This is an absurd disagreement: the Pakistani Taliban is demanding that Sharia be implemented in Pakistan, or it will continue on the path of violent jihad. In response, the Pakistani government has obtained a fatwa declaring that the Pakistani constitution is a “perfect Islamic document,” fully Sharia-compliant. And a former Prime Minister has said that Pakistan already has Sharia. But the Taliban isn’t buying it — they apparently believe that Pakistan has more Sharia to implement. And so they fight on.
Note, in any case, that neither side is making the rather obvious argument, that Pakistan is implementing a different version of Sharia from the one Pakistan has in mind. Both sides seem to agree on what Sharia is — contrary to the claims of Islamic apologists in the U.S. who claim that Sharia is so multiform and amorphous as to defy characterization. Their disagreement is just over whether or not it is already fully implemented in Pakistan.
“Pakistani Taliban say government must embrace Islamic law,” by Saud Mehsud for Reuters, February 22:
UNDISCLOSED LOCATION IN WAZIRISTAN, Pakistan, Feb 22 (Reuters) – T he [sic] Pakistani Taliban told the government there was no chance of peace in the country unless Pakistan changed its political and legal system and officially embraced Islamic law.
The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wants to find a negotiated settlement to years of fighting with the militants but talks broke down this month after a string of attacks.
In a rare face-to-face meeting with journalists on Friday in an undisclosed location in Waziristan, a lawless region on the Afghan border, main Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said there was still hope negotiations might resume.
“Despite recent bombings in North Waziristan and killing of our 74 men by the security forces during the peace talks, we are still serious about the talks,” he said, wearing an AK-47 bandolier across his chest.
“If talks are to be held it would be only under sharia (Islamic law). We have made this clear to the government committee. We are fighting for the enforcement of sharia and we are holding talks for the same purpose.”…
“Polio drops are not a vaccine against the disease,” Azam Tariq, another Taliban official, told reporters alongside Shahid as he clutched prayer beads in his hands. “It is a campaign to damage Islam.”
Of course. What isn’t?