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Lines drawn over Pakistan reforms Pakistan rape law reform debated
(about 16 hours later)
Pakistani religious parties have warned of protests if they deem attempts to revise controversial laws, including those on rape, to be "un-Islamic". The Pakistani parliament has resumed debating a controversial women's rights bill which seeks to change existing strict Sharia laws on rape.
Ruling coalition members have told the BBC that parliament will debate the revised legislation on Wednesday. The bill was tabled but withdrawn in September in face of angry opposition.
The bill was tabled but withdrawn this summer in the face of angry protests. Pakistani religious parties have warned of protests if they deem attempts to revise the laws to be "un-Islamic".
Under current legislation women alleging rape must produce four male witnesses. If they do not they can face prosecution for adultery. Currently, all sex outside marriage is illegal. Women alleging rape must produce four male witnesses - if not they can face prosecution for adultery.
The revised bill which was withdrawn would have allowed alleged rapists to be tried under civil as well as Islamic law. The bill will turn Pakistan into a free-sex zone MMA leader Maulana Fazlur Rahman href="/1/hi/world/south_asia/6124926.stm" class="">Rape victim's blog
The government's attempts to pass the legislation are being seen as a crucial test of President Pervez Musharraf and his stated commitment to an enlightened, moderate form of Islam.
On the eve of the debate, Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani said the government meant to see the bill through "no matter what the opposition".
But the BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Karachi says the signs are that the government has watered down the legislation in the face of opposition from the powerful religious lobby.
'Lewdness'
A woman is raped every two hours and gang-raped every eight hours in Pakistan, according to the country's independent Human Rights Commission.
Gen Musharraf has said women need to be better protected
Correspondents say these figures are probably an under-estimation as many rapes are not reported.
Campaigners say the way current laws are framed makes it virtually impossible to prosecute rape.
The version of the Women's Protection Bill put before legislators in the summer caused such an outcry that parliament was prorogued.
It would have allowed alleged rapists to be tried under civil as well as Islamic law.
Human rights activists said this would create confusion, allowing powerful religious lobbies to manipulate what is seen as a weak judicial system.
Pakistan's religious parties called the legislation "a harbinger of lewdness and indecency in the country", and against the strictures of the Koran and Sharia law.
They are now threatening nationwide protests if the revised bill is not to their liking.
Addressing parliament on Wednesday, the leader of the six-party MMA Islamic alliance, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, said without changes the bill would "turn Pakistan into a free-sex zone".
Law Minister Wasi Zafar, meanwhile, told a television station that "some of the MMA's proposals had been included in the bill".
LashingsLashings
The religious parties say they will mount a "nationwide campaign" against the Women's Protection Bill if it is not to their liking. Rape and adultery in Pakistan are dealt with under the Hudood Ordinance, a controversial set of Islamic laws introduced from 1979 by Gen Zia-ul-Haq.
Insiders say the government has once again kow-towed to the powerful religious lobby
The MMA called the legislation put forward in September "a harbinger of lewdness and indecency in the country", and against the strictures of the Koran and Sharia law.
The government, however, said none of the sections were "un-Islamic".
The bill was initially introduced after a report was submitted in August 2003 by the National Commission on the Status of Women which called into question several sections of the Hudood Ordinance pertaining to women.
The Hudood Ordinance is a controversial set of Islamic laws introduced from 1979 by Gen Zia-ul-Haq.
They include sections prescribing lashing and stoning as punishments for adultery.They include sections prescribing lashing and stoning as punishments for adultery.
The commission found that the laws governing rape and adultery were vague and often led to women alleging rape ending up in prison for adultery. The bill tabled in the summer has since been reviewed by a panel of ulema, or Islamic scholars, who suggested three revisions.
'Consensus' The government says it wants to achieve consensus. Observers say much depends on which draft has been tabled in parliament.
After lying in cold storage for a couple of years, the commission's proposals were presented to the federal Council for Islamic Ideology (CII) for review in March 2006. "The version which they distributed in the assembly appears to be the ulema committee's version," a senior ruling coalition MP told the BBC on the eve of the debate.
The CII reviewed the Hudood laws taking the recommendations into account and then sent a set of proposals for revision of the ordinance to the law ministry in June 2006. The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the women's bill is also being seen as an indication of what political alliances might contest elections next year.
Subsequently, a "preliminary" bill was put before parliament on 22 August and caused uproar.
MMA legislators tore up copies of the bill and stormed out of the session.
Subsequently, on the proposal of the Pakistan People's Party, the government formed a 25-member parliamentary select committee with four members from each party to review and amend the bill.
The MMA, however, refused to participate in the exercise.
When the select committee's bill was finally tabled in September, the MMA was joined in its walkout by members of the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz faction. Although, the bill could have been passed into law, the government chose not to legislate and said it wanted "a consensus on the issue".
'Watered-down'
The select committee bill has since been revised by a panel of ulema, or Islamic scholars, and the government has tabled it with the stated intention of passing it into law.
Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani said the government meant to see it through "no matter what the opposition".
MMA leader Maulana Fazlur Rahman said his alliance has no major problems with the bill "except for some minor irritants which can be discussed later".
But he was adamant that if the original select committee's bill was passed "there would be consequences".
Insiders say the government has once again kow-towed to the powerful religious lobby, and a watered-down version which does nothing to improve the status of women is likely to go through.
"The version which they distributed in the assembly appears to be the ulema committee's version," a senior coalition MP told the BBC.
"Let's see what happens tomorrow," he said, while admitting "they have given in again".