Salman Sufi briefs the Ulema about Protection of Women against Violence Act 2016

Lahore: Advisor to Chief Minister Khawaja Ahmad Hasaan presided over a meeting of Ulema belonging to all schools of thought, here today in which a comprehensive briefing was given by Punjab government to the Ulema on the Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Act 2016 to address their concerns and to clear out any misconceptions regarding the act.

Senior Member SMU (Law & Order) Chief Minister’s Office Salman Sufi, gave a comprehensive presentation on the features and misconceptions of the bill. The meeting was attended by more than 15 religious scholars from all sects including Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Ashrafi, Sahibzada Saeed Ahmed Gujrati, Dr. Raghib Naeemi, Allama Arif Wahidi, Hafiz Kazim Raza. Zahid Muhammad Qasmi, Maulana Muhammad Khan, Mulana Yousaf Anwar, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman (Chairman Ulama Board), Hafiz Zabeer, Mualana Abdul-Haq, Maulana Muhammad Amjad, Maulana Muhammad Amjad, Pir Mehfooz and Mufti Qavi.

Sahibzada Zahid Mahmood Qasmi, a member of the Islamic Ideology Council, also said that the Islamic Ideology Council Chairman gave the verdict before having read the bill and the viewpoint of one person should not be considered as the viewpoint of the entire Islamic Ideology Council. He further mentioned that he has requested the Chairman to call a meeting and discuss it with every member of the Council before declaring a verdict over it.

Three major misconceptions regarding the act were clarified by the government in detail. Regarding the misconception that the husbands will be required to wear a GPS tracked ankle bracelet whereby all their movements will be monitored,  Salman Sufi clarified that it is not applicable in cases of domestic violence, rather it is only applicable in cases of grave violence like attempt to rape/attempt to murder/intimidating victim to withdraw a case/attempt to throw acid etc where the court believes that the life of the victim is at risk Regarding the misconception that the husband will be asked to leave the house for 48 hours and this will cause further rift, Salman clarified that 48 hours is only the maximum limit and this time apart is only to serve as a “cool off” period.

This period can also be of a couple of hours, depending on the recommendation of the District Women Protection Committee. Thirdly, regarding the misconception that husbands, brothers and other male family members will not be allowed to question female family members, Salman Sufi clarified that the act has no such provision and a father/husband questioning his daughter/wife doesn’t constitute as psychological violence.

The participants agreed that there that it is not Anti-Shariah or Anti Islam. However, the participants had certain suggestions to improve the bill’s strengths as per Islamic rules and to eliminate the menace of violence, which they submitted and will be presented to the Chief Minister Punjab. There was consensus of the committee that Islam is anti-women violence and some elements are talking about the act in the political context but that does not translate into the act being Un-Islamic. The clerics stated that unfounded propaganda about this bill has led people to believe that clerics are anti-reform which is not true. Islam does not condone violence and clerics are standing together to promote any measure that goes against violence against women and will give concrete suggestions to make this bill more comprehensive rather than toothless.

Maualana Tahir Ashrafi, Mufti Qavi and Maulana Raghib Naeemi suggested that there should be a unit constituted of religious scholars in Punjab to assist the government in improving the act. Salman Sufi said that the Chief Minister will constitute a committee comprising of religious scholars to further strengthen the act.

Salman Sufi said that government appreciates strong desire shown by clerics to fight against violence against women always welcomes positive suggestions by Ulemas to incorporate reforms to further strengthen the bill.

Kh. Ahmed Hasaan said this is a welcome day for everyone in Pakistan that religious scholars are sitting with the government to give their viewpoint to end this menace from society and today’s meeting shows that unfounded propaganda about the bill was baseless and Ulema stand beside the government to strengthen this bill.