ISLAMABAD, Feb 10: President Gen Pervez Musharraf said on Tuesday that honour killing was intolerable and a debate could be held on the the Hudood Ordinance.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the third meeting of the Regional Steering Committee for the Advancement of Rural Island Women of the Asia-Pacific (RSC-AP), attended by first ladies and ministers from member countries, the president also called for concerted efforts for the uplift of women.

Commenting on the Hudood Ordinance, the president said it was promulgated with good intent during the tenure of President Ziaul Haq, but could be discussed.

"Nobody can deny the fact that we have to adhere to the Quran and the Sunnah, this is not a question of violating the Quran and the Sunnah, no Muslim can violate them.

"The question is of correct interpretation of the Quran and the Sunnah, the debate is what do the Quran and the Sunnah say," he maintained. He said the Hudood laws were a 'touchy and thorny issue'. "But there is no doubt in my mind that it should be open to any debate," he said. "Why should we shy away from even discussing it, why is it such a taboo that we cannot discuss it or talk about it.

"This should not be a taboo," he said amid warm appreciation from participants. The president asked women legislators to take up the matter for discussion and urged the men to be bold enough to allow discussion on it to ensure that it was in accordance with the Holy Quran and the Sunnah.

Referring to the "Ijtehad and Ijmah", the president said debating an issue and developing a consensus was very much in accordance with the Islamic injunctions. The meeting of first ladies aims at identifying ways to ameliorate the status of rural women.

He said we should show to the world that the men in Pakistan were not intolerant and chauvinistic and not prepared even to discuss an issue. "We have to show to the world that we are a tolerant, progressive, educated and civilized society in accordance with the Islamic teachings," he added.

HONOUR KILLING: On the subject of honour killing, the president said it was a crime and curse and in violation of the country's laws.

He termed it an "attitudinal problem" of the people in position and authority with a negative mindset, and stressed that the need was to deal with such cases forcefully and ensure that those who committed these acts did not go unpunished.

President Musharraf was also critical of the discriminatory rural custom of feeding the girls less than boys in less educated families. He termed it an "uneducated and illiterate" approach, and said health of a woman was equally important in building a strong nation.

The president called for removing this 'anomaly' by educating and creating consciousness. President Musharraf dwelt on a host of issues related to women uplift and recounted the steps taken by his government in the last few years.

He favoured the idea of setting up a national fund for the advancement of rural women and announced that the government would contribute Rs100 million as seed money to this fund. He urged the provinces to contribute substantially to the fund.

"We must give hope to our rural women. We must not keep them relegated to the backwaters of our societies. They should be educated, equipped with new skills, and given productive employment. Most of all, their rights should be protected, their health needs must be fulfilled."

Referring to the government's efforts to promote women's rights and address the causes of gender inequity, the president said implementation of the devolution plan brought power to the grassroots communities and enabled them to take their own decisions, and made the government accountable to them.

"The most impressive and forward-looking component of this effort was reservation of 33 per cent seats for women in all local bodies - at the union, tehsil and district level."

"Today, more than 36,000 women sit as councillors in local bodies across the country. They are either running or helping to run the local governments all over Pakistan in every district." President Musharraf also informed the audience about the steps taken for increasing women representation in the higher legislative bodies of the country.

"We have reserved 17 per cent seats for women in the provincial assemblies, the National Assembly and the Senate. We lowered the voting age to 18 from 21. There are 18 women senators in a house of 100; 73 women parliamentarians in the 342-member National Assembly and 143 women members amongst 728 provincial parliamentarians."

Noting that real political empowerment of women would remain elusive if it was not accompanied by economic empowerment, the president said the aim was to help the women of Pakistan help themselves. "We want to make them self-reliant." -Agencies