Free Republic

Islamabad, 22 Dec. (AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - A strike called by hardline Islamists intended to protest the recently approved Women's Protection Bill drew a lukewarm response on Friday, indicating that the country's traditional religious forces have a weak appeal for the masses, according to ruling Pakistan Muslim League party secretary general Senator Mushahid Hussain. The strike went off peacefully without incident and all company and government offices remained open. In the cities like of Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar, and Quetta, traders keep their shops closed on Friday as usual. But in Karachi and Lahore life was by and...

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's lower house of parliament voted on Wednesday to put the crime of rape under the civil penal code, curtailing the scope of Islamic laws that rights groups have long criticized as unfair to women. The Women's Protection Bill was seen as a barometer of President Pervez Musharraf's commitment to his vision of "enlightened moderation" and a major battle in a struggle between progressive forces and religious conservatives over the Muslim nation's course. "It is a historic bill because it will give rights to women and help end excesses against them," Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told the...