Pakistani Archbishop concerned by sharia deal

The Archbishop of Lahore, Lawrence John Saldanha, has written to the prime minister and president of Pakistan over concerns at the implementation of sharia law in the northwest of the country.

In the letter he said, "We note with sorrow that your government has failed to take stock of the concerns of civil society in Pakistan in your decision," reports UCANews.

The government of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) signed a truce with Taliban militants who had been fighting with government forces for 18 months to implement sharia law.

In his letter, the Archbishop says that the truce jeopardised the socio-economic and cultural growth of the area and give legal sanction to the “dictates of the trigger-happy Taliban”. He added that the truce also eroded the constitutional protection of minorities and women.

Archbishop Saldanha said that minorities in the area "are forced to endure unemployment, intimidation and migration". He added that some Catholic schools and a convent have already been bombed and that non-Muslim families have fled the area after being told they had to pay a jizia, or a tax for non-Muslims.

He finished by saying that "religion has to be regarded as a personal matter and should have nothing to do with the affairs of state".

Other Christians in Pakistan have also spoken out against the Taliban takeover.

Prince Javed, a Christian member of the NWFP assembly, said, "We are still unclear how qazi [sharia] courts would affect the Christians of these regions." He added that only the constitution could protect minority rights.

One Christian in the capital of the NWFP, Peshawar, said that the city’s only Catholic church had been forced to cancel its Easter and Christmas celebrations for fear of the Taliban.

Local Taliban spokesman, Muslim Khan, has been quoted as saying that the group is not under the Pakistani constitution but only follows sharia.