Early every day after morning prayers Mohammed Zulfikar spends more than an hour setting up a small curbside stall, at which he will remain until long past sundown, selling music cassettes and CDs.
He used to make 500-600 rupees (US$8 to US$11) a day -- good money in a place where more than 40 percent live on less than a pound a day -- but business has dropped considerably in the past six months as the government has pursued a campaign to "Islamize" the already conservative North West Frontier Province of Pakistan.
People still stop to look and buy, but most look over their shoulder to see who is watching. He has stopped selling CDs of such potentially objectionable artists as Jennifer Lopez and Madonna, hoping to avoid the fate of dozens of other businesses here picked on by religious vigilantes.
Since the United Action Forum (MMA) of six religious parties swept into power vowing to eradicate social evil and create the ideal Islamic society, groups of young men have taken to attacking cinemas, music shops, and billboards showing women.
Musicians and dancers have been driven from the province by systematic harassment, and the mobs have torn cassette players out of buses and cut cable television network connections.
"We all support trying to achieve a true Islamic society but we don't want the Taliban system here, we don't want that brutality, that fear," Zulfikar said.
In this border town's main thoroughfare, the ancient Grand Trunk Road from Kabul to Delhi, there is evidence of growing apprehension.
When the call to prayer is heard, workers shut down their operations to avoid the attention of zealous MMA supporters.
The few women now visible on the streets scurry quickly along, covered in the head-to-toe burka or tightly wrapped in large chadors.
Abdul Khan, a political analyst in the city, said, "What you've got is a group of people intent upon imposing their will on the general public, taking away people's rights to make life choices for themselves and their families."
In the past month the MMA has introduced mandatory prayer calls for government employees, banned shirts and trousers as school uniform in favour of the loose fitting traditional shalwar kameez, and announced that male doctors will not be allowed to treat women.
On Monday the provincial assembly voted unanimously to adopt Shariah law. Although Sharia, based on the moral and religious codes of the Koran, is enshrined in the Pakistani Constitution, this is the first time that it will actually be enforced.
The government bill to set up an Islamic monitoring and enforcement body is expected to encounter fierce but futile opposition in the assembly later this week.
Copies leaked to the media show that it bans honor killing, child labor, and bribe-taking. A muhtasib (religious law officer) appointed by the chief minister will monitor the behavior of civil servants for corruption, define the parameters of acceptable "Islamic" behavior, and ensure general compliance with Islamic duties. A hisba force likely to be drawn from the existing police and tribal law enforcers will carry out his decisions.
"This will effectively open the door wide to violations of people's rights under a banner -- religion -- that no one can dare challenge for fear of being severely punished," Palwasha Bangash of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said.
The draft act sets a penalty of six months in jail and a fine for disobeying the muhtasib or his force. As the muhtasib's writ will surpass even that of the provincial assembly, there will be little recourse for redress of grievances.
But MMA officials deny that the system resembles that of the Taliban.
"Ours is a revolutionary plan aimed at eradicating the cause of social, economic and other evils in our society to promote justice for everyone," Mohammed Kurshid, of the provincial information department, said.
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