ISLAMABAD: Dr Samia Raheel Qazi, daughter of former Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed and the only female member of Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), has demanded Tuesday her opinion be given due importance and her suggestions be made part of the council’s report.
Qazi, in a letter written to the director general research of CII, said her proposals and recommendations regarding the two last meetings of the council were ignored.
“My suggestions and observations are not given proper place and due importance regarding the women protection bills of Punjab and KPK,” Dr Qazi added.
She elaborated and said that recommendations and notes of a few members are dominating reports made after council meetings.
“It seems that only two or three members of the council are active while others are silent,” she said.
'CII should be disbanded'
PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar demanded the disbandment of CII and asked for the Rs100 million fund allocated for the body for fiscal year 2016-17 be withdrawn.
“There is no reason for Council of Islamic Ideology to continue its job and it should not send more reports to the Parliament for legislation,” Babar said during his speech on budget in the Senate.
“This is the council which says husband can beat his wife,” said Babar said the CII also denied DNA as proof in rape cases.
He said that council had also suggested to the people to write 'Kalma Tayyaba' on their homes so that culture of Jihad can be promoted.
“A council should not continue its job with so many controversies,” Babar said adding that the council has also declared minimum age for a girl's wedding as un-Islamic.
Babar raised concerns over the increase in the annual budget of the council and demanded the government to withdraw the funds allocated for CII.
“Money allocated for the council should be given to National Commission for the Protection of Women,” the senator stated.
He added the parliament or provincial assemblies can consult the Ulema if any legislation required an Islamic point of view. “Federal Shariat Court can declare any law as un-Islamic if it feels the need, hence there is no need of a consultative body like the CII,” the senator maintained.
Earlier in May, CII deliberated on its proposed ‘model’ women’s protection bill, which allows a husband to ‘lightly’ beat his wife 'if needed' and prohibits mixing of the genders in schools, hospitals and offices.
The CII’s proposed bill claimed women will have all the rights given to them under Shariah, prohibited interaction between na-mehrams at recreational spots and offices, and banned ‘dance, music, and sculptures created in the name of art’.
