Islamabad (AsiaNews) – Pakistan's most influential ulemas representing diverse schools of thought came together on 2 July in Islamabad to discuss ways and means to save the Hudood Ordinances from amendments proposed by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII).

At the end of the meeting, the clerics announced that a meeting will be held at national level on 6 July in an Islamabad mosque for Muslim clerics and politicians. Further, the clerics called for the immediate dismantling of the current Council and the formation of another, different one.

The ulemas' meeting and their decisions reached were a reaction to a meeting held on 1 July between the Council and the Pakistani president, General Musharraf, who called for the drawing up of final recommendations for amendments to the controversial, Islam-inspired, laws. The amendments to the text should be ready by the end of August, to be submitted for approval to the 162nd general meeting of the Council in September.

The Islamic Hudood ordinances were approved in 1979 under the military junta of General Zia-ul-Haq: they are made up of four sections that regulate propriety, qazaf [false accusations of adultery], adultery and prohibitions that bind also non-Muslims where alcohol and gambling are concerned. Everything falls under the general rule that in court, non-Muslims must be tried by a Muslim judge and have a Muslim lawyer.

Besides, the Ordinances make no distinction between adultery and rape. To get justice from the state, a woman who is a victim of rape must bring before an Islamic court the testimony of four males - adult and Muslim - who witnessed to and can testify the act was carried out using violence. According to the ordinances, if the victim is unable to produce these witnesses, she may find herself accused of adultery and condemned to imprisonment.

The decision to amend the Ordinances has provoked a fiery nationwide debate. At one end of the spectrum are Islamic integralists, who claim it is a sacrilege to even think of cutting down laws inspired by the Koran. At the other end, human rights and civil rights groups are calling for the total repeal – not just the amendment – of the laws, held to be draconian and increasingly abused to settle personal scores.