WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN

That this House deplores the actions of President Hamid Karzai for recently introducing a law severely curtailing the rights of Afghan women; expresses its gravest concerns that reportedly under this law women must seek the permission of their husband to work, go into education or seek medical treatment; condemns the fact that this law may legalise marital rape and believes that this would violate both the United Nations Convention on Human Rights and the Afghan constitution; notes that the United Nations and leading human rights activists have expressed serious criticisms about the law; and calls on the Government to condemn strongly this law and seek immediate talks with President Karzai on the subject and urge him seriously to reconsider the move.