MMA pledges to eradicate oppressive customs against women

The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, an alliance of religio-political parties contesting general elections, has pledged to strengthen laws to eradicate honour killings and other gender discriminatory practices against women.

Speaking at a press briefing on Friday, Durdana Siddiqui, the general secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami, an alliance member, highlighted points from MMA’s manifesto as well as its intent to focus on women empowerment policies.

She said the alliance would work towards ensuring women’s safety and honour. “We want to empower women by working towards the eradication of oppressive and un-Islamic customs like marriage with Quran and honour killings as well as the societal compulsion to wed off a woman with an outrageous amount of dowry,” she said.

Siddiqui added that they would also focus on cottage industries to empower home-based workers and make sure women are safe at their workplaces. “We also want to demand laws for flexible work hours to make it easy for women to work as well as specialised transport so that they can commute without any difficulties. We would also try to build more universities and colleges solely for women alongside sport complexes,” she said.

The JI leader said MMA would also cater to people with disabilities by providing them jobs or giving them an allowance.

“Our mandate is not the only front we are leaning on. The work of our previous ministers can guarantee our performance. Not only a single case of corruption surfaced and the work was substantial in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” she said.

Speaking about these performances, Siddiqui said Aisha Syed, a JI MNA, built and reopened many schools in Swat and worked towards the rights of journalists as well as empowerment of women as single parents, while Rashida Riffat, an MPA in KP, moved the landmark dowry bill under which families are required to stay under a certain limit when giving dowry.

According to Siddiqui, the MMA would strive to protect freedom of information for journalists and fight for their rights, especially with regards to their security. Responding to a question regarding environmental policies, Siddiqui said if elected, MMA would carry out plantation drives and would also remove and replace those trees which are harmful to the environment.

In response to a question about rights for transgenders, she said the group is ready for suggestions regarding the issues faced by marginalised communities. Incidentally, there isn’t a single female MMA representative contesting a general seat from Karachi.

However, according to Siddiqui, 100 women are in the run from the party for national and provincial assembly seats – both general and reserved. She said 35 women are contesting for the NA on general seats from across the country, while 27 are nominated for reserved seats. Similarly, 38 women are in the run for both general and reserved seats in the provincial assemblies.