Europe wants Hudood and blasphemy laws changed

[Munir]

ISLAMABAD: Expressing concern about women’s position in Pakistan, the European Union has asked the government to immediately repeal discriminatory provisions in the Hudood, Blasphemy, Qisas and Diyat laws. “The abolition of discriminatory laws will help improve women’s situation in Pakistan,” said an European Union Presidency statement released at the Pakistan Development Forum on Tuesday. However, the EU welcomed the Pakistani government’s ongoing gender responsive budgeting pilot programme suggesting it become a standard planning principle in Pakistan’s Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF). The EU expressed concern about the MTDF saying it did not address the risk of growing inequality in Pakistan. “Experiences have shown that macro-economic growth by itself does not necessarily lead to reduction in poverty,” the statement said adding that Pakistan needed a better plan to achieve the MTDF. It said the MTDF and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) should be united and an independent statistical system must be set up because the statistics of government institutions about poverty figures were not reliable. “More targeted interventions are needed to allow the poor to participate in and thereby help sustain economic growth,” the EU statement said. It added that the allocation of resources in the budget should reflect the government’s poverty reduction and social agenda. The EU also expressed concern about Pakistan’ slow progress towards achieving millennium development goals.

link: www.dailytimes.com.pk

[aurelius]

No doubt, the hudood laws in pakistan need to be reformed but this is the responsibility of the pakistani parliament to debate abt it but EU has no right to interfere in the internal matters of a sovereign state.

The 'scarf ban' in france and badenwurtemburg state in germany is a shame to the religious freedom and democracy and EU must look into the growing hatred against muslims and ethinic discrimination in its' members states before interfering into other soverign countries' matters.

[aasmi]

Originally posted by aurelius
No doubt, the hudood laws in pakistan need to be reformed but this is the responsibility of the pakistani parliament to debate abt it but EU has no right to interfere in the internal matters of a sovereign state.

The 'scarf ban' in france and badenwurtemburg state in germany is a shame to the religious freedom and democracy and EU must look into the growing hatred against muslims and ethinic discrimination in its' members states before interfering into other soverign countries' matters.i think u r forgetting that it is pakistan which borrows money from the EU and not the other way around. so i think it will interfere and this is actually a good and valid point that they are making. in pakistan these laws need changing and implementation as well since in pakistan the illiterate often just bend the rules to favor themselves.

[aurelius]

Do u mean that if EU or any other country is interfering in pakistan's internal matters then it is a *valid point* for u?

Fistly, If pakistan is getting grant or loan like other developing countries then it doesnot entitle EU to interfere in the internal affairs of that country. Secondly, the grant frm EU is is only few hundreds of dollars, bcoz nowadays pakistan is taking most of the loans from asian development bank and world bank.

the hudood and other laws need to be changed, but this is pakistan's internal matter and only they can send a proposal/suggestion to the pakistani parliament. As i mentioned earlier that in EU countries, there r also a lot of
discriminatory laws against muslims and other minorities, first they change those disciminatory laws before putting their nose into any other soverign country's affairs.

[Munir]

Originally posted by aurelius
Do u mean that if EU or any other country is interfering in pakistan's internal matters then it is a *valid point* for u?

Fistly, If pakistan is getting grant or loan like other developing countries then it doesnot entitle EU to interfere in the internal affairs of that country. Secondly, the grant frm EU is is only few hundreds of dollars, bcoz nowadays pakistan is taking most of the loans from asian development bank and world bank.

the hudood and other laws need to be changed, but this is pakistan's internal matter and only they can send a proposal/suggestion to the pakistani parliament. As i mentioned earlier that in EU countries, there r also a lot of
discriminatory laws against muslims and other minorities, first they change those disciminatory laws before putting their nose into any other soverign country's affairs.


I agree with u on this....

[aasmi]

Originally posted by aurelius
Do u mean that if EU or any other country is interfering in pakistan's internal matters then it is a *valid point* for u?

