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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Pakistan fatwa minister to stay | Pakistan fatwa minister to stay |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has rejected an offer to resign by the tourism minister, who has been under strong pressure from hard-line clerics. | Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has rejected an offer to resign by the tourism minister, who has been under strong pressure from hard-line clerics. |
| Mr Aziz said that the minister, Nilofar Bakhtiar, was needed in the cabinet and she should carry on with her duties. | Mr Aziz said that the minister, Nilofar Bakhtiar, was needed in the cabinet and she should carry on with her duties. |
| Last month, a fatwa was issued against her after she was pictured hugging a man following a paragliding flight. | Last month, a fatwa was issued against her after she was pictured hugging a man following a paragliding flight. |
| Clerics said Ms Bakhtiar's behaviour was obscene. She said the photo was misleading and she had done no wrong. | Clerics said Ms Bakhtiar's behaviour was obscene. She said the photo was misleading and she had done no wrong. |
| Morality 'violation' | Morality 'violation' |
| Prior to her submitting her resignation as minister, Ms Bakhtiar had lost her job as president of the women's wing of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League party. | Prior to her submitting her resignation as minister, Ms Bakhtiar had lost her job as president of the women's wing of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League party. |
| Unfortunately some irresponsible elements in Pakistan presented this noble cause in a malicious manner Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar Does fatwa promote bigotry? | Unfortunately some irresponsible elements in Pakistan presented this noble cause in a malicious manner Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar Does fatwa promote bigotry? |
| This was followed by a change in her portfolio to tourism from women's affairs. | |
| The party said on Wednesday that her removal from the women's wing post was not connected with the hugging incident and it welcomed the prime minister's rejection of her resignation. | |
| The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad says the affair reinforces the perception that Pakistan is increasingly coming under the shadow of Islamic fundamentalism - and reflects differing attitudes within the ruling party towards religious hard-liners. | |
| The row began after the tourism minister made the jump in France in March to raise money for victims of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. | |
| Newspaper photographs showed her hugging her elderly instructor after the jump. | Newspaper photographs showed her hugging her elderly instructor after the jump. |
| The hug that caused all the fuss | The hug that caused all the fuss |
| Hard-line clerics at the radical Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad issued a fatwa, or religious edict, condemning her behaviour, saying it violated Islamic morality. | Hard-line clerics at the radical Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad issued a fatwa, or religious edict, condemning her behaviour, saying it violated Islamic morality. |
| At the time Ms Bakhtiar vowed not to be intimidated, but officials on Tuesday confirmed reports that she had handed in her resignation. | At the time Ms Bakhtiar vowed not to be intimidated, but officials on Tuesday confirmed reports that she had handed in her resignation. |
| She was quoted as saying she had been hurt by the way the issue was sensationalised and that her parachute jump had been for a noble cause. | She was quoted as saying she had been hurt by the way the issue was sensationalised and that her parachute jump had been for a noble cause. |
| "We don't need to be intimidated by these people," she told Reuters Television in April. "I have no regrets... I would do it again happily if it helps the people of Pakistan." | "We don't need to be intimidated by these people," she told Reuters Television in April. "I have no regrets... I would do it again happily if it helps the people of Pakistan." |
| Observers say the affair highlights a growing climate of extremism in Pakistan. | Observers say the affair highlights a growing climate of extremism in Pakistan. |
| In February a female provincial minister was shot dead by a man who, police said, did not think women should be in politics. | In February a female provincial minister was shot dead by a man who, police said, did not think women should be in politics. |
| The clerics who denounced the tourism minister have set up their own vigilante anti-vice squads in the capital. | The clerics who denounced the tourism minister have set up their own vigilante anti-vice squads in the capital. |