An update on this story. As in Kemalist Turkey, Islamic law is opposed by the force of government power. And that is the only thing blocking its implementation. “‘Taleban law’ blocked in Pakistan,” from the BBC, with thanks to John Doe:
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has blocked a fresh attempt to enact a Taleban-style law to enforce Islamic morality in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).
The court instructed the provincial governor not to sign the bill, which is opposed by President Pervez Musharraf.
North West Frontier Province, which is governed by an alliance of religious parties sympathetic to the Taleban, passed the legislation last month.
Last year a similar bill was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
President Musharraf, who says he wants Pakistan to espouse an enlightened, moderate form of Islam, has denounced the bill as fundamental breach of human rights.
Correspondents say it is almost unheard of for the same bill passed by a provincial assembly to be challenged twice in the courts by the federal government.