Pak provincial assembly passes Taliban-style bill

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's provincial assembly on Monday passed a controversial law to set up a Taliban-style police system to promote virtue and eliminate vice, a move dubbed by the opposition parties as "unconstitutional."

The Islamic alliance government in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) approved the Hisba (accountability) Bill which establishes a unit led by an Islamic cleric to eliminate vice with a separate police force to implement its orders.

The bill was presented by the six-party religious alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) in the NWFP provincial Assembly and was ratified by a majority. It was tabled in the house by the NWFP Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Malik Zafar Azam and passed in the absence of opposition members.

Opposition members, including those from the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) walked out of the assembly proceedings to protest the passage of the bill.

Under the new law, an Islamic watchdog will monitor the observance of Islamic values in public places. The plan is reminiscent of the infamous Department of Vice and Virtue, set up by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

The passage of the bill follows a heated debate between the MMA and the opposition.

Under the new law, the principal duty of the cleric, called "mohtasib" - one who holds other accountable - will be to ensure people respect the call to prayers, pray on time and do not engage in commerce at the time of Friday prayers.

The cleric will also stop unrelated men and women from appearing in public places together and discourage singing and dancing. One of his tasks will be to monitor the media to ensure "publications are useful for the promotion of Islamic values".

The bill was first passed in July last year but the Supreme Court rejected it in August last year, terming various clauses of the law as unconstitutional and illegal.

The Court had asked the provincial governor not to sign the bill into law after which the MMA abandoned it.

But it brought it back again apparently to queer the pitch before next year's general elections as well as to counter federal government's move to bring about a new bill called protection of rights of women in Parliament to modify religious laws introduced by former military ruler Zia-ul Haq.

Federal Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani has said the law is "unconstitutional" and warned that it would lead to confrontation between Islamabad and the provincial governments.

He said the Supreme Court had described parts of the bill as illegal but the MMA has ignored the court's instructions.

Meanwhile, the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) strongly criticised the proposed Hisba Bill and declared it a conspiracy to impose 'Talibanization' in NWFP.

Shahbaz Bhatti Chairman of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) said the "Hisba Bill is unconstitutional, religious marshal law, and a parallel to legal system that will spread anarchy and chaos in the society and will deprive the general public of their rights and liberty. The provincial government can use this bill to victimise its political opponents".