Women's rights
About a week back we were suddenly stuck to a big headline carried in almost all the dailies of the country. The meaning of the headlines was the same, but some looked at first sight extremely worrisome.
The inside story under this banner was much more worrying. All the leaders of pro-Islamic political parties have jointly declared the present government as “anti-Islamic” and threatened to call for jihad. However, after the clarification from the government the matter has cooled down, at least for the time being. The Adviser of the Religious Affairs Ministry while explaining the matter told the press that the Islamic leaders have reacted without reading the draft law this government was intending to promulgate giving equal rights to women.
Bangladesh is a secular state and there are followers of different religions living in harmony. All state laws are within the values of religions and there were no clashes. Laws are required to discipline bad people and to help the good ones to live peacefully. In our country there are lots of incidences of abuse of women. The Holy Koran also gave women equal rights and there were many instructions from the Holy Prophet (Pbuh) on how to behave with women. Even then, the women are being abused and the state cannot sit idle and watch it. So, the state has its own law alongside the religious restrictions to protect the women from abuse and trafficking. The latest such law is “Woman and child repression law” which has reduced women and child trafficking and unnecessary talak (divorce). The law has also reduced the unfounded FATWAS by some religious zealots.
More than 50 per cent of the country's population are women. Keeping this half indoors the nation cannot prosper. So it has become necessary to give equal rights to them. Secondly, the girls are doing better in the academic fields than our boys. Both boys and girls are our children. Your today's young daughter is tomorrow's woman and somebody's wife. She also needs security which you will think of. The educated girls must work along with their husbands.
“Desh Prem” or patriotism is the part of Iman (belief). What some so-called religious people did during the liberation war was totally against this value. Islamic religious leaders issued fatwas during the British rule and kept the Muslims backward.
So there should be a good law to be enacted by the government to give our girl children equal rights in all spheres.
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