Faithful choices

Change is inevitable but this is not inevitable that this change is for public good. Even if it is, it is not sustainable. This remains the case for both women and religious minorities in Pakistan. Those who want a healthy, dynamic and rational society to be built in this country, free of all hatred, prejudices and oppression, continue to strive for changes in our constitution, law books, educational curriculum and social attitudes.
And while the obscurantist interpreters of the dominant faith make leaps with their desire to take this society back into the medieval age, the progressive forces only manage to inch forward. Because again and again, the powerful institutions of the state of Pakistan and their allies in the media push them back, be it those who matter in the government and judiciary or some self-proclaimed saviours of the nation who ride the primetime airwaves of powerful Urdu-language private television.
Some developments over the past few weeks and days provide ample evidence to what I submit. While MNA Sherry Rehman of the ruling PPP wants blasphemy laws to be amended with a number of enlightened Muslim scholars besides others on her side, the law minister of the PPP government, Babar Awan, declared that no changes can ever be imagined until he is holding his office. So forget about the right wing political parties gearing up and planning to take out processions in favour of the misconceived law, the relevant arm of the government has already dismissed any changes.
If some procedural changes, mind you procedural and not substantive, are even introduced by a parliamentary committee formed recently and get approved, they could still be challenged in the courts. See what has happened just a day back with the Protection of Women (Criminal Laws Amendment) Act, 2006. The Federal Shariat Court has found three sections of the said law to be violative of the constitution and its Islamic injunctions.
So forget about any movement towards the

repeal of the Hudood laws, against which the women of this country struggled for decades. Even the women’s protection act that they were finally able to negotiate with the powers that be to provide relief to hundreds of victims, has been found to be against the supreme law of the land.
A couple of other political developments are also interesting to note. JUI, led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman, withdraws its support to the PPP-led coalition government protesting against the removal of his party comrade and said to be a key financier, Azam Swati, from his ministerial office. Swati squabbled with Hamid Saeed Kazmi, the PPP religious affairs minister, who is also sacked after a Hajj scam. But Fazlur Rehman decides that his confidante Maulana Sheerani will continue to head the Islamic Ideology Council. This is the place where our laws and policies are whetted from a religious lens.
The other related incident, I say related because the Hajj issue was highlighted by an unprecedented letter written to our chief justice by a Saudi prince, is Saudi Arabia’s desire to introduce the same religious curricula in Pakistani public and private schools which is taught in their country.
Fundamental choices are to be made in Pakistan. What threat Islam would face in a Muslim-majority country? Who would ever question the universal values of the faith? But those who wish to use dated jurisprudence and orthodox cultural practices in the name of religion to gain political power will be irrelevant if all discriminatory and divisive articles and laws in our constitution and law books are purged.

The writer is an Islamabad-based poet, political analyst and advisor on public policy. Email: harris. khalique@gmail.com