By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,
Toronto : Denouncing the Sharia laws in Pakistan’s Swat Valley as surrender before terrorists, Miss Pakistan World Natasha Paracha said Monday that the world should pressure Pakistan to stop implementation of rigid Islamic laws.
The 23-year-year-old Islamabad-born Paracha, who won the 2008 beauty pageant in Toronto last year, told IANS: “I cannot bear to see that the people who have burnt down schools are being heeded to.
“These nomads (the Taliban) coming from the Middle East and other countries are taking over our nation. I strongly urge the United Nations to intervene and help the Pakistani government tackle these forces and throw them out.
“The world has to put pressure on the Pakistani government to stop the Sharia Law enforcement.”
She said: “The government should never compromise with terrorists. We cannot have basic rights taken away from women.”
Paracha, who is a graduate of the University of California in Berkeley, said she feared that “if they have the Sharia Law imposed in the Swat Valley then, it will spread to the whole of Pakistan. Rigid Islamic laws are not a solution for Pakistan and Pakistanis”.
She added: “Pakistan should be a secular Muslim nation and the constitution of Pakistan should be followed throughout the country.”
Toronto-based Sonia Ahmed, who started the beauty pageant for Pakistani girls from around the world in 2002, said: “It is disappointing to see that President (Asif Ali) Zardari has proved himself wrong just in the first year. It is a shame that people who are not even Pakistanis (Taliban) are running Pakistan.
“In the 1970s, a similar situation occurred when the fanatics closed down casinos, cabarets and bars as well as enforced chadar or veil for women. I am sorry to say that Pakistan was much better during military rule as compared to this sorry state of democracy.”
Calling the implementation of Sharia laws beginning of the downfall of Pakistan, she said: “This act of compromise by the Pakistani government clearly shows that it is a failed nation. Taliban has no place in Pakistan and the people of Pakistan should kick them out. They are invaders and barbaric people.”
Blaming the Taliban for spoiling India-Pakistan relations, she said: “They were unhappy to see Pakistan and India in peace and had to do whatever they could to ruin the relations that were between the two countries.
“Instead of driving the Taliban out of the country, the government is allowing them to do as they please.”
By his action, Sonia Ahmed added, President Zardari is paving the way for a military coup. “In just one year, Pakistanis are fed up with his actions and false promises.”