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Minister fears for her life

— PHOTO: AFP

Pakistani Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar getting ready to jump with French paraglider pilots in Le Havre, western France, on Tuesday last.

Islamabad: Pakistan's Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar, against whom a fatwa was issued by radical clerics for hugging a male paratrooper during a paragliding show in Paris, has said she feared for her life because of the religious edict.

Ms. Bakhtiar, while speaking at the standing committee of Parliament on issues relating to Tourism Ministry, said extremist elements had already killed Zille Huma, a provincial Minister of Punjab, for her activism and she feared the same could happen to her.

``I have strengthened my security after the fatwa from the so-called Sharia court and killing of Punjab provincial Minister Zille-Humma,'' she told the panel.

Huma was killed a few months ago by a religious fanatic, who later testified that he believed women should not hold any official position in Government.

Ms. Bakhtiar said she had participated in the para jump to raise funds for victims of the 2005 earthquake.

Her feat was tracked widely by the French media.

Clerics of Lal Masjid, a prominent mosque in Islamabad, had recently issued a ``fatwa'' against her for hugging a French paratrooper. Ms. Bakhtiar maintained she was patted by her instructor.

Women commandos

``I had made a commitment to paraglide for the earthquake victims when I was not a federal minister to raise funds for the construction of 15 schools in the quake affected areas,'' Ms. Bakhtiar said.

Pakistan government reportedly intends to deploy women commandos to launch a crackdown on a seminary housing militant girl students who have stepped up their campaign to impose Sharia law backed by radical clerics.

Local media reports also said the Government has deployed several hundred male commandos at the nearby vacant buildings. — PTI

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