Democracy or Mullahcracy?

Parliamentarians must stand up for a count

In a world where human survival and prosperity are considered to be linked with fresh ideas and novel technologies, clerics belonging to all religions continue to resist change. They fight against scientific theories till these are widely accepted and then they take a U-turn to claim that these had in fact been copied from their scriptures. This is all the more true in the case of Pakistani ulema whose obstinacy is undermining the development and progress of Pakistan. Mullah Fazlullah and several others declared polio vaccination to be a western conspiracy to make the Muslims impotent, thus condemning thousands of children to suffer from the debilitating and incurable disease and lead a miserable life of a cripple. Earlier the ulema had opposed the taking of pictures of human beings and the use of loudspeaker in mosques. Once the utility of new gadgets makes them popular, or they see benefit to themselves, only then the ulema run after them.

In the prevailing milieu, it was courageous on the part of Marvi Memon to introduce a private bill in the National Assembly that aimed at making child marriage a cognizable offence with severe punishment. The PML-N MNA had rightly observed that early pregnancy was the leading cause of death for young girls between the ages of 15 to 18 in the developing countries. In a kneejerk reaction, the CII chairman Sheerani opposed the bill calling it a violation of Islamic teachings. It was disappointing to find minister of religious affairs who like Memon belongs to the PML-N siding with the clerics and none among her other party members speaking in support of the bill. Equally depressing was the failure on the part of the PPP, ANP and PTI legislators to stand up and be counted despite these parties presenting themselves as liberal and pro women.

The demand by Sheerani that ‘laws relating to religious issues’ should not be brought directly to the NA without reference to the Council of Islamic Ideology is unacceptable. If child marriage is a religious issue then what else is not? This is an attempt to subjugate the parliament to a group of outdated clerics which amounts to turning a democracy into theocracy. The people of this country did not offer sacrifices in their fight against military rule to impose fanatical clerics on themselves.

To redeem the promise made by Nawaz Sharif to support the women’s rights, the PML-N needs to put its house in order. The party cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hound. The PPP, ANP and PTI also need to join the battle for the supremacy of parliament which is looming ahead. The bill to debar child marriage has been referred to the concerned parliamentary committee. The parties have to ensure that instead of being sent to the CII it is passed by the two houses. It would be a bad day for democracy if parliament failed to ensure its own supremacy.