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PPP hails CII decision on divorce issue

By Our Staff Reporter 2015-01-24
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has cautiously welcomed a recent decision of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) that pronouncing divorce three times at once is a punishable offence and said that the council should take the decision to its logical conclusion and must not backtrack.

`The call by the council to legally ban the practice of pronouncing divorce three times at once and make it a punishable offence being against the injunctions of Islam is cautiously and guardedly welcomed,` said PPP spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar in a statement.

He said it would be premature to make a definitive statement until the fine print of the CIPs actual recommendation was made public but the call itself was a positive development and a step in right direction.

`The CII head announced its decision at a press conferencebutitneedsapropernotincationandthen amendment in family laws,` the senator said. `What is needed now is to take the call to its logical conclusion and there is no dithering or backtracking as was witnessed recently during the council`s discussions on a religion based law,` he added.

Mr Babar said the Muslim Family Law Ordinance, 1961, had already laid down the procedure for dissolution of marriages consistent with the latest pronouncement of the council. `It is natural that since the council has declared the practice of pronouncing divorce three times as against Sharia it would also publicly abandon its opposition to the Family Law Ordinance,` he added.

The PPP spokesperson was of the view that continued opposition to the Muslim Family Law Ordinance would be inconsistent with the new public stance of the council and raise questions.

The senator said the council had also `unwisely` rejected as un-Islamic the clauses of the Muslim Marriage Act, 1939, that allowed women to seek divorce on the grounds of their husbands` contracting another marriage without their consent.

`The council must now also withdraw its opposition to the Muslim Marriage Act, 1939, so that it is not seen as making confusing and contradictory recommendations,` he added.

He said it was unfortunate that the council had attracted criticism for opposing the DNA evidence in rape cases for fixing criminal liability. `It has also been criticised for opposing progressive laws aimed at stopping child marriages declaring them as unIslamic. It is time that the council revisited some of its retrogressive pronouncements in order to stay relevant,` he added.