Fistly, If pakistan is getting grant or loan like other developing countries then it doesnot entitle EU to interfere in the internal affairs of that country. Secondly, the grant frm EU is is only few hundreds of dollars, bcoz nowadays pakistan is taking most of the loans from asian development bank and world bank.

the hudood and other laws need to be changed, but this is pakistan's internal matter and only they can send a proposal/suggestion to the pakistani parliament. As i mentioned earlier that in EU countries, there r also a lot of
discriminatory laws against muslims and other minorities, first they change those disciminatory laws before putting their nose into any other soverign country's affairs.

there is a difference between interfering in internal matters and making a "valid point". they are only saying to do this. they are not forcing us to do this.

u r taking things how they should be. in the practical world might is right. and by the way those few hundreds of dollars are also very important. and u only think it is a few hundreds of dollars. check the amount of grants, the amount of free money given for development for women etc. and also check the medicines etc. that they provide. then u will know if it is "hundreds" or hundred million.
by the way if i am right the OFFICIAL annual assistance for Pakistan is in excess of !00 million Euros and this is at the govt. to govt. level alone.

[aasmi]

i used the word interfere in my inital post but i didnt mean it as interfering. sorry for any problems that that word caused.

[aurelius]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>
there is a difference between interfering in internal matters and making a "valid point". they are only saying to do this. they are not forcing us to do this.[/b][/quote]

do u mean that if EU gives some millions of dollars to pak as a grant or loan then their interference in the internal affairs of a soverign must be termed as *making a valid point* by you?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>
u r taking things how they should be. in the practical world might is right. and by the way those few hundreds of dollars are also very important. and u only think it is a few hundreds of dollars. check the amount of grants, the amount of free money given for development for women etc. and also check the medicines etc. that they provide. then u will know if it is "hundreds" or hundred million. [/b][/quote]

noone is taking things softly, I have already mentioned in my previous posts that the hudood and blasphemy laws need to be *reformed* sooner than later. But this is the reposibility of the ppl of pakistan and the pakistani parliament to reform those laws but it doesnot entitle any entity like EU to teach us how they should be reformed and when!
Ur remarks r synonomous to if japan is the largest donor to pakistan then it automatically entitle them to do inspections of KRL or take Dr.AQ Khan to japan.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>
by the way if i am right the OFFICIAL annual assistance for Pakistan is in excess of 100 million Euros and this is at the govt. to govt. level alone.[/b][/quote]

One should discriminate b/w the EU and the members states in EU bcoz the grant given by UK govt is not actually called "EU grant". The annual assistance by EU is much lower than $100 dollars. Following is the extract of EU assistance to pakistan from 2003-2005 from the source http://www.eurunion.org/news/press/2004/20040018.htm:

"The EU has proposed EUR 71 million in development assistance for Pakistan in the years 2003-5, focused on education, fostering the trade and business environment, fighting child labour and rehabilitation of drug users."

Note: $71 milllion is the total amount allocated from 2003-2005, thus one should not confuse that the EU is giving $71 million/yr

[aasmi]

Paragraph 1: Explain to me how the EU is interfering. They are only saying. have they at any point said that if you dont do this we will kick your ass. Japan has also only said. Pakistan has rejected whatever Japan wanted. Oh and by the way in the practical world if you get something from someone then he has a certain amount of authority over you. this is just how the world works. sorry to inform you of this reality. is it right. NO but this is the way it is.

Paragraph 2: I am agreeing with you. But this is not how the real world works. So please dont bother me with this argument again.

Paragraph 3: Discriminate or not I never said that the grant is from the EU. I just said we get this much money from EU countries. Did not say whether it was from EU or not. anyhow here is another article.
http://www.dawn.com/2005/04/27/top9.htm
EU plans four-fold raise in aid.

[aasmi]

the link that you provided is not working for some reason.

[aurelius]

Originally posted by aasmi
the link that you provided is not working for some reason.

http://www.eurunion.org/news/press/2004/20040018.htm

its the same link..cheers!

[aasmi]

this information is over a year old and if you have been reading dawn on a regular basis EU countries such as France etc. etc. etc. have been helping Pakistan a lot other than this assistance. i doubt they would help us if the EU took a stand against Pakistan. Britain is the exception to this. it would help us if the US is helping us.

[dazalim]

EU sends these reports all the time