Eradication of discrimination against women demanded

There is an increasing tendency of violation of rights of women in the name of Islamic traditions and this is fast becoming a dilemma of Pakistan in the changing global scenario. This view was expressed by Dr Aslam Abdullah scholar in the University of India, at a seminar on "Women Rights in the Islamic Traditions" organised by "Sach", an NGO working on the issue of human rights abuses, here on Saturday.
Dr Arshad, Professor of Islamic Studies in Government College Haripur, Dr Noreen Khalid, representative of Sach and Dr Riffat Hassan, scholar and researcher also spoke at the seminar.
The participants of the seminar called for eradication of all discriminations against women.
Dr Aslam Abdullah said that world-wide 75 percent of the Muslim women suffer diseases because of lack of medical facilities. In Pakistan, the ratio of violence against women is very high, but only 4 percent of the victims seek action against violators, he said.
He said that 63 percent of women in Pakistan and India are illiterate and only one percent gets higher education. Violation of women rights is similar in India, and women's choice is not important in the selection of life partner.
Dr Aslam Abdullah said that there should be no discrimination on the basis of sex between men and women, and different roles and responsibilities should be assigned to both.
He said that being ignorant of true Islamic teachings, many people follow the traditional and customary practices, which are usually not the part of Islam.
He was of the view that most of the women are unaware of their rights, and male communities living in India, Pakistan and even Italy do not want that their women should be aware of their rights.
Muslim women continue to be brutalised and discriminated against, despite some improvement in statistics relating to women education, employment, social and political rights, he added.
Dr Noreen Khalid, representative of Sach, said that it is the dire need of the time to identify the misconceptions prevailing in the society and to challenge the ignorance-based traditions, which are directly or indirectly cause of violence against women.
The most dreadful aspect is that religious teachings have been misinterpreted to support male chauvinism, she concluded.