WOMEN
NEWS COVERAGE PERIOD FROM JAN 13 TO JAN 19, 2020
KP ASSEMBLY AMENDS LAW AGAINST WOMEN’S HARASSMENT AT WORK
Zulfiqar Ali Updated January 15, 2020
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Tuesday passed an amendment to an anti-women harassment law and introduced separate oaths for Muslim and non-Muslim ombudsperson.
The government bill earlier had a single oath for the ombudsperson.
Two separate oaths for the Muslim and non-Muslim ombudsperson were included in the bill after Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl MPA Naeema Kishwar tabled an amendment to Schedule-II of the law.
“The main purpose of the amendment was that no person of a particular non-Muslim community could assume the post in the garb of a Muslim,” clarified mover of the amendment when treasury, minorities and an MPA of Pakistan Peoples Party initially opposed it.
The treasury and opposition benches supported the amendment.
Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani chaired the proceedings.
Separate oaths introduced for Muslim, non-Muslim ombudsperson
Minister for social welfare and women development Dr Hisham Inamullah moved a resolution in the house for the passage of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
Naeema Kishwar through her amendment says the ombudsperson shall take oath as: “that I am a Muslim and believe in the unity and oneness of the Almighty Allah, the Books of Allah, the Holy Quran being the last of them, the Prophethood of Mohammad (PBUH) as the last of the prophets and there can be no prophet after him, the Day of Judgment, and all the requirements and teachings of the Holy Quran and Sunnah.”
The content of the amendment triggered a debate in the house.
Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Nighat Yasmin Orakzai opposed the amendment.
Opposing the contents of the amendment, she said members of minorities could also become ombudsperson like judges of the superior courts.
She said the amendment would stop minorities from becoming ombudsperson.
Minister for law and parliamentary affairs Sultan Mohammad Khan also opposed the amendment and said the Constitution did not allow discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex and place of birth.
Speaker Mushtaq Ghani proposed two separate oaths for Muslim and non-Muslim ombudsperson that was supported by the law minister.
Ranjeet Singh of the JUI-F proposed a separate oath for minorities.
Minister Hasham Inam suggested that oath begin with the name of the Almighty Allah.
Minority MPAs from the treasury and opposition benches snubbed the JUI-F lawmaker for using ‘inappropriate’ words against non-Muslims.
They resented the remarks of Naeema Kishwar about minorities and demanded of her to withdraw them.
The speaker expunged the remarks.
Naeema Kishwar clarified that she had a lot of respect for minorities and she specifically highlighted Ahmadis. Earlier, three amendments proposed by MPA Nighat Orakzai were included in the law.
According to the amended law, a person, who is or has been working with a well reputed civil society organisations or a social welfare organisation having at least Bachelor’s or equivalent degree in law from a recognised university with at least 15 years post qualification experience could become ombudsperson besides a person who is, has been or is qualified to be a judge of the high court or a retired civil servant of known integrity having law background with at least 15 years of service.
The house passed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Vagrancy Restraint Bill, 2020.
The bill meant for the care, rehabilitation and reintegration of vagrants in the province declared that if the special magistrate finds that a person is vagrant and person shall be send to Darul Kafala for the detention for a period no exceeding three years. All offences registered under the law will be cognisable and bailable.
Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2020
https://www.dawn.com/news/1528347
NEWS COVERAGE PERIOD FROM JAN 06 TO JAN 12, 2020
JI CHIEF URGES GOVT TO EDUCATE WOMEN
By Our Correspondent Published: January 12, 2020
QUETTA: Jamaat-e- Islami chief (JI) Sirajul Haq has stressed upon the provincial government to provide quality education to girls and maintained that the society cannot develop without empowering the women.
“We are astonished over the provincial government’s silence on poor educational and health facilities for women,” Haq said, while visiting JI Women Wing’s Quran Institute on Saturday in Quetta. The JI chief urged the government to educate women in the remote areas of the province and said that JI had been playing a key role for the purpose.
“Jamaat e Islami has been playing its due role for religious and contemporary education of women in Pakistan and Balochistan because we believe without educating girls, the society cannot develop,” he said.
He observed that the federal government and the mainstream media had turned their faces away from the issues pestering the people of the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 12th, 2020.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2135390/1-ji-chief-urges-govt-educate-women/