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Women's bill: pressure on Musharraf

Nirupama Subramanian

ISLAMABAD: Human Rights Watch on Tuesday brought pressure on the Musharraf regime to table the Women's Protection Bill in the current session of the National Assembly.

The Government has plans to table the Bill on Wednesday, but Human Rights Watch said the Musharraf regime had "reneged" on earlier promises about the Bill, which seeks to make amendments to the infamous Hudood Ordinances.

"General Musharraf claims he is an `enlightened moderate' in favour of women's rights, but so far he has been all talk and no action," said Ali Dayan Hasan, South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. It noted the Hudood Ordinances were "hopelessly flawed" and should be repealed, but said the Women's Protection Bill would provide "at least modest relief" to victims. The ordinances criminalise sex outside marriage, result in rape victims being accused of adultery, and are widely acknowledged as discriminatory against women.

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