Why is it that you will always find the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) on the other side of logic and reason? If the Council’s obsession to deprive women of their rights and children of their childhood was not enough, it has now encroached new areas of interest. This time the Council has made the right choice to openly stand by the militants by opposing the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance (PPO-2014). This Ordinance was recently approved by the Parliament to facilitate the fight against terrorists. Interestingly the council is worried about civil and human rights violations under PPO; well said, the Council has a point but it’s a war time wherein armed forces need legal cover to deal with the terrorists.
But what about the Council’s persistent emphasis to pursue its agenda against women and children rights. Any sane person will question if the Council has no other business but justifying child marriages and polygamy and denying divorce rights to women. Regardless of protests and opposition by human rights organisations and civil society, the Council is not ready to move away from its ghetto mentality.
As the Council is filled with political allies and neo-conservative and far-right clerics and jurists, no one should expect any progressive and enlightened interpretation of religion for a common man living in the 21st century, not in medieval times. Perhaps the Council has outlived its utility — needs to be abandoned altogether or extremist elements in the Council shall be replaced by moderate scholars. Needless to point out that a number of moderate scholars have left the country due to persistent threats from extremists. In short, it’s a vicious cycle, you will get from the Council whatever you will feed; we will continue to live in our contradictory world.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail, Saudi Arabia
