SHARIA--WHERE DID IT GO?

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 08792

LIMITED OFFICIAL USE

DEPT ALSO PASS AID/APRE
MANILA FOR AMB. PLATT
USIA FOR NEA - RUGH

E.O. 12536: DECL:N.A.
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PK
SUBJECT: SHARIA--WHERE DID IT GO?


1. LOU- ENTIRE TEXT


2. ONE MONTH AGO, THE LEADING TOPIC OF POLITICAL
DISCUSSION IN MUCH OF PAKISTAN WAS THE PRIME
MINISTER'S SHARIA BILL, OSTENSIBLY MEANT TO
"ISLAMIZE" PAKISTANI LAWS, GOVERNMENT, AND SOCIETY.
DEBATE RAGED IN THE PRESS BETWEEN CRITICS FROM THE
RELIGIOUS RIGHT, WHO ARGUED THAT THE BILL WAS TOO
WEAK, AND LIBERALS WHO PREDICTED IT WOULD--AT A
MINIMUM--INFRINGE ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND
MINORITIES. DAILY EDITORIALS, COLUMNS, AND
INTERVIEWS HIGHLIGHTED THE POSITIONS OF COMPETING
POLITICAL PARTIES AND LEADERS. THE BILL'S
INTRODUCTION INTO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ON MAY 12
THREATENED TO CREATE A NEW POLITICAL LINE-UP, WITH
THE SECULAR PDA, ANP, AND MQM ALLIED WITH THE
ISLAMIST PARTIES AGAINST THE BILL.


3. IN CONTRAST TO POPULAR EXPECTATIONS, HOWEVER,
THE GENERAL PREOCCUPATION WITH SHARIA DISAPPEARED
ALMOST OVERNIGHT AFTER ITS MAY 16 PASSAGE BY THE
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. SHARIA'S PASSAGE BY THE SENATE
ON MAY 28 DREW LITTLE NOTICE--THE SENATE MADE NO
CHANGES, ESSENTIALLY RUBBER-STAMPING THE NATIONAL
ASSEMBLY'S DECISION. AT THE TIME, BOTH THE PRESS
AND MEMBERS OF NAWAZ'S IJI COALITION PREDICTED
PRESIDENT GHULAM ISHAQ KHAN WOULD SIGN THE BILL INTO
LAW WITHIN TWO OR THREE DAYS. THREE WEEKS LATER,
HOWEVER, SHARIA HAS LARGELY DISAPPEARED FROM PUBLIC
DISCUSSION. A SURVEY OF PAKISTAN'S LEADING DAILIES
FOUND NO MENTION EITHER OF PRESIDENT GHULAM ISHAQ
KHAN'S UNEXPLAINED DELAY IN SIGNING IT, OR OF HIS
FINALLY SIGNING SHARIA INTO LAW ON JUNE 14. A TRUE
NON-EVENT.


4. WE BELIEVE MOST OF THIS SUDDEN DECLINE OF
INTEREST IS DUE TO NAWAZ'S SUCCESS IN CREATING AN
ACT THAT IS LONG ON RHETORIC BUT BRINGS NO IMMEDIATE
CHANGE TO PAKISTANIS' DAILY LIVES. WHILE THERE WAS
STILL THE POTENTIAL FOR LANGUAGE THAT COULD--FOR
BETTER OR WORSE--AFFECT PAKISTANI'S LIVING
CONDITIONS, THE ACT WAS OF INTENSE INTEREST. MANY
LIBERALS, WOMEN AND MINORITY REPRESENTATIVES REMAIN
LEARY OF THE SHARIA LEGISLATION--CITING, FOR
EXAMPLE, ABUSES OF THE HADOOD (ISLAMIC PUNISHMENT)
ORDINANCES UNDER GENERAL ZIA AS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW
RELIGIOUSLY-MOTIVATED LEGISLATION CAN BE TWISTED TO
FIT POLITICAL OBJECTIVES. EVEN THEY, HOWEVER, HAVE
ADMITTED TO US THAT THE TEXT OF THE ACT ITSELF IS
LESS AN ISSUE THAN THE DEPARTURES THIS OR A FUTURE
REGIME MIGHT TAKE FROM THE LETTER OF THE LAW. (THE
PUNATIVE ARTICLES OF THE HADOOD ORDINANCE, FOR
EXAMPLE, HAVE GENERALLY BEEN ENFORCED WHILE
ACCOMPANYING PROTECTIONS GIVEN WOMEN HAVE OFTEN
FALLEN BY THE WAYSIDE.) CRITICS SUCH AS THE PDA'S
AITZAZ AHSAN ARE, IN FACT, MORE CRITICAL OF THE
BILL'S VAGUENESS--ALLOWING NEW INTERPRETATIONS "AT
WILL"--THAN OF ANY MANDATE ACTUALLY INCLUDED IN THE
ACT.


