"repeal or exempt" Christians from Hudood law in the country amid growing concern the controversial legislation is misused by militant Muslims to abuse Christian women.
"Unfortunately the government of Pakistan couldn’t bring any changes to these laws because the opposition, an alliance of religious political parties, has strongly condemned any changes," said the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) in a statement to BosNewsLife.
The opposition has also "warned the government against tampering with Hudood [and] even some members of the government are not in favor of amending Hudood laws and are perhaps standing with the opposition on this issue," CLAAS said.
The ‘Hudood Ordinances’ as the legislation is known by its full name, are inspired by Islam, and were adopted in 1979 under General Zia ul-Haq’s military regime. Divided in four parts, they regulate property, adultery and religious bans. They do not differentiate rape from adultery, critics say.
SERIOUS PROBLEMS
This has led to serious problems for Christian women to walk away from their abusive Muslim husbands or to seek help from police, several human rights groups have said.
"Often cases of Muslim women like Mukhtaran Mai, Dr. Shazia and Zafran Bibi gain international attention. But, the plights of un-known Christian girls like Sumaira, Asia, Asther, Riffat, Tahira Siraj, Nadia, Afsheen, Ribqa and many others are seldom heard," CLAAS told BosNewsLife.
"These women have been raped, tortured, forcibly married to those who abused them, and deprived of justice. This is mainly because the Christian community in Pakistan is too marginalized and poor to challenge the atrocities against their women and young girls," the group added.
EARTH QUAKE
It was unclear how many Christian women facing abuse are living among the tens of thousands of refugees still living in tents, a year after a devastating earthquake in which over 70,000 people died. The first anniversary of that earthquake was commemorated Sunday, October 8.
The group said it, "condemns the government of Pakistan’s attitude on this issue." The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) reportedly said last week it has decided to challenge the "discriminatory sections" of the controversial Hudood law in the Supreme Court.
In published remarks, Shahbaz Bhatti, Chairman of All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, reportedly said that the "Hudood Ordinance is an Islamic religious law which should not be applied to the non-Muslims of Pakistan." (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from Pakistan).
