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MQM rejects parliamentary approval of Nizam-e-Adl

* Altaf brands regulation ‘Taliban sharia’

By Irfan Ali

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain and the MQM coordination committee are exploring the possible course of action against the implementation of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation in Swat, as the MQM “considers it to be a violation of the 1973 Constitution”.

The MQM has decided to register a protest with President Asif Ali Zardari, but the MQM would not part ways with the Pakistan People’s Party-led government. “The MQM has decided to invite clerics at a conference to seek their opinion on the regulation, so that a course of action can be chalked out,” MQM Rabita Committee Deputy Convener Dr Farooq Sattar told reporters after a meeting of the coordination committee.

“In his address over the telephone, Altaf made it clear that the MQM would never accept a forced enforcement of sharia,” said Sattar, adding that the MQM chief had also termed the parliamentary approval of the regulation ‘a violation of the 1973 Constitution’.

Altaf said the regulation was aimed at “sabotaging religious harmony in the country”. He said the regulation was not Islamic sharia, and branded it the ‘sharia of the Taliban’.

Sattar said his party was a government ally, but it did not share the administration’s opinion on this issue.

Referring to supporters of the ‘Taliban sharia’ in parliament, Sattar said these people did not condemn suicide bombings.

Sattar said Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry should be asked whether the running of two parallel legal systems in the country could ever be possible. “If the regulation is implemented, it may well prompt the Taliban to demand similar systems for Buner, Chitral and other areas, using the same tactics,” he added.

He claimed the government had tabled a resolution supporting the regulation without consulting the MQM.

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