ISLAMABAD, Sept. 29: Reuter: About 600 Moslem women swathed in traditional burqas demonstrated outside the Pakistani Parliament today in support of proposals to widen the powers of Islamic Sharia Courts.
Seven days ago some 400 women marched to the Parliament to protest at the proposed laws, which would transfer divorce, child custody and inheritance from Civil Family Courts to the Sharia Courts, They said the laws threatened women’s rights.
Today, about a third of the demonstrators were veiled up to the eyes and virtually none of the ‘women showed more than their face, hands and feet.
‘Some 200 fundamentalist men, including bearded Moslem priests, guided the women, chanting slogans in support and giving them ‘water. At one point, demonstrators broke through a police line ‘and surged towards the Parliament building but were halted by a second row without violence.
The Bill extending the powers of the Sharia Courts, made up of both legal experts and Islamic scholars, was due to be discussed in the Senate, or Upper House, later.
Opponents, headed by the women’s action forum, say the Bill Would further subordinate women to men.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 3, 1986
