President Alvi praises ombudsperson’s role in solving women problems

LAHORE: President Arif Alvi on Friday praised the pro-active role being played by woman ombudsperson for solving women problems and said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was taking numerous steps for ensuring rights as well as financial empowerment of women.

Addressing as the chief guest at a ‘National Seminar on the protection of women against harassment’ here at a local hotel, he said society had also to take responsibility in protecting the rights of women.

He said the government had launched a soft loans scheme for womenfolk to help them establish their own businesses; however, there was a thin ratio of women who were availing the facility.

He urged women to avail the facility and asked the women leaders including members of the parliament to create awareness among women regarding the government plans for them.

President Alvi said that the strengthening of institutions was crucial to ensure the provision of equal rights to women and protect them against harassment.

The president said that Islam had ensured rights to women particularly heirship as, before Islam, women’s basic rights were denied. A part of the last sermon of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) also mentioned the rights of women whereas the Holy Quran fixed property rights of women, which were being denied earlier.

He said that the British laws also did not provide for the property rights of women till the start of the 20th century, as women’s property was legally considered as her guardian’s.

Similarly, he referred to the viewpoint of the Founder of the Nation Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and said he gave great importance to the role of his sister Fatima Jinnah during the Pakistan Movement and after the creation of the country.

The president highlighted the importance of a developed society to protect the rights of women, saying that our cultural norms were a hurdle in ensuring the provision of equal rights to women and stressed that males should stand against sexual harassment in public and workplaces.

He regretted the Greater Iqbal Park incident where a woman was manhandled and no one from the public came to her rescue. TF Report