In recent months, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), a constitutional body, has engaged the entire Pakistani society in useless debates. The recommendations coming from the Council have mostly been regressive, to say the least. It is for the first time that some vocal sections of the society have challenged the existence of the Council itself. Perhaps because the suggestions were preposterous beyond belief and, like always, couched in religious terms and defended on religious grounds.
There are other reasons why the existence of the Council has been called into question. As per the constitutional requirement, its recommendations are supposed to be debated in the parliament. But better reason has prevailed and none of it is seriously brought before the parliament ever.
Therefore, CII has been reduced to the status of a body which the ruling party has often used to appease the Ulema. This in itself is a problematic and, what seems more likely now, untenable position. It is problematic because the content of the discussion within the Council (whose composition remains far from perfect on any given day) becomes a part of the discourse in society, courtesy the media.
Apart from exposing the mostly women-centric (or is it anti-women?) discussion, it also highlights what the Council omits. It does not say or discuss anything about the central issues confronting this country, including terrorism, suicide bombings, social injustice, and some discriminatory tribal customs.
Experts agree that it has only added more confusion about the established laws through its most recent recommendations that have stirred huge controversy. But the central question remains that we have not taken a clear position on the role of religion in this society. The existence of such a council as a parallel body with the parliament is an indication that we are not serious about interpreting religion in accordance with the needs of the time. Till we take this decision as a society, such controversies will keep raising their heads and not necessarily impact the society in a meaningful and positive way.