Pak bar council raps Islamisation plan

After debating the implications and consequences of the proposed 15th amendment bill, the PBC demanded immediate withdrawal of the bill and called upon lawyers throughout the country to vehemently oppose its passage.

Expressing deep distress over the introduction of the bill, the council described it as“unnecessary and superfluous”. It stressed that the Islamic provisions contained in the constitution were adequate for the purpose of bringing the existing laws in conformity with the injunctions of Islam.

Legal experts observed that the proposed legislation would result in the destruction of judiciary as an independent organ of the state and its decisions would be flouted and over-ridden by the executive through directives issued under the name of Islam.

Warning that the new law would lead to more sectarianism and further incidents of violence in the country, the council said after the passage of the 15th amendment, the constitution would lose all its efficacy and would be rendered a meaningless document. The council resolution further said the parliament and the provincial assemblies would be rendered useless as law makers.

It said that the already difficult position of women in Pakistan would be “rendered untenable and their rights jeopardized”, while the rights and legitimate interests of theminorities would be negated and they would suffer from “grave insecurity”.

The Islamisation plan announced by prime minister Nawaz Sharif on August 28 seeks to change the amendment process requiring only simple majority from the two Houses of the Parliament as against the two-third required at the moment. It also empowers the government to take every step for “doing what is right and stop what is wrong” in the name of Islam.

Various other human rights and women’s organisations have already expressed their strong opposition to the bill.

The Sharif government is already on the defensive and the passage of the bill has been deferred till the month-end, when Sharif returns from New York after attending the UN General Assembly session.