PESHAWAR: Governor urged not to sign Hasba bill
Dawn
By Bureau report
PESHAWAR, Nov 19: The All Pakistan Minorities’ Alliance has urged the NWFP governor not to give assent to the Hasba bill. The alliance’s chairman Shehbaz Bhatti led a protest demonstration against the bill at the press club here on Sunday.
He said all legal and constitutional means would be used for stopping the bill from becoming an act and the minorities would raise their voice against it at all levels.
He said the bill was against women and the minorities and it would be used for curtailing the rights of the vulnerable groups.
“The Hasba law will impose a martial law of the clerics and affect the personal and family laws for the minorities,” he said.
The law, he said, was in conflict with the constitution and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s provincial government would recruit thousands of clerics in various departments to be established under it.
He said an ombudsman was functioning on the federal level and there was no need of establishing the offices of provincial, district and tehsil mohtasibs.
The minorities were feeling insecure and due they wanted the governor not to sign the bill, Mr Bhatti said. The demonstration was also addressed by Punjab Assembly member Pervez Rafique.
Minorities protest against Hasba Bill
Daily Times
Staff report
Monday, November 20, 2006
PESHAWAR: The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) on Sunday protested against the Hasba Bill, calling it “a religious martial law”. APMA Chairman Shahbaz Bhatti said the bill “will make minorities’ lives miserable”, especially their women’s. “It is a religious martial law which will affect the personal and family laws of minorities,” he said.
He said an “extremist mohtasib” would disrupt peace in society, adding that the Hasba Bill had instigated fear and unrest among the minorities of the province.
Bhatti urged the NWFP governor not to sign the bill because it did not safeguard the minorities’ rights. He said APMA would raise its voice at all levels in a peaceful and democratic manner against the “unconstitutional and undemocratic” Hasba Bill. The APMA staged the demonstration in front of the Peshawar Press Club.