US embassy cable - 91ISLAMABAD8792

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 08792 
 
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE 
 
DEPT ALSO PASS AID/APRE 
MANILA FOR AMB. PLATT 
USIA FOR NEA - RUGH 
 
E.O. 12536: DECL:N.A. 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, PK 
SUBJECT:  SHARIA--WHERE DID IT GO? 
 
1. LOU- ENTIRE TEXT 
 
2.  ONE MONTH AGO, THE LEADING TOPIC OF POLITICAL 
DISCUSSION IN MUCH OF PAKISTAN WAS THE PRIME 
MINISTER'S SHARIA BILL, OSTENSIBLY MEANT TO 
"ISLAMIZE" PAKISTANI LAWS, GOVERNMENT, AND SOCIETY. 
DEBATE RAGED IN THE PRESS BETWEEN CRITICS FROM THE 
RELIGIOUS RIGHT, WHO ARGUED THAT THE BILL WAS TOO 
WEAK, AND LIBERALS WHO PREDICTED IT WOULD--AT A 
MINIMUM--INFRINGE ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND 
MINORITIES.  DAILY EDITORIALS, COLUMNS, AND 
INTERVIEWS HIGHLIGHTED THE POSITIONS OF COMPETING 
POLITICAL PARTIES AND LEADERS.  THE BILL'S 
INTRODUCTION INTO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ON MAY 12 
THREATENED TO CREATE A NEW POLITICAL LINE-UP, WITH 
THE SECULAR PDA, ANP, AND MQM ALLIED WITH THE 
ISLAMIST PARTIES AGAINST THE BILL. 
 
3.  IN CONTRAST TO POPULAR EXPECTATIONS, HOWEVER, 
THE GENERAL PREOCCUPATION WITH SHARIA DISAPPEARED 
ALMOST OVERNIGHT AFTER ITS MAY 16 PASSAGE BY THE 
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.  SHARIA'S PASSAGE BY THE SENATE 
ON MAY 28 DREW LITTLE NOTICE--THE SENATE MADE NO 
CHANGES, ESSENTIALLY RUBBER-STAMPING THE NATIONAL 
ASSEMBLY'S DECISION.  AT THE TIME, BOTH THE PRESS 
AND MEMBERS OF NAWAZ'S IJI COALITION PREDICTED 
PRESIDENT GHULAM ISHAQ KHAN WOULD SIGN THE BILL INTO 
LAW WITHIN TWO OR THREE DAYS.  THREE WEEKS LATER, 
HOWEVER, SHARIA HAS LARGELY DISAPPEARED FROM PUBLIC 
DISCUSSION.  A SURVEY OF PAKISTAN'S LEADING DAILIES 
FOUND NO MENTION EITHER OF PRESIDENT GHULAM ISHAQ 
KHAN'S UNEXPLAINED DELAY IN SIGNING IT, OR OF HIS 
FINALLY SIGNING SHARIA INTO LAW ON JUNE 14.  A TRUE 
NON-EVENT. 
 
4. WE BELIEVE MOST OF THIS SUDDEN DECLINE OF 
INTEREST IS DUE TO NAWAZ'S SUCCESS IN CREATING AN 
ACT THAT IS LONG ON RHETORIC BUT BRINGS NO IMMEDIATE 
CHANGE TO PAKISTANIS' DAILY LIVES.  WHILE THERE WAS 
STILL THE POTENTIAL FOR LANGUAGE THAT COULD--FOR 
BETTER OR WORSE--AFFECT PAKISTANI'S LIVING 
CONDITIONS, THE ACT WAS OF INTENSE INTEREST.  MANY 
LIBERALS, WOMEN AND MINORITY REPRESENTATIVES REMAIN 
LEARY OF THE SHARIA LEGISLATION--CITING, FOR 
EXAMPLE, ABUSES OF THE HADOOD (ISLAMIC PUNISHMENT) 
ORDINANCES UNDER GENERAL ZIA AS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW 
RELIGIOUSLY-MOTIVATED LEGISLATION CAN BE TWISTED TO 
FIT POLITICAL OBJECTIVES.  EVEN THEY, HOWEVER, HAVE 
ADMITTED TO US THAT THE TEXT OF THE ACT ITSELF IS 
LESS AN ISSUE THAN THE DEPARTURES THIS OR A FUTURE 
REGIME MIGHT TAKE FROM THE LETTER OF THE LAW.  (THE 
PUNATIVE ARTICLES OF THE HADOOD ORDINANCE, FOR 
EXAMPLE, HAVE GENERALLY BEEN ENFORCED WHILE 
ACCOMPANYING PROTECTIONS GIVEN WOMEN HAVE OFTEN 
FALLEN BY THE WAYSIDE.)  CRITICS SUCH AS THE PDA'S 
AITZAZ AHSAN ARE, IN FACT, MORE CRITICAL OF THE 
BILL'S VAGUENESS--ALLOWING NEW INTERPRETATIONS "AT 
WILL"--THAN OF ANY MANDATE ACTUALLY INCLUDED IN THE 
ACT. 
 
