A breath of fresh air

Protection of Women against Violence Bill

Cultural backwardness that characterises the transitional period from feudalism and tribalism to a modern society frequently expresses itself in prejudices again women. Women are regarded as an inferior species, fit to be confined to homes and married against their wishes. In some places political parties join hands to deprive them of their right to vote. Domestic violence is common. Women have to be treated as equal citizens if the country wants to develop as a modern democracy visualised by the founding father Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

The landmark bill passed by Punjab Assembly to protect the women against violence will be widely welcomed. For the first time in the country’s history, a fairly comprehensive law has been proposed to protect women from a range of crimes. What is more, the bill provides an effective mechanism for the implementation of the measures proposed. The centerpiece of the system is the District Women Protection Committee which will supervise the Violence Against Women Centres. The Committee will ensure that all VAW cases registered in any police station in the district are referred to these centres. The District Women Protection Officer (DWPO) will have power to enter any place to rescue the aggrieved with her consent. The officer can also file a habeas corpus case on the basis of any credible information of wrongful confinement of an aggrieved person.

There is bound to be resistance against the bill from sections of the clergy frozen in history who consider themselves as the sole interpreters of Islam. Jinnah was at pains to explain that Pakistan was going to be a modern state and a progressive society rather than a theocracy. Time has come for Parliament and Provincial Assemblies to assert that they, rather than the clerics, have the exclusive right to make laws interpreting Islam in the light of the requirements of the modern living.

Making a law is important but equally important is to implement it. One hopes the government will enforce the Protection of Women against Violence law in letter and spirit.