Pak religious parties demand Sharia in NWFP

Washington, Apr.10 (ANI): With the Pakistan Government giving its nod to the Taliban demand for Sharia courts in the Malakand region of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), various religious parties are demanding the imposition of Islamic laws across the province.

Leader of a faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami, Hamidul Haq Haqqani told a US daily that the implementation of sharia would allow the government to establish peace in the region.

Haqqani asserted that Islamic law should be implemented despite the opposite from the US.

"We would like it to be implemented in the entire country. It should be done whether Americans like it or not. The federal government should show some courage. It is one of the ways that Pakistan could be salvaged," The Daily Times quoted Haqqani, as saying.

JUI-Fazl leader and a member of the NWFP legislature, Mufti Kifayatullah, also supported the call.

"We want to expand the system of Swat-like courts so that the people could get speedy and inexpensive justice in accordance with sharia," Kifayatullah said.

Political leaders are of the view that it is not possible to implement sharia laws similar to what prevails in Swat and Malakand.

"The sharia laws in Swat-Malakand region have been implemented, keeping in view the demand of its inhabitants. The replication or extension of the same model to other parts of the country is not possible per se," Pakistan People's Party (PPP) spokesman Noor Alam Khan said. (ANI)