Swat flogging sparks protests

 
Women’s organisations, political parties express outrage over incident

Sunday, April 05, 2009
By our correspondent

Karachi

A number of protests were held in the city on Saturday to protest against the flogging of the 17-year-old girl in Swat.

The Labour Party Pakistan (LPP), in collaboration with Labour Education Foundation (LEF) and Progressive Youth Front (PUF), held a demonstration in front of Karachi Press Club (KPC), while a separate demonstration was held by women organisations that included the Women Action Forum, Aurat Foundation, Hisaar Foundation, Shirkatgah, War Against Rape, Pakistan Women’s Foundation for Peace, and Pakistan Medical Association.

The LPP demanded that the government to publicly execute those involved in this barbaric act. The demonstrators, mostly women, carried posters and banners condemning the act, and chanted slogans against the Taliban and those backing them. They demanded that the federal government should immediately check terrorism and inhumane acts carried out in the name of Islam and take the culprits to task.

Demonstrators noted that the extremist elements were publicly lashing innocent people in the name of “Islamic Adal”, which was a grave violation of fundamental rights.

Addressing the demonstrators, LPP leaders said that it was ironic that parts of the country had been handed over to those who violate human rights, adding that such elements were a grave threat to the integrity of the country.

They said that it was the duty of progressive and democratic forces as well as civil society to put up strong resistance against extremism and extremist elements in the country. They urged the government to involve civil society and democratic forces in the fight against terrorism so that innocent and law-abiding citizens of Swat and other tribal areas could get rid of bombings and flogging at the hands of Taliban.

The speakers mentioned that a female education district officer in Swat was also being threatened by Taliban, and apprehended that the woman might face such humiliation at the hands of Taliban.

In related developments, the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), in association with women organisations, demanded that the writ of the government should be established in all parts of Pakistan, including Swat.

In a press conference held on Saturday at the KPC, NCSW Chairperson Anis Haroon and representatives of various organisations have called upon the government, political parties, civil society organisations and the people of the country to join hands to end brutalisation of women across the country.

Haroon also welcomed the suo moto notice taken by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. “We urge the apex court to take into account the continued violation of women’s right and human rights across Pakistan,” she said.

Justice (retd) Majida Rizvi said that this was not the Pakistan that Quaid-e-Azam had dreamt of. Referring to Article 2-A of the Constitution, she said that Pakistani laws had to be in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah, not with any other Shariah. She said that if someone believed that an act had not been committed according to Islamic laws, they must bring it to the Federal Shariat Court instead of punishing people on their own judgments.

Rizvi also questioned why the government was shocked about the incident, as government agencies in Swat kept authorities informed about what was happening .

The press conference was followed by the protest from all women organisations. Speakers at the protest said that they rejected all arguments, creeds and pronouncements that justify, promote, perpetrate or tolerate violence and injustices against women in the name of religion, traditions, norms, caste or colour. They demanded that all perpetrators of violence and crimes against women should be brought to book without exception.

They demanded equal rights for all women of Pakistan in all provinces and all territories, as well as the immediate repealing of all discriminatory laws against women, including Hudood Ordinance, Qanoon-e-Shahadat, Qisas and Diyat laws. The government was also urged by the protesting organisations to remove all hurdles to the Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), to which Pakistan is a signatory, and to implement it in letter and spirit.

 

Source:http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=170920