What can he be thinking of? From one of the examples he cited of its effectiveness, Taliban-style law enforcement might recommend itself to smugglers, blackmarketeers and others of their species. When most ordinary people consider the risks on the streets, they do not think in terms of driving a vehicle full of gold across the city at midnight. In Karachi and elsewhere they worry about official and unofficial armed militias and sectarian violence. They are concerned, certainly, about ordinary criminals.

They are even moredisturbed by political corruption and a system where the rich and powerful are beyond the reach of the law. Summary trials and public hangings of murderers and rapists may deter ordinary crime for a while and divert public attention from economic problems. They will have little effect on violence and terrorism which have deep political and social roots. The mix of religion and militarism that is Talibanism will not help the government collect its taxes, run the trains on time or raise its exports.

Sharif is mistaken to think he can sell his Shariah Bill to the people by hyping up the benefits. A ``virtually crime-free'' Afghanistan is a figment of his imagination. The little that anyone knows of everyday conditions in that country does not recommend the Taliban system as a model of justice.

For the women doctors and teachers who can no longer work outside their homes and those attacked on the streets for being inappropriately dressed, it must feel very much like prison. In a society where fear rules manyareas of life rather than civil law, no one can feel safe. With such examples held up to them, few people in Pakistan are going to be persuaded about Sharif's idea of the good society. On the contrary, they will be confirmed in their opposition to a Shariah Bill which gives the government sole power to interpret the law. Women's groups, opposition parties and civil rights activists should thank Sharif for lifting the veil. His new society can be seen for what it is, authoritarian, regressive and anti-modern.

The enduring mystery is why Sharif is taking off in this direction. He has enormous problems but he has enormous powers as well. He does not need the crutch of Shariah laws to govern well. He needs wisdom. In their hour of crisis many of the world's leaders have succumbed to the temptation to rule with an iron fist while promising to usher in the millennium. It is a great pity to see Sharif pretending that all his country's ailments will be cured by a medieval system of justice. Talibanism will notbring prosperity and end oppression. It will tear Pakistani society apart.