Pakistan: Senate moved against Council of Islamic Ideology

Three opposition parties, PPP, PML-Q and ANP, have moved a motion in the Senate against the Council of Islamic Ideology’s (CII’s) recent recommendations on matrimonial issues. The motion condemns the CII’s suggestions that could negate the physical and psychological development of women by giving more power to men over their lives. The Sindh Assembly has already passed a resolution against the CII’s ultraconservative position that could take Pakistan back into the dark ages. With no thought given to the new human needs of our time, the CII treads the familiar and less challenging path for lack of development in thought. Of late the CII has been recommending retrogressive laws for women. According to the Family Laws Ordinance 1961, a man cannot contract another marriage without the consent of his first wife. The Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 lays down 16 years as the minimum age for a girl to get married and 18 years for a boy. These laws might not have been implemented fully but their mere existence provided a way out to those women who had the courage to fight for their rights. According to the latest observation made by the CII on these laws, a man does not have to ask his wife before remarrying. Similarly, laying down a minimum marriage age is considered un-Islamic by the CII. Earlier, the CII’s recommendations on not allowing DNA tests to become the primary evidence in rape cases had drawn strong criticism.CII is a constitutional body created in 1973 to help parliament ensure all laws are in accordance with Islam. The effectiveness of the CII as a vetting institution was considered relevant for ten years, after which it could have been disbanded through a constitutional amendment. The political crises confronting Pakistan did not allow attending to this important issue that now has become a blot on the face of a modern Pakistan. There is considerable pressure on the government from civil society and the liberal parties in parliament to disband the CII. Unless the government takes a decision in this direction, efforts are afoot to at least take the wind out of the CII’s sails to negate its influence on the national narrative on women. Pakistan’s statistics on human rights are dismal, and though the CII cannot force parliament to reframe laws, its anti-women position and ultraconservative take on human rights could be considered as a brake on modern discourse. Pakistan’s image being mullah-driven and sponsoring terrorism has already laid exceptional stresses on its economic, political and social posture internationally. CII’s unnecessary adventure could be the last straw on Pakistan’s fragile back. Therefore the sooner the anachronistic CII is disbanded the better.