ISLAMABAD, May 11: The Lal Masjid administration on Friday issued preliminary “guidelines for enforcement of Sharia in all spheres of life”, including legislation, human rights, education, health, employment, taxation and banking.

It distributed books containing 50 ‘guidelines’ among

the people gathered in the mosque for Friday prayers. Following are some of the ‘guidelines’:

The clerics of Lal Masjid demanded general amnesty for all exiled political leaders who, they said, were victimised politically and were forced to leave the country. “A code should be formulated in the light of Sharia to announce general amnesty for them,” the ‘guideline’ said.

Cut in taxes: The ulema demanded reforms in the taxation system under which all ‘unjustified’ taxes were withdrawn.

They said enforcement of Sharia was needed to protect all women from sexual harassment and to eliminate gender discrimination.

Official language: They asked the government to declare Urdu as the country’s official language. “Most of the people in remote areas of the country do not understand English and they depend on others to make sense of the government documents.”

Banking: The hard-line ulema demanded of the government to abolish interest-based banking system in the country, replacing it with an Islamic one.

It was the responsibility of the government to provide shelter to every citizen of the country, they said. Therefore plots measuring 10 marlas to 1 kanal should be provided to the poor and low-paid workers. Construction material be provided to them on subsidised rates.

Media: They called for the formulation of a ‘code of conduct’ to deal with obscenity in the print and electronic media.

Government officials: They said government officials should undergo special training so that they fully understand their ‘Islamic duties’.