The divisive crossfire in parliament during debate about the law of Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW) seems to go into a radical direction with very provokingly sensitive use of sentimental religious language. Some fiery MPs declared it against Constitution and Sharia.
MP Mullah Tarakhel said it was against Islam and should be reviewed thoroughly by all parliamentary committees. The draft law sent to parliament for discussion after a Presidential decree in 2009 has been controversial and Saturday’s fiery speeches show it might get rejected or heavily amended in the parliament. Qazi Nazeer Ahmad Hanafi and Abdul Sattar Khawasi expressed anger toward President Karzai for even considering such a law, which they thought, is against Islamic values.
It is tragic that some people take it their granted right to be the self-declared guardian of Islamic values, while their knowledge does not stretch beyond the traditional basic understanding. Without a professional religious expertise, how can they even bother to get such sentimental and provocative? The answer is simple: such fiery speeches have appeal to the larger illiterate and religiously easy to be provoked masses, and goes well as a populist appeal.
The law draft has four chapters and 44 articles. It has been discussed by all 18 commissions of the National Assembly for last three years. The drafting has been done with input from religious experts and scholars. Most of the criticism are baseless and for political appeal, or ignorance. There should be a special joint commission with members from all other house commission to study the draft and give their final review, rather than making it go through review by all commissions separately.
The male MPs, particularly those who made the empty fiery speeches on Saturday would better listen to their female sister colleagues from the house and bother to understand their perspective for once in lifetime!
Despite being effective through the Presidential decree, the EVAW has been rarely implemented in individual cases. It has been largely bypassed. We hope the draft would be approved by a majority vote and the Government would strictly implement it. There are traditional and informal mechanisms of justice where they do not give a damn about human or women rights. Even in Kabul, many cases of serious crimes under the EVAW law have been prosecuted under the Penal Code or Sharia law. The social curse of violence against women is a national tragedy in Afghanistan and there should be serious effort to change it.