ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A group of radical clerics has issued a religious decree against Pakistan's tourism minister after some local newspapers printed photographs showing her holding onto a male colleague after landing from a parachute jump in France.
The decree, or fatwa, was issued by a religious parallel court set up last week by a group of activist clerics in the Lal Mosque here. The clerics have also demanded that the government enact Islamic law, or Shariah.
The decree issued Sunday accuses the minister, Nilofer Bakhtiar, of un-Islamic behavior. The clerics urged the government of President Pervez Musharraf to "punish and fire her from the government."
Pakistani officials dismissed the fatwa, saying it had no legal, religious or moral authority. Human rights and political activists and many other Pakistanis have condemned the action and expressed support for her.
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Bakhtiar also dismissed the criticism and, in an interview Monday, said the photographs were taken out of context and show her being congratulated for making the jump at a charity event.
After the photographs were published, incensed radical clerics and some other conservative Pakistanis latched onto the opportunity to not only criticize her but also to attack Musharraf for what he calls his approach of "enlightened moderation."
The pictures, in their view, violated acceptable moral norms in this Muslim country.
Maulana Abdul Aziz, the chief cleric of Lal Mosque, and his brother, Abdur Rashid Ghazi, have made headlines in recent months for openly challenging the government.
On Friday, Aziz threatened suicide attacks if the government did not enact Islamic law and stop immorality within a month.
Since January, hundreds of female students from Jamia Hafsa, a seminary affiliated with Lal Mosque, have occupied a public children's library here and staged a sit-in to protest a government campaign to raze mosques built illegally on state-owned land.
The government has allowed the library occupation to continue, saying it fears a violent escalation if force is used to evict the protesters.
Some critics of the government say it has buckled under pressure from the clerics, emboldening them.
Others say the government has allowed the clerics a free hand to divert attention from a constitutional crisis.
Last month, Musharraf removed the chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaud-hry, who had taken on cases challenging the president's authority.
There have been widespread protests over Chaud-hry's removal.
