Pakistani Area Seeks to Police Morals

Hard-line lawmakers in a Pakistani provincial assembly on Thursday pushed through a Taliban-like law to establish a morality police aimed at enforcing “Islamic correctness” in public places.

A six-party Islamic coalition, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, dominates the assembly in the conservative North-West Frontier Province, and easily passed the bill by a vote of 68 to 34. The provincial governor must still sign it before it becomes law, a step seen as a formality.

The law, called the “Accountability Act,” calls for setting up a department to ensure adherence to “Islamic values at public places,” and to discourage entertainment outlets and some businesses from operating during Friday prayers.

Violators could be fined or jailed for up to six months.

Opponents compared the measure to the former Taliban regime’s draconian rule in neighboring Afghanistan.

The Taliban’s feared Virtue and Vice police cowed the population for years, barring women and girls from virtually all public life, including work and school.

Khalil Abbas, a Pakistani lawmaker with the Awami National Party, said, “This law will end personal freedoms. This is by the same people who sent innocent people to fight in Afghanistan who ended up either dead or in jail.”

Sirajul Haq, a member of the ruling coalition, dismissed the criticism and said people had voted the group into power and given it the right to make laws.

The provincial government has banned music on public buses, barred male doctors from treating female patients and restricted men from watching or coaching female athletes.