Meanwhile, according to a comments published in same newspaper, six female Jamaat Islami (JI) members of the NWFP Assembly have submitted to the house a draft bill aiming “to protect veiled or fully covered women against discrimination on the basis of dress”. The bill is expected to be debated in the current session. According to the movers, veiled women had complained that they were being discriminated against for their “choice of dress”. The remedy is one month in jail or Rs 15000 as fine or both.
Apart from the fact that the bill is redundant in the presence of laws protecting women against all kinds of discrimination, it can encourage citizens to go for another bill asking the state to protect them against the aggression of the burqa-clad women. Thus the citizens of Islamabad would be within their rights to seek legislation to force the state to protect them against the assault and battery of the burqa-clad inmates of Jamia Hafsa. On the other hand, armed with a new pro-burqa law, the burqa-brigade may attack anyone and then send them in for a month for “discrimination”.
The burqa-clad ladies of the Peshawar assembly must learn to tell “fear” apart from “discrimination”.
The End
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