Pakistani authorities placed a top Islamist MP under house arrest on Monday ahead of planned protests against President Pervez Musharraf's removal of the country's top judge, officials said.
Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the chief of Pakistan's main coalition of fundamentalist parties, said he had been detained for two days at his residence in Islamabad.
"The government decision to detain me is undemocratic, unconstitutional and illegal. It appears they are in a complete panic," Ahmed said.
"It's difficult to say at the moment whether I will try to violate the detention order or not, but the protest will be held as per our decision."
"The government has confined our leader but our workers will take part in Tuesday's protest with full vigour. If the government stops us, the law and order situation will be its responsibility," said coalition spokesman Shahid Shamsi. Our protest is against the president's action against the chief justice and the military dictatorship in the country," he said. Interior minister Aftab Sherpao said he had "no knowledge" about Ahmed's arrest. But a senior security official confirmed on condition of anonymity that the leading Islamist was under detention.
Military ruler Musharraf suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on March 9 over allegations of misconduct and abuse of power, sparking a political crisis and a series of nationwide protests against his rule.
The Islamic coalition, known as the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal or United Action Front, called Tuesday's rally to coincide with the next sitting of a panel of top judges who are hearing the charges against Chaudhry. Chaudhry denies the allegations.
Ahmed -- regarded as a rabble-rouser by the government -- was also arrested on March 16 in Islamabad when he tried to break through a security cordon at protests in the capital, which later turned violent.
Lawyers and opposition parties loyal to exiled former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif have also called for separate but simultaneous demonstrations against Musharraf on Tuesday.
Courtesy: DNA-I
Showing posts with label Islamic Ideology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Islamic Ideology. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Monday, April 2, 2007
A rape victims in Pakistan may get some relief
Pakistan's Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has unanimously decided that a rape victim should not be required to produce four witnesses to file a complaint.
In a series of landmark decisions pertaining to women, the constitutional body of the country's top experts in Islamic law has also ruled that rape (zina-bil-zabr) and adultery - consensual sex other than with spouse (zina-bil-raza) - are two separate crimes.
The decisions, in effect, endorse the Women Protection Law passed after much debate last year that has angered the conservatives and the clergy. They also upturn the 1979 Hudood laws passed during the regime of president Ziaul Haq.
The government may have to further legislate to enforce these provisions that provide considerable relief to women. But this is not going to be easy for President Pervez Musharraf, who is pressing for them, in a year when he has promised general elections.
The CII agreed that, in rape cases, the affected woman would be a complainant, not a defendant.
"In this case, the woman will be a complainant and the state will be bound to investigate, arrest the rapist and punish him if the crime is proved," a CII press release said.
The council observed that a person accused of adultery should be acquitted if the complainant fails to produce four witnesses to prove their point in court.
Once acquitted, the accused could not be punished under any other law unless he/she refused to give a statement under oath or confessed to the crime, the council said.
"In cases of 'lian' where the accused denies by swearing (an oath), confesses, or the charges are proved, the court will decide such cases under the prevailing circumstances," it said.
Musharraf has promised more laws that deal with divorce and some of the long-practised tribal traditions that weigh against women. This has been roundly criticised by the conservatives. The rightwing alliance Muttahida Majlise-e-Amal (MMA) has accused Musharraf of working on these reforms under American pressure.
Courtesy: IM
In a series of landmark decisions pertaining to women, the constitutional body of the country's top experts in Islamic law has also ruled that rape (zina-bil-zabr) and adultery - consensual sex other than with spouse (zina-bil-raza) - are two separate crimes.
The decisions, in effect, endorse the Women Protection Law passed after much debate last year that has angered the conservatives and the clergy. They also upturn the 1979 Hudood laws passed during the regime of president Ziaul Haq.
The government may have to further legislate to enforce these provisions that provide considerable relief to women. But this is not going to be easy for President Pervez Musharraf, who is pressing for them, in a year when he has promised general elections.
The CII agreed that, in rape cases, the affected woman would be a complainant, not a defendant.
"In this case, the woman will be a complainant and the state will be bound to investigate, arrest the rapist and punish him if the crime is proved," a CII press release said.
The council observed that a person accused of adultery should be acquitted if the complainant fails to produce four witnesses to prove their point in court.
Once acquitted, the accused could not be punished under any other law unless he/she refused to give a statement under oath or confessed to the crime, the council said.
"In cases of 'lian' where the accused denies by swearing (an oath), confesses, or the charges are proved, the court will decide such cases under the prevailing circumstances," it said.
Musharraf has promised more laws that deal with divorce and some of the long-practised tribal traditions that weigh against women. This has been roundly criticised by the conservatives. The rightwing alliance Muttahida Majlise-e-Amal (MMA) has accused Musharraf of working on these reforms under American pressure.
Courtesy: IM
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
