The direct beneficiaries of the ordinance reportedly signed by Musharraf would
be 1,300 women detained without trial for minor offences and domestic disputes
across the country. The clause revoked forbade those arrested and charged under
the law from getting bail.
While major opposition parties are still silent on the ordinance, the move has
been welcomed by Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), a party dominated by Mohajirs
- the migrants from India when the subcontinent was divided in 1947.
The amendment is likely to be criticised by Islamist parties, who consider the
Hudood law as holy.
When the ordinance was signed is unclear. The News Sunday said it was
introduced "as recently as last week".
"No formal official announcement about incapacitation of the severe clause has
been made. It has been left to legal experts to interpret," the newspaper said.
The Hudood legislation was promulgated in 1979 by the then president Zia-ul Haq
as part of his campaign to introduce Islamic jurisprudence and eventually make
Pakistan Nizam-e-Mustafa, or a country ruled by God.
However, the newspaper observed that the women arrested under the law "have
been rescued from enormous social evils and family nightmares they were plagued
with" by being behind bars.
The move, as demanded by human rights organisations, would, however, raise new
social and administrative problems for women and children from broken families
and with no means to fall back upon once out of jail, it warned.