5. THE AMENDMENTS INSERTED INTO THE ACT DURING THE
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEBATE HAVE HELPED DEFUSE THE
ISSUE FOR MOST PAKISTANIS. THE ASSEMBLY UNANIMOUSLY
APPROVED AN AMENDMENT, JOINTLY PROPOSED BY FIVE
MINORITY REPRESENTATIVES, STATING THAT "NOTHING
CONTAINED HEREUNDER SHALL AFFECT THE RIGHTS OF THE
NON-MUSLIMS GUARANTEED BY OR UNDER THE
CONSTITUTION." SIMILARLY, NAWAZ READILY AGREED TO
AN AMENDMENT STATING "THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AS
GUARANTEED BY THE CONSTITUTION SHALL NOT BE AFFECTED
(BY SHARIA)." A THIRD AMENDMENT, PROPOSED BY THE
SECULAR ANP AS THE PRICE OF THEIR SUPPORT, STATES
THAT "NOTHING CONTAINED HERE SHALL AFFECT PAKISTAN'S
EXISTING PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM." THE INITIAL
THREE-YEAR DEADLINE FOR THE ABOLITION OF INTEREST
WAS REPLACING IT WITH THE VAGUE "SHORTEST POSSIBLE
TIME." ANOTHER AMENDMENT, DEFINING THE QURAN AND
SUNNAH AS THE SOURCE OF PAKISTANI LAW--RATHER THAN
THE SUM TOTAL OF LAW, IN AND OF ITSELF--ESSENTIALLY
BLOCKS ATTEMPTS TO CHALLENGE THE CONSTITUTION OR
LEGISLATING WITH CITATIONS DIRECTLY FROM THE QURAN.


6. COMMENT: MANY OF THE ISSUES RAISED DURING THE
WEEKS BETWEEN NAWAZ'S PROPOSAL OF SHARIA AND ITS
PASSAGE BY PARLIAMENT WILL REMAIN HIGH ON PAKISTAN'S
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL AGENDA FOR YEARS TO COME. IN
FACT, THE BILL WAS ADVERTISED AS ONLY BEING A BROAD
COMMITTMENT TO AN ISLAMIC AGENDA THAT MUST LATER BE
FLESHED OUT BY SPECIFIC LEGISLATION DRAFTED TO
CONFORM TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS BASIC LAW. WIDE
DIFFERENCES REMAIN WITHIN PAKISTANI SOCIETY OVER THE
PROPER ROLE OF RELIGION IN GOVERNMENT, POLITICS AND
SOCIETY, WITH A SMALL BUT VOCAL RELIGIOUS RIGHT
STILL DETERMINED TO DICTATE ITS VIEWS TO SOCIETY AT
LARGE. SIMILARLY, A COALITION OF WOMEN'S, MINORITY,
AND HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS REMAIN HIGHLY CRITICAL OF
THE ACT. WHILE THEY TELL US THEY RECOGNIZE THE
SHARIA ACT IS A FAIT ACOMPLI, THEY ARE MOBILIZING
AGAINST FUTURE SHARIA-RELATED LEGISLATION.
THEREFORE, WHILE THE SHARIA ACT PASSED BY THE
PAKISTANI PARLIAMENT IN MAY 1991 DOES NOT, IN THE
END, REPRESENT THE TYPE OF ATTACK ON CIVIL LIBERTIES
MANY IN PAKISTAN AND ELSEWHERE FEARED, THE CONCERN
OVER THE IMPACT OF ANY FUTURE LEGISLATION WILL
REMAIN.


JONES