Democratic law

This refers to the letter, ‘Read the law’ (March 18) by S T Hussain’s. The writer says: “Thirty-four religious political outfits, including the JUI-F and the JI, have a combined parliamentary strength of three percent. They do not want to see Pakistan become the country its founder envisioned it to be. These regressive forces have given an ultimatum to the PML-N government in Punjab to take back the Women’s Protection Act.”

We should decide whether we are a democracy or not. The bill was passed by a majority in the Punjab Assembly. If religious parties want more debate on the Women’s Protection Act, they have every right to do so. However, issuing threats is not the way to go. Pakistan has suffered for more than 35 years due to extremist views of a minority of our populace. It is time the majority’s viewpoint was respected and followed.

Syed Hussein El-Edroos

Islamabad