religious parties set deadline for govt

Punjab govt stops notification of law; Siraj says law is open attack on Muslim family system, rulers tasked with promoting ‘immoral Western practices’; Fazl says being an ally does not mean accepting all govt steps

LAHORE: Top leaders of religious parties, seminaries and scholars agreed on Tuesday to wage a joint struggle against the “anti-Islam policies of the government” and “systematic secularisation of the country”.

They asked the Punjab government to withdraw the controversial Women’s Protection Law by March 27, failing which the final decision to launch a movement would be taken at a national convention on April 2, according to an announcement made at a Mansoora meeting of religious parties.

On the other hand, sensing the gravity of the situation, the Punjab government has stopped notification of the Women’s Protection Law for the time being, Geo News reported on Tuesday.The channel reported that a government committee would hold consultations with Ulema and the Council of Islamic Ideology, make amendments to the Women’s Protection Law and then a new law would be enacted in this regard.

Meanwhile, the heads of all religious parties and leading Ulema from all schools of thought gathered at Mansoora on Tuesday to prepare a charter of Islamic priorities for safeguarding Islamic laws and values in the country and check the “anti-Islam” and “secularisation policies of the PML-N government.”Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Senator Sirajul Haq chaired the meeting.

The participants strongly condemned different steps and “policies of the government against the Shariah, the Constitution and Pakistan ideology”. They condemned the execution of Mumtaz Qadri and the passage of the controversial Women’s Protection Law by the Punjab Assembly that challenged the family system and values.

They stressed that all government announcements about making Pakistan a liberal and secular country and against Islamic injunctions were a revolt against the Constitution and betrayal of the ideals of the founding fathers of the country.

Through a joint declaration, the conference made it clear that the religious leadership stood united for safeguarding the Namoos-e-Risalat (SAW) and the Muslim family system and would foil all conspiracies to make the country a secular and liberal state.

The moot was attended by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl Ameer Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Jamaatud Dawa Ameer Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami Ameer Maulana Samiul Haq, Jamiat Ahle Hadith P Sajid Mir, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan President Sahibzada Abul Khair Zubair, JUP Secretary General Allama Awais Noorani, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen leader Allama Amin Shahidi and others.

The declaration pronounced the love of the Holy Prophet (SAW) as the most valuable asset of the Ummah. It said the government tried to practically negate Namoos-e-Risalat law by executing Mumtaz Qadri, only to please the enemies of Islam and a small secular lobby in the country.

It said despite blackout by the government and secular media, a mammoth gathering at Mumtaz Qadri’s funeral was a manifestation that the overwhelming majority of masses had totally rejected the government stance.

The moot demanded the government ensure total implementation of constitutional and legal requirements of the blasphemy law and expedite executions according to judgments on all cases of blasphemy.

Sirajul Haq said the rulers were acting as slaves of the US and Western powers. He said the West had unleashed an ideological and cultural attack on the Muslim world with the help of local rulers. 

He said the Women Protection Law was an open attack on the Muslim family system and rulers had been tasked with promoting Western immoral values and practices. He said the Women Protection Law and ban on Tableeghi Jamaat were under an international agenda against Islam and Pakistan ideology.

In the country, established in the name of Islam, there was an open talk of free sex and use of liquor, he added. He said the country was facing moral and ideological bankruptcy while the rulers were keen to befriend India under foreign pressure and there were indications of recognising Israel as well.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman said being a government ally did not mean accepting all government steps.

He accused the government of taking anti-Islam and anti-Shariah steps under foreign pressure. He suggested formation of a team at federal level for making laws. Maulana Samiul Haq said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s offer of talks to ulema was a farce aiming at weakening the movement against the government.

He said Nawaz had always adopted hypocritical attitude in entire political career. He claimed that Salman Taseer’s family had pardoned Mumtaz Qadri in return for the release of Shahbaz Taseer, but the government executed Mumtaz Qadri in haste after the development.

MWM leader Amin Shahidi said slavery of Western powers had reached such an extent that ministers of Muslim states were appointed on the dictation of colonial powers. He said Women Protection Law was an attempt to make the women folk a saleable commodity.

The communiqué of the meeting demanded abolition of interest-based economy, stopping arrest and harassment of ulema, scholars and seminary students, and release of all detainees including hundreds of missing persons. It also demanded lifting of ban on mosques, seminaries and ulema.

It harshly condemned the media, Pemra and government for banning coverage of gathering of millions of people at Mumtaz Qadri’s funeral.  It praised social media for frustrating this conspiracy of the government and mainstream media and demanded immediate dismissal of federal information minister Pervaiz Rashid and Pemra Chairman Absar Alam.  It also demanded lifting of ban on newspapers and channels that defied the unconstitutional orders of the government to cover the event.