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The women and the laws

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The women and the laws

Hardly any other religion has as many commands for the dignity and protection of women as in Islam but in our country all kinds of laws, regulations and religious norms regarding women seem weak and ineffective.

By Noushaba Siddiqui

“No matter how many rules you make, no matter how many strong rules you make, unless the mindset of the people is changed, how can you stop it?

This is what parliamentarian Shirin Mazari said about the laws concerning the protection of women.

When she was speaking in parliament, I did not hear from her that she was a minister of the sitting government, but it seemed that she was begging for the dignity of women. Could this be the case? Is it possible to speak in parliament as they did?

The developed countries of the world, keep criminals and the law in mind while making strict laws against crime.

However in this country, if the accused is in the custody of the law after assaulting the woman or a child with solid evidence, even so, he escapes punishment. At the same time, the public too forgets about the incident when the case is dragged out further.

The rate of sexual assaults in Pakistan is increasing. It has also been observed that a victim woman or an innocent girl, is presented as a big news item in which there is a debate on whether she was abused or not, and they have to undergo medical examination, and the accused enjoys the benefit of such procedures.

Why do the police or the court need any other evidence despite the availability of videos of crime being the solid evidence and the identification of the accused? Why do the families of victims have to go to the police stations for a thousand rounds? Why is the tradition of their appearing in the court or remanding the perpetrator to police for extended periods, when the accused has been arrested? All this is tantamount to giving a waiver to the perpetrator.

A large number of seminars are held in Pakistan on women s’ protection, which are attended by male and female members of society, government officials, representatives of NGOs, members of law enforcing agencies, but they all are unable to do any practical work despite their status. The reason for this is still not understood.

Hardly any other religion has as many commands for the dignity and protection of women as in Islam but in our country all kinds of laws, regulations and religious norms regarding women seem weak and ineffective.

We have seen all kinds of problems related to the life of any ordinary Pakistan citizen, but the biggest issue we are facing is the issue of women’s protection. The protection of women is much talked about in every era but when we see this situation on ground, the implementation of law seems zero as no action is taken against the accused by making a strong case.

An accused who had stabbed a woman for 21 times, was released because he was the son of a lawyer, so may I ask ‘where is the law? And if so, to whom does it apply?

No respect for women has been seen in our country. Sensational heart breaking incidents have plagued women day by day but all the successive governments never did serious practical work on the protection of women.

If we talk about honor, we are killed in the name of honor. The same society is seen just talking and discussing honor and dignity of women.

The story does not end there. In Thatta, the body of an innocent 14-years girl was exhumed and desecrated. The extent of immorality is that a goat (animal) is subjected to the lust. This incident took place in Okara where the men committed immorality by tying the mouth and face, feet of the goat and the goat died as a result of this immoral act.

The laws become ineffective if not enforced to combat crimes and there would be no difference between human and animal.

Perhaps we are living in fast decaying society, which is evident from an incident that took place in Kasur district, Punjab province, where a married woman was raped by two men in front of her husband. Similarly, a six-year girl Maham was abducted, raped and killed. Rickshaws, offices, hospitals and even graves are not safe for women in this country. The country has a number of laws for protection of women but unfortunately it has turned into a ‘Morgue of Laws’.

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Noushaba-Siddiqui-Sindh-CourierNoushaba Siddiqui is Karachi-based freelance journalist