| I actually disagree with that, regardless of the fact that I sympathize with the women being beaten and killed and raped and all sort of other horrible things. It's barbarism, not terrorism. |
The National Assembly (NA) on Monday adopted a resolution asking the government declare the act of stopping women from participating in social and healthy activities terrorism. Treasury member Mehnaz Rafi presented the resolution against the backdrop of the Gujranwala marathon where Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) activists led by MNA Qazi Hameedullah forcibly prevented women from participating in the marathon. The Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) also supported the resolution, but at the same time criticised the government for backing off from important issues including the inclusion of the religion column in the new passport. It also urged the government to let Qazi Hameedullah, being a member of the House, attend NA proceedings.
Mehnaz Rafi's resolution stated that the House called stopping women's participation in social and healthy activities a violation of women's rights. It recommended the government call such incidents terrorism and take punitive action against people involved in such terrorist activities. She said Pakistan was created by the Muslim League and that the constitution guaranteed every citizen equal rights without any discrimination. Aitzaz Ahsan said the PPPP supported the motion, but also demanded Qazi Hameedullah be allowed to take part in NA proceedings. He said the clergy was against creation of Pakistan and Quaid-e-Azam. He said the clergy had no licence to impose self-proclaimed restrictions on women. He said it was due to the clergy's narrow mindedness that Muslims lacked in knowledge. |