PESHAWAR, June 24: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal MNA Dr Attaur Rehman has said that no one should fear the implementation of the Shariat Act in the province.

Speaking at a debate programme “Implications of Shariat and Hisba Act on the NWFP” organized by the NWFP Chapter of Liberal Forum Pakistan on Tuesday he said that successive governments in Pakistan had been making hollow claims to the people regarding the enforcement of Shariat laws in the country.

The basic purpose of the establishment of Pakistan was that Shariat would be the supreme law of the country where the people would lead their lives in line with the teachings of the Holy Quran and sayings of the Holy Prophet, he said.

“People gave us votes because we had promised to make Shariat the supreme law and we are committed to keeping our promise,” he said.

He added that the Shariat would not encroach upon the fundamental rights of the minorities or general people.

Mr Attaur Rehman also defended the proposed Hisba Act saying that it would provide speedy justice to the people and end corruption in the government departments.

Speaking on the occasion ANP leader Dr Mohammad Rehan said that the MMA government was wasting its energies by indulging in non-issues.

He said that the provincial government should rather concentrate on the real problems of unemployment, poor law and order situation, price-hike, and poor standard of education to provide relief to the people.

PPP’s Abdul Akbar Khan  criticized the federal government of making fuss over something that had been passed by the provincial assembly.

Member NWFP Bar Council Sher Afgan Khan said that the act was aimed at undermining the role of the judiciary and establishment of parallel courts in the province. He said that according to the Shariat Act the judges of the courts would be bound to interpret Shariat while deciding the cases, which would complicate the matters.

This would Talibanize the state and was bound to create conflict-like situation with the central government, he added.

PPP(S) MPA Riffat Akbar Swati said that the NWFP Shariat Act was an Urdu version of the Shariat Bill passed by the National Assembly in 1991.

Mufti Ghulamur Rehman who headed the Shariat Council that drafted the Shariat Bill said that the council had laid the foundation of enforcing the Shariat Law in the province. If the judges misinterpreted the Shariat Law, the Federal Shariat Court had the mandate to correct them, he said.