Pakistan:  The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) on July 9 suspended the law on domestic violence bills in 2020, expressing that the Islamic Constitutional Authority needs to submit the findings to the Pakistani government.  They said reservations on numerous provisions of the bill. The opinion of the Council of Islamic Ideology was communicated to the Human Rights Ministry in the third week of June only after the bill generated controversy following its passage in the Senate, as per media reports.

The CII considered the bill in November 2020 after it was laid before the National Assembly. The bill is currently with the National Assembly Secretariat and is to be put up again before the NA to endorse the amendments made by the Senate and to make it an act.

The News International reported that the Imran government requested that the bill be referred to the CII through media/social media because some of its provisions were considered contrary to Islamic teachings.  After its passage in the Senate, the bill attracted serious controversy among many, including parliamentarians, political leaders, including Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Amir Sirajul Haq, Senator Mushtaq Ahmad and Jamiat Ulema-e Islam of Fazal-ur-Rehman (JUI-F) Senator Atta-ur-Rehman, religious scholars and opinion-makers, who raised objections and dubbed it highly objectionable.

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