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New Pak president may trigger fundamentalist upsurge

The election of Pakistan's most conservative president in a decade is the latest sign of the strengthening influence of religious fundamentalism in this Muslim country.

In a mosque in Lahore, a young boy says his big ambition in life is to kill non-believers. His friend says he wants to fight a jihad or holy war.

In the nearby village of Raiwind, hundreds of bearded men carrying bed rolls arrive at a religious school to learn more about their Islamic faith before heading off to preach in Pakistan and abroad.

In Punjab province, where 60 per cent of Pakistan's 140 million people live, segregation of the sexes is gaining momentum.

Television advertisements of pretty young women using facial soap have been pulled, not for what they show, but for what they do not. As one government censor put it, ''People may imagine that she is not wearing anything.''

Now, Rafiq Ahmad Tarar, who was elected by legislators recently, is the country's most religiously orthodox president since military dictator Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq died in August 1988.

General Zia resurrected public hangings, stoning to death and public beatings, all in keeping with Islamic dictates.

Tarar, a retired judge of the Lahore high court, is a member of Pakistan's orthodox Muslim Tableeqi movement, which is committed to spreading Islam worldwide.

Although Pakistan's presidency is largely a ceremonial post, it is seen as a powerful institution able to delay legislation. The president is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces, considered the strongest institution in Pakistan.

Religious leaders welcomed Tarar's election. Liberals and human rights activists expressed worries.

''It's natural for anybody to be frightened,'' said Asma Jehangir, a lawyer who is Pakistan's leading human rights activist. ''It will be more difficult to fight human rights... Already I am receiving threats and being told I am not a Muslim because I criticised Tarar's nomination as president.''

But she is not new to trouble.

In 1995, Jehangir needed police protection and sent her two daughters out of the country while she defended three Christians who were sentenced to death under Pakistan's harsh Islamic blasphemy law. A fourth defendant had been killed by Islamic extremists.

In the end, the defendants won their appeal, but had to seek political asylum in Germany after receiving death threats.

Jehangir says an increasing number of men who support hardline Islamic views are being promoted to senior government positions.

Evidence lies in increased censorship on television, a movement toward greater segregation in schools and legal judgments against women, she says.

The conservative Islamic direction could be a danger for Pakistan's struggle to pursue democracy, Jehangir fears.

The army has ruled for 25 years of the country's 50 years, and in the last nine years democratically elected governments have barely limped along from political crisis to crisis.

''We have not gotten out of our transition,'' says Jehangir.

''The danger is there... It will be more difficult to fight for human rights.''

She fears the growing influence of conservatives will translate into greater intimidation of human rights activists, particularly by students of religious schools.

Interior Minister Shujaat Hussein said the government will not let that happen and is trying to curb militancy at the schools.

Tarar said that Pakistan's liberals have nothing to fear from him and described himself as a 'liberal Muslim'.

His critics question that description.

Tarar opposes family law legislation that gives women the right to divorce and to fight for custody of their children. The three-judge court he led upheld amputation of limbs as punishment for theft, although Pakistani physicians have refused to carry out such sentences.

He has also condemned the promotion of members of Pakistan's minority Ahmedi community to senior government jobs and judicial posts. Mainstream Muslims revile Ahmedis because they believe another prophet followed Islam's Prophet Mohammed.

In 1974, Pakistan declared Ahmedis to be non-Muslims and passed a law forbidding them to practice the Islamic religion or even call themselves Muslims. Since then, members of the sect have faced widespread persecution.

Many liberals also believe Tarar's election is a devastating setback for campaigns against laws they view as repressive or anti-women, such as the blasphemy law that allows death penalty for anyone who insults Islam and a rule that requires four male witnesses for a rape conviction.

''His views on Islamic punishment and women's rights are opposed to fundamental human rights,'' said Mohiuddin Kutty, a prominent labour and political leader in southern Sindh province. ''His election as president does not auger well for the future of democracy in this country.''

Tarar said he supports segregation of men and women, separate education for girls and boys and use of the veil by Muslim women.

He has staunchly defended the blasphemy laws against criticism from international and Pakistani human rights activists.

'In a country where the sanctity of the Prophet's name and his personality is the basis for the existence of that country... miscreants who commit blasphemy should be given the death sentence to prevent turmoil,' Tarar wrote in an introduction to a book extolling the blasphemy laws.

Such stands won him support from Islamic leaders.

''Tarar is a religious person and will help to bring the Islamic forces together,'' said Hasan Turabi, secretary general of a group that promotes Islamic religious law as the basis for Pakistan's legal system. His election as president will go well for the Islamisation of the country.''

UNI

EARLIER REPORT:
Another legal battle in Pak

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