Kabul, Afghanistan - Afghan clerics have called for the revival of the religious police, a feared force that made sure strict religious rules were kept during Taliban rule.
Under the Taliban, the religious police patrolled the streets punishing women if they went out without wearing an all-enveloping burqa and men who trimmed their beards or were caught listening to music.
The force, officially known as the Department of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, was disbanded after the Taliban were ousted in 2001.
But a council of Muslim clerics recently suggested to President Hamid Karzai that the department be set up again to enforce sharia law, the government's spokesman for parliamentary affairs said on Saturday.
"Karzai told the ulema (clerics) that there was no problem and he would refer the proposal to parliament," said the spokesman, Mohammad Asif Nang.
Karzai is generally seen as a moderate Muslim but he has to take into account the views of conservatives.
Under Taliban rule the religious police also clamped down on crime such as theft, bribery and prostitution and they punished anyone who sold or drank alcohol.
The government-appointed clerical council has made several calls for such vices to be tackled.
Nang said he did not know when parliament would debate the proposal. If parliament decided to set the force up again, it would determine its duties, he said.
The parliament elected last year is a mixture of religious conservatives, old political and faction leaders and younger independents.