Representatives of more than 35 religious parties warned the government of a countrywide protest on Tuesday if the ‘anti-Islamic’ Women Protection Bill was not withdrawn by March 27. This declaration of unanimous condemnation of the “policies of the government against the Shariah, the Constitution and Pakistan ideology” was passed at the All-Pakistan Ulema Conference, organised by the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), in Mansoora, Lahore. The JI chief, Sirajul Haq, presided the conference and pronounced the Women Protection Bill to be “an attack on the Muslim family system” by the west, which has tasked the country’s rulers to accomplish the international agenda. The declaration also criticised the statements given by the leading officials on both the new law as well as Mumtaz Qadri’s hanging. The Women Protection Bill, which has catalysed a heated debate between the liberal and the religious factions of the country, each side fervent in its efforts to oppose the other side’s views, is a debate that is resonated globally. The act gives legal protection to victims of domestic, sexual and even psychological abuse, and also aims to create a toll-free abuse-reporting hotline, provides shelter homes and district-level panels to facilitate members in disputes. It also makes the usage of GPS bracelets mandatory to keep an eye on serial offenders; this clause has been critically appraised by human right groups, calling it the ‘need of the hour’ in the “world’s third-most dangerous country for women” (Thomson Reuters Foundation, 2011), constantly being tainted by shameful acts like domestic abuse and acid attacks. Nevertheless, the legislation did not win any confidence among the nation’s clergy, who are terming it as a redundant act “…add(ing) to the miseries of women.” The disagreement between the two forces has scurried the government in its attempt to appease all sides to ensure a balance. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, according to the JUI-F chief, Fazlur Rehman, has ensured him of forming a committee to address the reservations of religious organisations. Government is also considering convening an all-parties conference to reach some consensus on the issue. No matter how different forces may react to the aforementioned legislation, its grave need in the present setting is a bleak reality. The current Punjab is no different in its treatment to women as painted in the folklore of the likes of Piloo’s Saheban and Shah’s Heer. Even today, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy filmed the old patriarchy as the ever-present rule of the land. A Pakistani woman has no place in this chauvinistic society where she cannot claim authority over her honour or body, her opinion or self-respect. In 2013, Punjab alone was found to account for 5,800 crimes against women (Aurat foundation). The recent provincial police statistics also reported a radical increase of 20 percent in the registered rape cases in 2015. Every year, more than 2,000 women are reported to take refuge in Dar-ul-Amans (women shelter homes) to escape violence. Such disastrous figures highly contrast with this suppressive attitude of the religious authorities. Violence against women is a stark reality, increasingly being associated with our country, the only solution to which is a comprehensive legislation. It is high time that the nation’s stakeholders realised the importance of female empowerment, a very heated issue being discussed worldwide. Not only are the UN agencies striving to achieve full economic and political equality between men and women, countries like Georgia are engaged in an active pursuit to eradicate female abuse. On the other hand, our society is still grappling with the contention whether the protection legislation can be declared ‘Islamic’ or not. It is not just the religious authorities that are in disagreement with the criminalisation of violence against women; even the legislators in the Punjab Assembly are still not in unison on the issue. Out of the 76 women provincial lawmakers, only 44 were present on the day the resolution was passed. Nevertheless, the act does have many shortcomings, which need to be addressed, particularly, with regard to both, a comprehensive definition of abuse as well as preventive measures to protect women against violence, as proposed by many civil society organisations. In addition, as promised by the prime minister to social activists, at the screening of Obaid-Chinoy’s documentary, loopholes in the existing legislation, which deals with honour killings, also need to be plugged. Until then, Pakistan continues to be a showdown between the two titans while the outside world looks on how Pakistan will shape the future of its women. Pakistan owes it not to the world but to its women. *