Council of Islamic Ideology proposes new law that will allow light beating of wives

PAKISTAN'S Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has proposed legislation that would allow husbands to lightly beat their wives who decline sex or refuse to wear what their spouses suggest they do.

 

In what is likely to spark a fierce debate and infuriate the women's lobby, the constitutional body has drawn up proposals that allows wife beating and advocates the use of limited violence on spouses who do not bathe after intercourse or during menstruation. However, the CII says it is yet to finalise the 160-page draft before it is sent to lawmakers in the Punjab province, the country's most populated region, for approval.

 

CII leader Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani, said: "Hit her in areas where her skin is not too thick and not too thin. Do not use shoes or a broom on the head, or hit her on the nose or eyes."

 

"Do not break any bones or cut her skin or leave any marks. Do not hit her vindictively but only for reminding her about her religious duties."

 

Technically, the he CII cannot make laws itself but gives suggestions to Pakistan's government and parliament. Already, the proposal has sparked outrage inside the country, with Allama Tahir Ashrafi, a former member of the CII who resigned for what he called religious reasons, saying it is unbelievable.

 

Mr Ashrafi added: "So, what is light beating and limited violence? Not chopping off their heads but only, say, burning them in oil?"

 

He is now leader of the 110,000-member Pakistani Religious Scholars Council, a group of mullahs who debate Islam and preach. According to Mr Ashrafi, the council should be speaking about rape, about the increasing divorce rate and about suicide bombings but they avoid these issues.

 

In the draft bill, there is a step-by-step guide on how to administer these beatings. For instance, it says that if a wife disobeys her husband, he should try to talk to her and if that does not work, he should sleep separately and only finally use violence as a last resort.

 

In addition, the CII document also suggests that any man who does not follow that process should be prosecuted. Pakistan was the first Islamic country to elect a woman to high office, with Benazir Bhutto serving as prime minister in the 80s and 90s before her assassination in 2007 but it consistently ranks as one of the world's worst countries for female employment and education.

 

More than 1,000 honour killings were carried out in Pakistan last year, where women are murdered by their own relatives if they are seen as bringing dishonour on their families. This latest CII proposal was in response to an unconventionally liberal move by Pakistan's Punjab Province, which pushed for a progressive gender-equality law called the Protection of Women Against Violence Act seeking to give women more rights, including fitting violent husbands with electronic tracking bracelets.