Representatives from more than 35 Pakistani religious political parties and groups on Tuesday rebuked an “un-Islamic” law that protects women from violence.
Meeting at a conference called by the Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan’s oldest Islamic political party, the groups condemned and called for the repeal of a law passed in the province of Punjab that grants women legal rights from domestic, sexual and psychological abuse.
They argued the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act of 2016 is in conflict with the Koran, the Muslim holy book, and is part of a sweeping agenda by the West to impose anti-family values on the Islamic world.
“The controversial law to protect women was promulgated to accomplish the West’s agenda to destroy the family system in Pakistan,” read the joint declaration issued from the conference, Reuters reported. “This act … is redundant and would add to the miseries of women.”
The law grants women legal recourse against their abusers and calls for the creation of a toll-free, abuse-reporting hotline; women’s shelters for victims; and tribunals to investigate accusations of domestic abuse. It also mandates offenders wear GPS tracking ankle bracelets.
Other prominent authorities in Pakistan, including Fazlur Rehman, who heads the political party Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam, and the Council of Islamic Ideology, have similarly denounced the law’s incompatibility with the teachings of the Koran.
A 2011 Thomas Reuters Foundation expert poll ranked Pakistan as the world’s third-most dangerous nation for women, citing domestic abuse, discrimination in the marketplace and acid attacks. Afghanistan and the Congo ranked in first and second place, respectively.
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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