Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : War -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lorne who wrote (19980)	6/3/2003 9:10:17 AM
From: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck	Respond to of 23908

Pakistan province cheers Sharia Last Updated: Monday, 2 June, 2003, 23:52 GMT 00:52 UK By Paul Anderson BBC correspondent in Pakistan Islamists have a strong presence in the province There were cheers and shouts of "Allah is Great" in Peshawar's elegant assembly building when the bill introducing Sharia, or Islamic law, went into the statute books. There was never any chance it would not be passed - the alliance of radical religious parties which governs the province, the MMA, has an absolute majority. Nonetheless, it went through unanimously and without debate, and that says something about the influence which the alliance enjoys in North West Frontier Province and across the country. The MMA were delivering on an election promise to line the province's education, judicial and economic systems with Islamic principles. The Taleban were totally different - they were uneducated and revolutionary. We are doing things though through democracy In practice, that means abolishing interest payments in banks, imposing more Koranic studies in school, and subjecting the administration of justice to Sharia interpretation. The architects of the law say they want a society free of the evil and corruption. After decades of misadministration, bribery and soaring crime, not many people object to that. 'Best for the poor' On the streets, people were pleased when the Sharia bill was introduced. "We should have the freedom to decide whether we need to work or not." Meraj Humayun Khan, NGO worker "This is best for the poor," said one man. "As Muslims, we should all support it." However, many liberals and political moderates dismiss the Sharia law as a political crowd pleaser, which may not have any real effect. Years ago, Sharia was enshrined in the Pakistani constitution. A Federal Shariat Court exists to make legal judgments based on Sharia. But what worries many people is the agenda of the Islamists beyond the Sharia law in the province. They look at the imminent introduction of another bill establishing an accountability bureau to promote virtue and police vice, and fear the worst. Fear of 'Talebanisation' "Our society is gradually being pushed towards religious totalitarianism - a system that was practised by the Taleban in Afghanistan in a crude form, which is carried out here in a more sophisticated way," said Afrasiab Khattak, head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Radical religious parties control the provincial government Mr Khattak says that unlike the Taliban, the North West Frontier Province's leaders are moderate, but are driven to immoderate lengths by a support base of young radicals straight out of the Islamic religious schools. In a show of strength and religious zeal in Peshawar last month, vigilante groups of such radicals tore down posters and billboards depicting women. "My fear isn't about the chief minister or his ministers," says Meraj Khan, who manages an NGO project. "It's about the workers of the religious parties who take the law into their own hands and start to implement Sharia according to their interpretation." "But I feel the most serious danger is they will not take up our issues - literacy, health, domestic violence, poverty. The problems are of such magnitude now, and they don't have the capacity to address them. So they're trying to distract us," she says. Democracy The provincial government dismisses such arguments along with the charge it is overseeing the creeping Talebanisation of North West Frontier Province. Adverts showing women have been torn down "The Taleban were totally different," says the provincial law minister, Zafar Azam. "They were uneducated and revolutionary. We are doing things though through democracy." Mr Azam says he wants his province to be a test case for the rest of the country. But Islamic party leaders are not waiting for the results. They are already pushing their agenda at national level, using their influence as a powerful opposition force to squeeze concessions from the government. In protracted negotiations over changes made by President Pervez Musharraf last year to shore up his power, religious leaders have demanded - among other things - measures which Islamise the economy, education and the media. They may get them. If they do, they will be able to show their voters they are a force to be reckoned with in national politics. And this just eight months after they stormed onto the political scene.

To: lorne who wrote (19980)	6/3/2003 9:14:54 AM
From: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck	Respond to of 23908

Pakistan's Sharia law criticised news.bbc.co.uk Anti-Western sentiment is running high in the province Human rights groups have condemned moves by legislators in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province to introduce Islamic law. On Monday, the provincial assembly passed a bill introducing Sharia law in the region, which borders Afghanistan. It is the first time the strict code, based upon the teachings of the Koran, has been in force in Pakistan in the country's history. The bill gives Sharia precedence over secular provincial law and stipulates that every Muslim will be bound by it. It proposes restricting the rights of women, and calls for education and financial systems to be brought into line with the teachings of the Koran. Critics fear a re-run of life under the Taleban, the Islamic hardliners who ruled Afghanistan and drove women and girls out of jobs and schools, back into their homes. God is great! God is great! Ruling party members after vote Cheers for Sharia Supporters say all they are trying to do is to curb obscenity and protect human decency. The head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Afrasiab Khattak, says the move is pushing Pakistani society towards religious totalitarianism. He accused the pro-Islamist coalition that runs North-West Frontier Province of trying to impose a system similar to that of the Taleban. Perviz Rafiq, a senior official of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, says he fears the new law would be used to persecute minorities. "Religion should not interfere with the political affairs of the country," he told the Associated Press. Since taking power last October the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) ruling alliance in the province has introduced a number of changes. Laws have been brought in banning the examination of women by male doctors and forbidding men from coaching women athletes. The MMA have also ordered civil servants to pray five times a day and curbed the sale of music and videos. Women's rights "We should have the freedom to decide whether we need to work or not." Meraj Humayun Khan, NGO worker The bill was passed unanimously on Monday by members of the provincial assembly, which is dominated by hardliners. Details of the law are vague but observers say it sets the tone for the type of rule the province's people can expect. Opposition parties tried to water down some of the bill's provisions, including those concerning women's rights, but withdrew amendments in the face of overwhelming odds. The bill still needs the signature of the provincial governor to become law. Analysts say that is a formality. The planned creation of a Department of Vice and Virtue has prompted concern among some people who recall Taleban vice squads dispensing summary justice in Afghanistan. Hardliners have been cracking down on activities they consider un-Islamic since they swept to power in North West Frontier Province last October. What's in the bill No interest payments in banks More Islamic studies in schools Administration to be subject to Islamic law Drive against 'obscenity and vagrancy' Ban on the display of firearms Several cinemas have been closed down, and musicians have complained of harassment. The BBC's Paul Anderson in Islamabad says radicals in the alliance of Islamic parties in power in the province are already using their ideals of Islamic purity and justice as bargaining chips in negotiations with the government to end a constitutional crisis. Many people in North-West Frontier Province have close ideological ties to the Taleban. Pakistan's federal law enforcers have little jurisdiction over the area, which is more strictly conservative than other parts of the country.