5.  THE AMENDMENTS INSERTED INTO THE ACT DURING THE 
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEBATE HAVE HELPED DEFUSE THE 
ISSUE FOR MOST PAKISTANIS.  THE ASSEMBLY UNANIMOUSLY 
APPROVED AN AMENDMENT, JOINTLY PROPOSED BY FIVE 
MINORITY REPRESENTATIVES, STATING THAT "NOTHING 
CONTAINED HEREUNDER SHALL AFFECT THE RIGHTS OF THE 
NON-MUSLIMS GUARANTEED BY OR UNDER THE 
CONSTITUTION."  SIMILARLY, NAWAZ READILY AGREED TO 
AN AMENDMENT STATING "THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AS 
GUARANTEED BY THE CONSTITUTION SHALL NOT BE AFFECTED 
(BY SHARIA)."  A THIRD AMENDMENT, PROPOSED BY THE 
SECULAR ANP AS THE PRICE OF THEIR SUPPORT, STATES 
THAT "NOTHING CONTAINED HERE SHALL AFFECT PAKISTAN'S 
EXISTING PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM."  THE INITIAL 
THREE-YEAR DEADLINE FOR THE ABOLITION OF INTEREST 
WAS REPLACING IT WITH THE VAGUE "SHORTEST POSSIBLE 
TIME."  ANOTHER AMENDMENT, DEFINING THE QURAN AND 
SUNNAH AS THE SOURCE OF PAKISTANI LAW--RATHER THAN 
THE SUM TOTAL OF LAW, IN AND OF ITSELF--ESSENTIALLY 
BLOCKS ATTEMPTS TO CHALLENGE THE CONSTITUTION OR 
LEGISLATING WITH CITATIONS DIRECTLY FROM THE QURAN. 
 
6.  COMMENT: MANY OF THE ISSUES RAISED DURING THE 
WEEKS BETWEEN NAWAZ'S PROPOSAL OF SHARIA AND ITS 
PASSAGE BY PARLIAMENT WILL REMAIN HIGH ON PAKISTAN'S 
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL AGENDA FOR YEARS TO COME.  IN 
FACT, THE BILL WAS ADVERTISED AS ONLY BEING A BROAD 
COMMITTMENT TO AN ISLAMIC AGENDA THAT MUST LATER BE 
FLESHED OUT BY SPECIFIC LEGISLATION DRAFTED TO 
CONFORM TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS BASIC LAW. WIDE 
DIFFERENCES REMAIN WITHIN PAKISTANI SOCIETY OVER THE 
PROPER ROLE OF RELIGION IN GOVERNMENT, POLITICS AND 
SOCIETY, WITH A SMALL BUT VOCAL RELIGIOUS RIGHT 
STILL DETERMINED TO DICTATE ITS VIEWS TO SOCIETY AT 
LARGE.  SIMILARLY, A COALITION OF WOMEN'S, MINORITY, 
AND HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS REMAIN HIGHLY CRITICAL OF 
THE ACT.  WHILE THEY TELL US THEY RECOGNIZE THE 
SHARIA ACT IS A FAIT ACOMPLI, THEY ARE MOBILIZING 
AGAINST FUTURE SHARIA-RELATED LEGISLATION. 
THEREFORE, WHILE THE SHARIA ACT PASSED BY THE 
PAKISTANI PARLIAMENT IN MAY 1991 DOES NOT, IN THE 
END, REPRESENT THE TYPE OF ATTACK ON CIVIL LIBERTIES 
MANY IN PAKISTAN AND ELSEWHERE FEARED, THE CONCERN 
OVER THE IMPACT OF ANY FUTURE LEGISLATION WILL 
REMAIN. 
 
 
JONES