On the introduction of a Hasba Bill in a Pakistan Province

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On the introduction of a Hasba Bill As British Muslims come to terms with the news that the London attacks are probably the work of suicide bombers, it is important to try to understand the motivation and pressures which may have radicalised some of their youth. The impact of fundamentalism is also being felt and feared in Pakistan where the oposition in the NWFP (North West Frontier Province) Assembly expresses grave concerns at the introduction of the 'Hasba Bill', calling it a 'black law' and claiming that the draft is aimed at paving the way for a 'one party system'. Abdul Akbar Khan, Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians leader, told Daily Times on Monday that the bill would interfere in the personal life of an individual and would make existing laws redundant. He said the assembly was about to legislate a law that was based on one-man rule in the province. “Everything has been put under one man, even the provincial assembly,” he added. “The system will function under the influence of one man who is the parliamentary leader of the ruling Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal,” he said, adding, “The bill has made other existing laws subservient to it, which is very dangerous.” He also said that the bill would deem all courts redundant. Bashir Ahmed Bilour of the Awami National Party (ANP) said the bill “is the new face of mullaism, fundamentalism and Talibanisation. We won’t accept it in any form or at any cost,” he told Daily Times. Sikandar Khan Sherpao of the Pakistan People’s Party-Sherpao (PPP-S) said the opposition reserved the right to move the Peshawar High Court or Supreme Court against the draft law. “We will discuss how to go about it,” he added. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JIU-S) leader Hamidul Haq told reporters that the MMA did not take his party into confidence over the Hasba Bill. “We support every move on Islamisation, but the JUI-S wasn’t consulted over the Hasba,” he added. Shehzada Gustasip, leader of the joint opposition in the NWFP Assembly, said parallel administrative and judicial systems had been introduced in the province with the tabling of the law draft. “If we count the votes favouring opposition members, they are in greater number than the number of votes favouring the MMA. And when all opposition parties oppose the bill, it means that a majority of the people in the province oppose the bill,” he added. Asma Jahangir, chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan believes that if the Act is passed, the Hasba force will act as chief prosecutor and enjoy wide powers, without any accountability. They will punish, admonish, watch, monitor, and even persecute. Pakistan’s rulers are extremely touchy about the image of the country. If only they were this focused on improving their governance skills. Forcibly stopping Mukhtar Mai from proceeding abroad and using brutal force against journalists and human rights activists is not likely to give them the progressive image they aspire for. On one hand, the government wants to present a soft face – at least to the world outside – but on the other, they have been caught napping while the Hasba Act issue has once again raised its head in the Frontier. Is it because the military government has lost its effectiveness? Or are there indeed parallel forces at play? Or is it simply to draw the attention of the West to the “evil” that they alone can counter? In all eventualities, the sad conclusion is that Pakistan is rapidly moving towards militancy of all sorts and forms. The Hasba force will only add its own weight to the falling structures of the state. The sponsors of the Hasba Bill have defended it on several grounds and assured the public that it will not be as menacing as it appears. Similarly did the Taliban, in Afghanistan, justify their Ministry of Vice and Virtue. The outcome was oppressive. In Nigeria, 12 northern states have Hasba set-ups and continue to justify them on religious grounds. Human rights organisations report that Hasba members deliver rough justice. They have been responsible for flogging and beating up people for being “un-Islamic”. They have gone from house to house to ensure that people are not indulging in “un-Islamic” behaviour. Men and women have been prohibited from travelling together. According to reports published by Human Rights Watch, Hasba forces have stopped vehicles carrying men and women and forced the latter to disembark. Senior officials of the federal government describe them as “parasites” that are impossible to shake off. We can easily understand this. Haven’t we also had a taste of laws based on religion? And who knows better than us that once a structure, institution, or law has been made in the name of Islam, even the most “progressive” of rulers has not been able to undo it? The Hasba Bill is as hypocritical as it is tyrannical. It vows to protect religious minorities and the rights of women in the face of traditional practices like honour killings. The mohtasib will ensure that all women get their Islamic share of inheritance. Not long ago, sponsors and authors of the Hasba Act had opposed amendments (weak as they were) in the Pakistan Penal Code that might have brought the perpetrators of honour killings to justice. Many of them have been the complainants in a number of blasphemy cases filed against religious minorities. They have threatened and even killed those accused of blasphemy. To this day, they have never raised a finger against those who usurp women’s right to inheritance. No law has been proposed that protects either women or children from social and economic isolation. After having exploited children from marginalised sections of the society in madrassas and used them to carry out jihad, the Hasba group is now promising to eradicate child labour. Such double