Good News!

Pick up a newspaper, switch on a news channel or enter into a discussion on current affairs with anyone, the result will be the same. You will end up depressed, hopeless and frustrated by the goings on in our country. In such a gloomy environment, we have acquired the habit of either ignoring the good things (believe me they still happen though they’re alarmingly few) or casting doubts on the authenticity of and intention behind anything good that happens. So, I feel it necessary to spread good news whenever I get one.

Yesterday, the Federal Shariat Court passed a judgement stating that sub Article 4 of Article 151 of the Qanun-e-Shahadat Order, 1984 was against the principles of Islam as laid down in the Quran and Sunnah. The Court advised the government to repeal the said law within six months. In case the government fails to do so, the said sub article will automatically cease to have effect after that time.

Article 151 of the Qanun-e-Shahadat Order, 1984 lays down ways in which the credit of a witness can be impeached. The other sub articles discuss logical and understandable means such as proving that the witness has been bribed or showing that the witness’s earlier statements contradict his evidence etc. However, sub Article 4 shows an unbelievably twisted way of discrediting a witness. It states that “when a man is prosecuted for rape or an attempt to ravish, it may be shown that the prosecutrix was of generally immoral character.”

So, if a poor woman is raped and shows an unusual amount of courage to actually go to the Court for justice, this law allows the defendant to tarnish the moral character of the woman as his defense. This provision completely ignores the Islamic principles that no one can cast a doubt on the moral of character of a woman under any circumstances unless he can provide four credible witnesses to confirm his allegation. If anyone does this without four witnesses, he is liable to be punished for Qazaf.

That such a law continued to exist for almost 25 years is a cause for concern. But the fact that this monstrosity will now be removed should be relieving for us all. I know that most of us (including myself) were not even aware that such a law existed; still this decision cheers me up for two reasons. First, that all is not lost yet. At a time when Islam is being ridiculed and abused all over, and when narrow-minded groups with selfish motives have been given the responsibility of interpreting and implementing its principles, at least somewhere the voice of reason and logic survives. And second, that our courts are still capable of redressing the wrongs at least to some extent. The judiciary just needs people to trust it, have confidence in it, and keep a strict check on it. Our judiciary may not be the best we can have, but it is the only one we do have. It is up to us to transform it into the best.

We are experts in criticism and watch every step of the government cynically. But this decision provides a reason to forget the state of governance and judiciary in the country for a moment and salute the FSC for a sensible verdict. A word of thanks is also due to Capt. (Retd.) Mukhtar Ahmed Sheikh whose petition brought the obnoxious law to the notice of the Court.