CII opposition to domestic violence bill criticised

PESHAWAR: The women rights activists have criticized the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) for declaring the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Domestic Violence Bill in conflict with Islamic laws.

“Unfortunately, the Domestic Violence Bill is the first draft bill in the KP Assembly’s history sent to the CII for interpretation. The CII is not a legislative body to recommend amendments to the draft law,” Neelam Khan Toru, chairperson of Provincial Commission on Status of Women (PCSW), said in her address at the “Showcasing Conference of Prevention of Violence against Women.”

She said that PCSW had written a letter to the CII to explain under what Islamic laws the provisions of the bill are un-Islamic. “The CII is yet to explain the reasons. It simply stated that some provisions of the bill were in conflict with Islamic laws. We had made efforts while preparing the draft bill,” she stressed.

The chairperson of Women Parliamentarian on Caucus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and Member Provincial Assembly, Meraj Humayun also criticized the CII for declaring the bill in conflict with Islamic laws. She said the bill was prepared with the help of a Mufti belonging to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal.

Senior Minister for Irrigation and Social Welfare, Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao, said the GIZ is our partner in various programmes.Christian Kapfensteiner, GIZ team leader for the “Prevention of Violence against Women” programme, said the aim of six years programme was to support the implementation of regulatory framework on prevention of violence against women, strengthen awareness raising for prevention of violence against women and develop models and provide process advice for enhancing the quality of services for female victims of violence.Jamshid Kazi, country representative of UN Women, said it was obligatory for Pakistan to adopt international laws and prevent violence against women.