talk will not fool anyone. It is a deliberate provocation for all democratic forces. The mullahs have spared the armed forces from this inquisition. The Bill prohibits the Hasba network from snooping around the business of the armed forces. If their Islam is good for the country, surely it will also serve the armed forces. But the mullahs know their limitations. Their wrath, anger, and venom is reserved for the vulnerable. Women, children, and religious minorities are easy victims. In fact, these sections of society have already been victims of informal Hasba gangs. A woman activist and her teenage daughter were killed in the Frontier simply because the mother was working for women’s empowerment. The government of Pakistan neither denounced the act nor take any measures to protect women activists. Instead, human rights activists are visited daily by intelligence agencies. They are grilled about their work, and their families are harassed. An admission by an NGO that it works for women rights is treated like a confession of guilt. The vigilante groups of the MMA already enjoy a free hand. They turn women away from university campuses for not covering their heads or other “immoral” behaviour. These vigilantes have even taken to visiting the “food street” in Lahore to check if “morality” is being observed. When these people threaten to beat up women athletes or those running in mixed-marathons, they are appeased. Apart from rhetoric, which is only meant for the outside world, the government has taken no measures, adopted no policy, or given any indication that the orthodoxy will not be allowed to take law into their own hands. The enforcement of Hasba law in the Frontier will further strengthen these people. The Hasba force will be institutionalised. They will cover the province through a network of mullahs ready to pounce on their prey. The Hasba Bill gives the provincial, district and tehsil mohtasibs wide powers and open-ended authority to enforce virtue and “whip” out evil. They can interfere with the media, education, bureaucracy, and in family matters. The Bill allows them to ensure that parents are respected, people are not extravagant, and beggary is not practised. All public places can be inspected to ensure that “true” Islam is being practised. Authors of the Bill have been clever. The mohatsibs will have a council, which will include lawyers, civil servants, and SHOs of police stations, allowing them to pull strings. This will boost their ability to do mischief. The Hasba mohtasib will have the freedom to design procedures. A police force will assist him in carrying out investigation, reconciliation, and administrating punishments. Any criticism of the Hasba force will be treated as contempt of court. No court can prohibit the Hasba force from carrying out any act. Superior courts cannot pass interim orders against their workings. The authority of the Hasba mohtasib cannot be challenged in any court and only the chief minister can hear an appeal against his recommendations. In short, if the Act is passed, the Hasba force will act as chief prosecutor of the province and enjoy wide powers, without any accountability. It will punish, admonish, watch, monitor, and even persecute. It will be accountable only to the chief minister. The Act makes an advanced degree from a madrassa a mandatory requirement for the Hasba mohtasib. They are expected to supervise Islamic “akhlaq” and “adab”. This is no different from any past political bid to usurp all power in the name of Islam. Once the Hasba Bill is passed in the Frontier, other provinces will not lag behind for long. An Editorial in DAWN mirrors the concern. THE issue of image is upon us again. Speaking to German businessmen in Frankfurt on Monday, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that he was conscious of the fact that Pakistan had an image problem but that a lot was being done to set things right. As proof of this, he cited the country’s GDP growth rate of 8.4 per cent for 2004-05. While not questioning the prime minister’s intention of wanting to improve the country’s image, Mr Aziz would perhaps accept that building an image is not a matter as simple as recounting its high GDP growth, increased foreign investment or ample foreign exchange reserves. How any country is perceived by the outside world depends on a matrix of various intangibles. These include the level of personal and political freedom, the level of socio-economic development and whether it is evenly-distributed or benefits only a privileged few, whether all citizens are equal before the law and have easy access to justice, and how the state treats its citizens, especially women, minorities, children and those who form part of the political opposition. Regrettably, on most of these counts, we fare poorly. While Pakistan might have achieved high GDP growth, the fact of the matter is that this positive factor is lost in a mire of generally negative things happening in the country. Not to flog a dead horse, but the gross mishandling of Mukhtaran Mai’s planned visit to the US, the cover-up of Dr Shazia Khalid’s rape case, failure to check repeated misuse of the blasphemy, Hudood and Qisas and Diyat laws, and frequent policy flip-flops on fighting religious extremism at home are not at all good for Pakistan’s image and reputation. And now there is the proposed Hasba law which promises to turn one of the country’s four provinces into a mirror image of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Instead of words, the government should concentrate on action that goes beyond the limited area of GDP growth. It should learn to stand up to fundamentalist threats, instead of trying to broker a deal with zealots, take decisions to remove some of the massive inequalities and archaic tribal customs in Pakistani society and check rising discrimination against women and the minorities.
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