Demand for Sharia is not unconstitutional: Munawar

Ameer, Jamaat-i-Islami, Pakistan, Syed Munawar Hasan, has said that nobody should be worried over the demand for the Sharia because it was simply the divine law for the guidance and the betterment of humanity. Addressing an education conference at Mansoora on Saturday, he said that the Sharia was neither something to be afraid of nor the demand for the Sharia was something new or unconstitutional.
He said the 1973 constitution already accepted the Quran and the Sunnah as the supreme law of the land. Besides, it had also been laid down in the constitution that no law repugnant to the Quran and the Sunnah would be enacted in the country. The JI chief said that those who got irritated over the mention of the Sharia, were in fact rejecting the constitution and those talking against Mullahism and Talibanisation were giving simply went to their anger against Islam. Syed Munawar Hasan said, if the rulers enforced the 1973 constitution in its true spirit, the country would rid of all the crises, the objective of the creation of this country would be realised and the image of the country would also be restored.
The educationists and writers and intellectuals from all the provinces attended the moot. The JI chief criticised the switch over to English as medium of instruction and said this was a clear violation of the constitution. The 1973 Constitution laid down that Urdu would be made the official language as also the medium of instruction within a period of fifteen years. However, even after 40 years, the national language had not been given its status as official language nor was it made the medium of instruction.
The educationists all over the world, he said, were of the considered view that the children should be imparted education in their mother tongue but the Pakistani rulers' policy-makers had their own views. Accordingly, English was being taught to the children from the nursery level. Besides, he said, there were different education systems for the rich and the poor, and the youth from poor families did not get jobs even after getting degrees. On the other hand, the children of the elite were even elected to the assemblies though they had fake degrees.
He said nothing better could be expected unless a uniform education system was introduced with Urdu as the medium of instruction at the lower level. He remarked that those criticising the Taliban for not accepting the constitution, had themselves been violating the constitution for the last 66 years on one form or the other. Those crying hoarse for democracy did not allow democracy to flourish or to allow the democratic institution to strengthen. The military dictators had ridiculed the constitution and the judiciary. Pervez Musharraf, who abrogated the constitution twice, was not ready to appear before the court despite repeated issuance of warrants.