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|
Piracha
charged the move was part of the "secularization policy"
of the Musharraf's regime.
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Umer
Farooq, IOL Correspondent
ISLAMABAD,
April 15, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – Four young Pakistani air force
officers have lost their careers over growing long bears, a decision
defended by the government on technical grounds amid
"secularization" accusations.
"The
facial hair if they are too long can cause problem for the pilots and
airmen on high altitude and the oxygen mask can also malfunction if
the aircraft is flying at a high altitude," commodore Sarafraz
Ahmed, the director of the Information Directorate of Pakistan Air
force, told IslamOnline.net.
He
said that anybody violating the officially sanctioned dress code,
which prohibits pilots and airmen to grow beard longer than certain
length, would have to face the consequence.
The
Air Force is also considering to send other officers with long beards
on retirement if they don't comply with the dress code, official
sources told IOL.
Parliamentary
Secretary for Defense, Tanveer Hussein Shah, has told parliament last
week that there is no restriction in the Air Force on officers of any
rank to grow beards.
He
noted that because of technical reasons there is a limit on the length
of accepted beards.
According
to IOL's correspondent, long beards are considered symbol of religious
devoutness in Pakistan society.
Secularization
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Baloch
said one of the officers had no problem with his beard while
flying training missions in Western countries.
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MP
Farid Piracha, a member of Matahida Majisa Amal (MMA), an opposition
coalition of six religious parties, blasted the sacking decision.
"Ordering
officers to trim beards is as an insult to Islamic tradition and a
clear violation of the constitution which allows complete freedom to
practice religion," he told IOL.
He
charged that the move was part of the "secularization
policy" of President Pervez Musharraf's regime.
Piracha
raised the issue in parliament on Thursday, April 13, through an
adjournment motion.
Senior
opposition MP Liaquat Baloch told a heated parliamentary session that
under the incumbent government's "secularization policy"
anybody talking about religion is targeted.
Although
the names of the sacked officers have not been disclosed by the Air
Force, Baloch identified one of them as Squadron Leader Mohsin Hayat
Ranjha.
He
lauded him as a "brilliant career officer," noting that
Ranjha has gone to Western countries for training and his beard has
never caused him any problem there while flying.
Angry
lawmakers stressed that this was the first time that officers growing
beards have been sacked, in a society with a long tradition of growing
beards.
On
the insistence of opposition MPs, Parliament Speaker Chaudhry Amir
Hussein has asked Shah to sit with the lawmakers and come up with a
workable solution to the problem.
In
Pakistan's parliamentary tradition issues related to the armed forces
are never discussed in parliament, according to IOL's correspondent.
