Lahore: With the Shariat Bill now enacted in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), it seems a Taleban- type moral regime is rearing its ugly head in this sensitive border region of Pakistan.

In fact, the ruling Muttahida Amal-e-Majlis (MMA) has already ordered compulsory prayers for everybody, with all offices, shops and educational bodies to be closed during 'namaz' time. What is more, a department of vice and virtue will be created to enforce the ruling at street level. Young zealots will be recruited to strengthen the institution, according to 'The Telegraph'.

The Bill, adopted unanimously on June 2 after the Opposition parties withdrew amendments they had proposed earlier, makes the Islamic law the supreme law in NWFP courts and Islamises education, economy and judiciary. Chief Minister Akram Durrani told the House, "We will now mould all laws under the purview of the provincial government in accordance with the Islamic teachings," reports 'The News'.

The MMA-led provincial government has so far banned men from training or watching women athletes, and instructed the schoolboys to wear traditional dress and girls to cover their heads.

The Shariat will dramatically change the province's educational, judicial and financial systems and bring them in line with fundamentalist Islamic laws. The MMA supporters have gone on a celebratory rampage in Peshawar, the NWFP's capital, tearing down advertising hoardings showing women, destroying satellite cable TV connections and attacking offices of foreign multinationals. The police stood quietly by.

Interestingly, President Pervez Musharraf has remained silent over the developments.

ANI