February 19, 2009

WASHINGTON, DC – The Institute on Religion and Public Policy condemns the decision of the Pakistan government to impose Shariah law on entire regions of Pakistan in concessions aimed at pacifying a spreading Taliban insurgency.

The announcement came after talks with local Islamists, including one closely linked to the Taliban.

Amir Haider Khan Hoti, the chief minister for the North West Frontier Province, said authorities would impose Islamic law in Malakand region, which includes the Swat Valley. Swat is a one-time tourist haven in the northwest where extremists have gained sway through brutal tactics including beheading residents, burning girls schools and attacking security forces. The campaign of the Swat Taliban against female education has led to tens of thousands of children being denied an education.

"The imposition of Shariah law is a serious violation of the rights of all peoples in the region, regardless of their religious identity," said Institute President Joseph K. Grieboski. "Since the ‘democratic' imposition of Shairah law in the Northwest Frontier Province, there has been a marked increase in extremist activity and acts of terror."

The deal follows talks between the government and a local Islamic leader, Sufi Muhammad, who once led hundreds of men to fight alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan against the U.S.-led coalition. He was freed by the Pakistani authorities after elections last year.

While some argue that the new law is a relatively mild form of Shariah, with the aim of undermining support for the extremists and their populist demand for speedy Islamic justice, religious experts, known as a qazi, will sit in the court, alongside a regular judge, to ensure that the rulings are in compliance with Islam. Such a move guarantees that clerics have more authority than civil judges and rolls back any understanding of liberal democracy in Pakistan.

"This imposition will not strengthen the hand of the Pakistani government; it will undermine and destroy it while also destroying any hope for a liberal democracy and protection of human rights in the entire country," Grieboski said.

Institute on Religion and Public Policy