Rejecting Indian demand that militants in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir should be reined before resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue, Pakistan on Friday asked India to allow a United Nations-controlled peacekeeping force to deal with terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
"If you think we are encouraging infiltrators into Kashmir, why don't you agree to a UN-controlled peacekeeping force?" Pakistan's Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said in London.
Participating in the BBC World's weekly programme Question Time Pakistan broadcast on Friday, Hayat claimed that none of the militant organisations were working in Pakistan.
"We do not allow jihadi organisations in Pakistan. They (India) have mentioned a few organisations (that they say) are working in Kashmir, over which Pakistan has no control. We have already told them (the Indian government) to give us evidence."
Answering a question on the sharia (Islamic law), Hayat criticised its introduction (in its present form) in the North West Frontier Province.
Criticising the local government, led by the Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal (an alliance of six religious parties), he said, "If we follow their brand of politics, their brand of Islam, their brand of religion, (it) will lead us once again towards the talibanisation of Pakistan," he stated.
Government officials in the NWFP have been directed to recite prayers or face strict disciplinary action.
"Whatever the MMA has announced in the NWFP is absolutely and totally repugnant to the spirit of Islam. Nowhere in Islam is it said that harsh treatment be meted out if you don't say your prayers," Hayat said.
