Balochistan MPAs press for Sharia law, hijab, ban on mehndis

Constitution used for governor’s rule but not for Council of Islamic Ideology, JUI-F argues.

QUETTA:

If Maulana Abdul Bari Agha had his way, any woman who did not wear the hijab would be punished, television dramas would be banned, any government officer who did not pray five times would be fined and mehndis at weddings would be proscribed.

The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F elected representative gave seven proposals for new amendments to the Council of Islamic Ideology during the session of the Balochistan Assembly on Thursday.

The MPAs, at least the ones who bothered to show up for the session, demanded the use of Sharia law, continued to rail against the imposition of Governor Rule in the province and criticized renewed corruption investigations into five ministries. The session started about one hour behind schedule with Speaker Syed Matiullah Agha in chair. Only 15 out of 65 members turned up and at least 17 are required to run the business of the house. But none of ministers present pointed out the lack of quorum.

As with the session three days ago, members chose to peg the president’s decision to impose Governor Rule to the use of Sharia law. The argument is that if the president can remove the elected government of Balochistan using articles from the Constitution then why can’t he do the same to implement the recommendations of the Council of Islamic Ideology?

JUI-F leaders Maulvi Abdul Samad Akhundzada, Maulvi Sarwar Musakhel, Syed Ahsan Shah, Ainullah Shams, Asad Baloch of the Balochistan National Party-Awami joined others to speak on this point.

They said that Pakistan was achieved in the name of Islam but after 60 years the recommendations of the council to change non-Islamic laws into Islamic ones had yet to be implemented. The speaker tasked a committee to be headed by former senior minister Maulana Abdul Wasay to undertake this.



The members then lashed out at the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which has recently opened investigations into five ministries on allegations of corruption. Maulvi Sarwar Musakhel asked why NAB had kept silent for the last five years but was now suddenly calling their members dacoits and thieves every few days. “I ask, was Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi himself not held by NAB and did an Arab prince not secure his release after paying up?” He said that NAB could scare nawabs and sardars but it could not scare the JUI-F.

Another MPA to decry what he perceived as double standards was former minister and leader of the Balochistan National Party-Awami, Syed Ahsan Shah, who called the prime minister ‘Raja Rental Power’, saying that as he was accused of corruption worth Rs520 billion he did not have the right to impose governor ‘s rule on Balochistan. “The chairman of NAB himself has said that 65 per cent of corruption is being committed in Punjab but no action is being taken against anyone there because most of the NAB officials belong to Punjab,” he added.

Ainullah Shams of the JUI-F said that NAB’s allegations were absolutely baseless.

Another complaint the MPAs made was the absence of security for them under Governor Rule. Maulana Abdul Wasay brought this up. In response, the speaker directed the secretary of the assembly to write the federal interior ministry that MPAs were not being provided security and the chief secretary of Balochistan was not respecting their wishes.

The speaker adjourned the session for an indefinite period.

Maulana Abdul Bari was one member who did not criticise governor’s rule and NAB.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25^th, 2013.