KARACHI:The University of Karachi’s Department of Islamic History, and Karachi University of Center of Excellence for Women Studies in collaboration with the Islamic Academic Forum (Sindh) organized a day-long national seminar on “Transgender Act 2018 and Sida Domestic Violence Bill 2020: research overview and recommendations” at the CEWS Auditorium.
KU Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi said that society should arrange seminars on such topics from different aspects so that people could learn more about the real issues, said a spokesperson of the KU on Wednesday.
He termed that healthy discussions with positive mindsets are essential for solving the problems faced by the people living in any society.
He urged that people should have the ability and capacity to listen to others’ points of view and also respect their vision regardless they agree with their logic or not.
Meanwhile, a member of the Islamic Ideological Council of Pakistan Dr Umair Mahmood Siddiqui while discussing the decision of the Federal Sharia Court highlighted various aspects of the Transgender Act and especially a provision in the bill according to which a transgender person will have the right to be identified as male or female, whereas in Islam, gender is determined only on the basis of biological composition.
He shared that Islamic orders and rituals depend on gender and not on inner feelings.
Another speaker, Shoaib Madani from Shaoor Foundation and other experts on Islamic and social sciences spoke about the topic and informed the participants about the implications of the Transgender Act.
They shared that violence against women is clearly against the teachings of Islam and there is no justification for beating females of any age.
They observed that the Domestic Violence Protection Bill has the greatest impact on the family system. The bill proposes stringent penal measures against all forms of domestic violence, while the wording ‘definition of violence’ is also worth considering.
They mentioned that according to the bill, it would also be an offense for a member of the household to instruct another person to abandon religious teachings or act contrary to morals.
A large number of students from various departments of the university, and scholars from Karachi, Hyderabad, Khairpur, Sargodha, Islamabad, and other cities participated and presented their research papers during the event.
President of IAF Sindh Professor Dr Salauddin Sani Al-Zehri, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Professor Dr Shaista Tabassum, Chairperson of KU Department of Islamic History Dr Muhammad Sohail Shafiq, the in-charge CEWS Dr Asma Manzoor and others also spoke on this occasion.