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Pro-Taliban Govât Pushes Laws in Pakistan
The pro-Taliban government of this ultraconservative border province presented a package of Islamic laws Tuesday that it said will make the region the first in Pakistan to be run upon the teachings of the Quran. The package presented to the provincial assembly included few specifics, but it came with promises by Islamic hard-liners to ban obscenity and vulgarity, and bring the North West Frontier Province's education and financial systems in line with Shariah, or Islamic law. "Back to the Dark Ages!" "In the whole of the North West Frontier Province, Shariah will be the supreme law in provincial matters, and all courts in the province will be bound to interpret and explain provincial law according to Sharia," said the document, called the Shariah Implementation Act of 2003. The bill must be debated and approved by the provincial parliament and signed by Gov. Sayed Iftikhar Hussain Shah before it can become law. But the Islamic coalition - called the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, or United Action Forum - dominates the legislature, and passage of the bill is considered a formality. "This is an historic day, not only for this province but for the whole country because we are setting an example," said Maulana Abdul Jalil Jan, provincial information secretary for Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam, the leading party in the six-party Islamic coalition that swept to power in the province in October elections. An example of what happens to people when you wind your turbans too tight Since gaining power in the province last year, the hard-line government has begun cracking down what it considers un-Islamic activities. Several movie houses have been shut down and the remainder have been forced to paint over posters of women in Western clothes. Earlier this month, authorities banned male coaches from training female athletes in the province and barred men from watching women's sports events. In addition, they have called for compulsory reading of the Quran, Islam's holy book, in schools, and passed a resolution that only women doctors should carry out medical tests on female patients. Human rights officials expressed concern Tuesday over the actions. "Everybody, whether he is a Muslim or non-Muslim, should have the right to freely follow his religion," said Kamla Hayyat of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. "But the way Islamic parties have started imposing certain laws ... will deprive many people of their basic rights." Islamic parties are against all that life, liberty and pursuit of happiness stuff. Posted by: Steve 2003-05-27 |
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