[DAWN] An all-parties conference convened by Jamaat-e-Islami...
The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka
The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an
independentbranch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
and attended by powerful religious groups asked the government on Tuesday to retract an "un-Islamic" law that gives unprecedented protection to female victims of violence.
The Women's Protection Act, passed by Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....
Assembly last month, gives legal protection to women from domestic, psychological and sexual violence.
It also calls for the creation of a toll-free abuse reporting hot line, women's shelters and district-level panels to investigate reports of abuse and mandates the use of GPS bracelets to keep track of offenders.Domestic abuse, economic discrimination and acid attacks made Pakistain the world's third most dangerous country in the world for women, a 2011 Thomson Rooters Foundation expert poll showed.
But since the law's passage, many conservative holy mans and religious leaders have denounced it as being in conflict with the Holy Koran, and the Constitution.
On Tuesday, representatives of more than 35 religious parties and groups came together for a conference called by the Jamaat-e-Islami and condemned the women's protection law as un-Islamic.
"The controversial law to protect women was promulgated to accomplish the West's agenda to destroy the family system in Pakistain," read the joint declaration issued at the end of the concrescence.
"This act ... is redundant and would add to the miseries of women."
The passage of the new law was welcomed by rights groups but spirits have since dampened as conservative voices have increasingly called for its retraction.
On Monday, JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
had promised him at a meeting that he would address the reservations of religious parties.
"Nawaz Sharif heard our reservations against the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act 2016. He promised to amend the law so that it doesn't contravene the teachings of the Holy Koran," Fazl told journalists at his residence.
Earlier this month, the Council of Islamic Ideology, a religious body that advises the government on the compatibility of laws with Islam, declared the Women's Protection Act un-Islamic.
A prominent lawyer has also filed a petition in the top sharia court asking it to strike down the law.