PESHAWAR:Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Secretariat and Community Appraisal and Motivation Programme (CAMP) Thursday arranged one-day provincial conference here on promoting women’s property and inheritance rights in the Newly Merged Districts.
The conference was arranged under an agreement signed between the two organizations on the issue.
Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of Women Rukhshanda Naz while lauding the efforts of KP government and civil society for collaborating on this important issue said that we needed to make the conversation more about ownership rather than just inheritance.
Women’s unpaid work must be recognized and they must be made a part of ownership she said adding that we did not want only Sharia protection but all religions should be protected whatever religion the individual is from, she added.
She also reminded the participants that “the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights Act” was not only about inheritance but about property of all types.
This act aims at providing protection to women of their rights of ownership and possession of properties owned by them, ensuring that such rights are not violated by any means of harassment, coercion, force or fraud and for the matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Rukhshanda acknowledged CAMP’s efforts for raising awareness about this law and spoke about how cases have started trickling in from NMDs due to such campaign.
CAMP’s CEO Naveed Ahmad Shinwari welcomed the honoured speakers and guests to the conference. He thanked the stakeholders of the project including the Ombudsperson Secretariat, Commonwealth Foundation and local CSOs Asad Ali and Mariam Khan introduced CAMP NGO and Da Khor Barkha project.
Mufti Ghulam Majid, Senior Research Officer, Council of Islamic Ideology, Pakistan quoted from the Surah Nisa in the Holy Quran which clearly stated the inheritance rights of women.
He said it was very plainly stated that inheritance was something that happened automatically, whether or not the next of kin ask for it.
He also explained the punishments that were attached with not giving the rightful share in inheritance. Mufti Majid spoke about the contributions of the Council of Islamic Ideology, including a booklet detailing women’s inheritance rights, which has been published.
Dr. Noreen Naseer, Assistant Professor, Political Science Department, University of Peshawar, and Member KPCSW spoke about the traditions of the NMDs and why women are not given their property rights.
She said unfortunately women are considered property, and highlighted traditions such as Badala and Swara which exchange women like they are property.
These traditions need to be challenged and that will not happen until women own property or receive their rightful inheritance.
“If we start challenging these structures and values, and stop exchanging girls and women, and start educating girls, a lot of our issues can be resolved, she remarked and added that 51 percent population in the merged districts are women, which is a strong force.
Dr. Sameena Afridi, Lecturer, University of Peshawar and Member KPCSW stressed on the needs for advocacy and awareness on this important issue.
She spoke about the customary law which prevailed when Pakistan was born, and because of that women’s right to property was generally not given.