‘Unacceptable, controversial’

Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, and Hefajat-e Islam yesterday demanded that the government immediately scrap the "unacceptable and controversial" recommendations of the Women's Affairs Reform Commission.

The commission submitted its report, containing 433 recommendations, to the chief adviser on Saturday.

The groups denounced the commission's report, terming the recommendations "anti-Islamic and ideologically biased".

Jamaat objected to a proposal on page 25 recommending the abolition of inheritance law and granting equal property rights to men and women.

Its Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar said the existing inheritance law is based on Islamic principles, and repealing it would be like taking a stance against Islam.

He also criticised a proposal on page 9 suggesting a uniform family law for all religions and the implementation of marriage and family regulations under the CEDAW charter.

CEDAW stands for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, an international human rights treaty adopted by the United Nations in 1979.

In the statement, Parwar said many CEDAW provisions contradicted Islamic beliefs, including the concepts of "nikah" and guardianship.

Furthermore, Jamaat rejected the proposal to treat the familial roles of men and women identically. Parwar said Islam acknowledges the equal dignity of men and women but recognises their natural differences.

Islami Andolan Bangladesh's Central Women's Division also rejected the commission's report, calling it disconnected from the country's cultural and religious context.

The division's chief Nurus Sabiha, deputy chief Kohinoor Begum, and coordinator Hafeeza Bushra said the report reflected Western feminist ideologies.

Hefajat-e Islam, in a separate briefing, demanded that the commission itself be scrapped alongside its recommendations on inheritance and religious laws.

Echoing similar sentiments, the Sammilito Ulama Mashayekh Parishad, a platform of Islamic scholars, also denounced the report.