[Al Arabiya Latest] Afghanistan's top Shiite cleric Saturday defended legislation said to oppress women and accused Western critics of "cultural invasion" and violating the very democracy they are promoting.Mohammad Asif Mohseni also rejected a ministry of justice review ordered by President Hamid Karzai, saying any changes would violate a constitutional provision for Shiites to have their own legal system.
Karzai last week ordered a review of Shiite Personal Status Law, which he signed in March, after a storm of criticism that argued it imposed Taliban-style harsh restrictions on women.
"This political pressure is a cultural invasion, thinking one's culture better than others," Mohseni told a gathering of more than 200 followers and journalists at the Khatemi Nabien University, which he heads.
Mohseni accused critics -- including the United States, United Nations and Canada -- of not respecting the democracy they were helping Afghanistan install after the 2001 removal of the extremist Taliban regime.
The law was codifed on the basis of "the same democracy that the West is emphasizing" in Afghanistan, he said.