By now, Pakistanis are used not only to governments coming and going, but also to their using religion to shore up diminishing popularity. Benazir Bhutto's father did it, as did Zia-ul Haq. The trick did not work for either, but rather contributed to shattering Pakistan's structures of civil society. Now, Gen Zia's protege and political heir Mian Nawaz Sharif is following his mentor's footsteps. The latest "noisy brandishing of faith", as an American magazine put it, is Sharif's attempt to introduce Constitutional Amendment 15 ("CA 15"), which would ostensibly make the "Supremacy of the Quran and Sunnah" (Islamic traditions) the "supreme law" of Pakistan.
Sharif claimed in Parliament that he had taken the decision to introduce Islamic law by "the power vested in me by Almighty Allah". His contention that he has got where he is by Allah's blessings may be acceptable, but trying to project himself as a representative of the divine is taking it too far. "Islam is my faith, religion and belief. I have never used it for any political gain," the prime minister told a convention of religious scholars and activists in Islamabad last month. Ominously, at that same meeting, Sharif urged his audience to "counter the forces opposed to the proposed amendment", and added now that he had done his part, it was up to those in the audience to do theirs.
CA 15 places the Federal Government under "an obligation to take steps to enforce the Shariah". This includes, according to Article 2 of the bill, promoting the principle of "amar bil maroof and nahi anil munKar" (to prescribe what is right and forbid what is wrong). Thus, the government would be able to declare any action 'wrong' and ban it – or declare an act 'right' and enforce it. For example, wearing headscarves or growing beards, as the Taliban have done in Afghanistan.
The prime minister's protestations of honourable motives have failed to win converts even among the religious political parties, even though they can hardly oppose the introduction of the Shariat (Islamic law) openly. They suspect Sharif's political agenda and are loathe to give him credit for the Islamisation' of Pakistan. Meanwhile, despite an earlier constitutional amendment ("CA 14") bulldozed through by Sharif, which disallows dissent from the Treasury Benches in parliament, CA 15 has been privately opposed by many of his own party members. A few brave souls have even blasted it publicly and are attempting damage control by trying to make changes in the bill to make CA 15 more acceptable.