Two ministers of the ruling party have come face-to-face on the issue of public hangings of rapists after the National Assembly, with a sizable majority, cleared the resolution regarding the matter on Friday.
State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Khan reacted strongly to fellow minister Fawad Chaudhry's tweet who had criticised the approval of resolution seeking harsh punishment for those found to be involved in child abuse.
The resolution, which was tabled in the Lower House by parliamentary affairs minister stated: “This house strongly condemns the brutal killing of 8-year-old Iwaz Noor in Nowshera and demands that to stop these shameful and brutal killings of children and give a strong deterrence effect, the killers and rapists should not only be given death penalty by hanging but they should be hanged publically.”
Soon after it’s passage, Fawad Chaudhry tweeted: “This is just another grave act in line with brutal civilisation practices. Societies act in a balanced way. Barbarism is not the answer to crimes [...] this is another expression of extremism.”
Later, responding to the science minister's tweet, Ali Mohammad Khan defended the resolution and said, “those calling Islamic punishments as barbaric are themselves cruel.”
He also said, “the tribal society is the most cicilised socity in the world where women are given respect.”
Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari also tried to distance the ruling party from the controversial development.
The resolution also invited criticism from other political parties and human rights organisations including Amnesty International.
The Amnesty International also condemned the passage of the resolution in the National Assembly, saying that public hangings were acts of unconscionable cruelty.
“The sexual abuse and murder of children are among the most horrific crimes, but the death penalty is not a solution. Public hangings are acts of unconscionable cruelty and have no place in a rights-respecting society,” said Amnesty International’s Deputy South Asia Director Omar Waraich.
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