'Writ petition against Women's Reform Commission has no legal merit'
Right after the Women’s Affairs Reform Commission submitted its recommendations to the interim government on 19 April, a wave of backlash erupted, particularly from the right-wing pressure group Hefazat-e-Islam. The proposals, which included equal inheritance rights, legal recognition for sex and domestic workers, and tougher laws against sexual harassment, triggered outrage from Hefazat, culminating in a mass rally on 3 May where members of the group hurled abuses at the members of the commission and demanded that it be disbanded. A writ petition was filed the next day, despite the fact that no law had been enacted — only proposals submitted. Though Hefazat has since issued a partial apology for the offensive language used, they remain firm in their rejection of the report and continue to brand women’s rights as a Western plot propagated by “NGO-fuelled feminists”. The Business Standard spoke to women’s rights experts and activists to unpack the deeper implications of this reaction and what it reveals about the state of women’s rights discourse in Bangladesh
Barrister Sara Hossain
Lawyer and rights activist
Article 102 of the constitution lays down the jurisdiction of the High Court to issue orders in relation to protection of fundamental rights and/or review of government action or inaction. The writ filed against the Women's Reform Commission seems completely frivolous and vexatious to me. If the petitioner has a genuine grievance with the commission's recommendations it can submit its comments and criticism to the women's commission and/or to the government for consideration.
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It can also discuss these in public as much as it wants so long as it does not violate existing criminal laws. So far, it seems that these petitioners have neither respect for the law nor much knowledge of it because they are inciting violence and threatening not only members of the women's commission but hundreds and thousands of women across the country through the kind of vile abuse they have used in the public meetings and pronouncements.
At the same time, they seem completely ignorant of the law and could benefit from a further course of study. The court may also consider if it will take action against those initiating these kinds of frivolous and politically motivated petitions and wasting the court's time as well as for their malicious effort to impugn the character and capacity of the women's commission members and incite mobs by falsely alleging that they are seeking to hurt religious sentiment.
Our courts are horrendously backlogged and thousands of people, both men and women, are forced to wait for justice for years. Does our Supreme Court really have time to waste on this kind of matter?
Furthermore, if the High Court does intervene in this matter, it would open the floodgates as every single commission could then be questioned with respect to its composition and whether it is diverse enough and regarding its mandate. The point is that they have all simply made recommendations and proposals.
A commission report is not even a policy let alone a law or a government programme that the court can question. It puts forth a set of ideas about how to best secure women's rights; it aims to generate discussion by the public, political actors and relevant government agencies. Any group that has been talking about deprivation of freedom of expression over the last many years should welcome the opportunity to discuss ideas and not to silence those who brought them.
Sara Hossain spoke to TBS' Alhan Arsal over the phone.
