Women’s inheritance rights in focus
MINISTER ANNOUNCES PLANS TO EDUCATE WOMEN ABOUT ACCESS TO LEGAL RELIEF
Minister announces plans to educate women about access to legal relief |
Pakistan’s Ministry of Human Rights has launched an awareness campaign on women’s rights to inheritance, under Sharia and the country’s constitution.
The landmark decision aims to provide legal shelter and aid to hundreds of thousands of women in Pakistan’s far-flung rural territories, who have continuously been denied their inheritance either by male relatives or due to long-prevailing social and cultural norms.
Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari announced that her ministry aimed to educate people about religious and legal protection provided to women through this awareness campaign.
“The protection of a woman’s right to inheritance has been one of the priorities of the incumbent government, for equality and justice in Pakistan,” Mazari said.
Islam and the Constitution of Pakistan guarantee women’s inheritance rights and offer clear guidance on the matter, she added.
A helpline number, 1099, has also been launched by the ministry, to provide free legal advice on the matter.
The ministry has also uploaded a video message by the chairman of Islamic Ideological Council (IIC), Dr Qibla Ayaz, in which the noted scholar clarifies that influencing women using familial, social or cultural pressures to give up their lawful right to inheritance is not only against the Constitution of Pakistan, but also violates the laws of Islam and the Quran.
‘Conflicting reality’
The Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf’s (PTI) official account also shared a video announcing the nationwide campaign.
A woman official of the Human Rights Ministry, wishing to remain anonymous, said: “While rights are not denied to women, women do not get what is their right. This is conflicting yet is the reality.”
Women’s right to inheritance plays a vital role in their socioeconomic and political empowerment.
According to a lawyer, Ayaz Hussain, Pakistani law recognised the deceased’s right to leave his property according to his will, but restricted that to one-third of his assets.