ISLAMABAD, Dec 6: The National Assembly on Tuesday rejected a resolution seeking to amend in the Hudood Ordinance-1979 Bill. Tabling the resolution, Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Kunwar Khalid Younus said a requirement in the Hudood Ordinance that evidence about Zina should be given by four people was a discrimination against women. The method of evidence must be eliminated, he added.

The MNA said the Hudood Ordinance had no relevance in the current era and it was creating misconceptions about the country in the West.

He said the Hudood Ordinance was enforced only in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and added that it was introduced during Gen Zia’s tenure to appease and to get financial assistance from the then Saudi government.

Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal MNA Sahibzada Abual Khair said that decisions in Hudood cases must be taken in line with Quran and Sunnah.

Law Minister Wasi Zafar noted that the government had given full rights to women. He said the government had reserved women seats at the union and district levels, besides giving them equal quota in jobs.—Online