Pakistan’s Sharia Court Gets First Woman Judge In 33 Years

KARACHI – For the first timein its history, a 56-year-oldfemale judge was on Mondaysworn in at Pakistan’s nationalsharia court, which hears casesunder the Islamic legislation.Ashraf Jehan, who was servingas an additional judge at theSindh high court, took oath,becoming the first female judgeto be appointed in the court’s33-year history.The court was established in1980 during the rule of militarydictator Ziaul Haq as part of hispolicy towards Islamisation ofPakistan’s institutions.The law is also known as knownas the ‘Hudood Laws’, whichrun parallel to the penal code.Chief Justice of the Shariatcourt Agha Rafiq Ahmed said,”I took the initiative as it wouldsend the message in the worldthat we are enlightened peopleand would dispel many misconceptions.”