ISLAMABAD , Pakistan ( CNN ) -- In radio broadcasts and sermons , Taliban militants have been promoting themselves as Islamic Robin Hoods , defending Pakistan 's rural poor from a ruling elite that they describe as corrupt and oppressive . Mohammed Daoud , with his son Faisal , is among those who have embraced the Taliban 's message . That message has been resonating throughout the Pakistani countryside , where the culture is deeply conservative and the people are desperately poor . In farmlands just 15 miles ( 24 kilometers ) from the center of Islamabad , Mohammed Daoud and his 15-year-old son Faisal eke out a living by cutting grass for their four water buffalo . They feed their family of seven , earning the equivalent of around $ 50 a month by selling buffalo milk . Two months ago , Daoud said , the government bulldozed his family 's house , probably because they were illegally squatting on property they did not own . `` Justice [ in Pakistan ] is only for people who have money , '' Daoud said , while slicing through handfuls of grass with a small scythe . `` We are illiterate , '' he added , `` but we are hoping that with Islamic sharia law , our lives will get better . '' Across this overwhelmingly Muslim country , there is widespread hope that adopting a strict code of law based on the Koran will transform a society where corruption is rampant and where at least a quarter of the population lives under the poverty line . Watch why the Taliban 's message would resonate . Enforcement of sharia law is the platform the Taliban have been using to justify recent land-grabs , such as last week 's armed occupation of the district of Buner , some 60 miles from the Pakistani capital . In an interview with CNN , Muslim Khan , the Taliban spokesman in the militant stronghold of Swat Valley , denounced the Pakistani government , calling the prime minister and lawmakers `` un-Islamic . '' `` They 're making money like in a supermarket , '' Khan said , adding that under sharia law both the rich and the poor would be treated equally . Militants have slowly taken over territory in northwestern Pakistan by first targeting unpopular landlords and bureaucrats , according to Amnesty International , the human rights watchdog . `` Its systematic . The Taliban move into an area , they use local existing resentments . They often go in with the guise of being Robin Hoods , '' said Amnesty International representative Sam Zarifi . `` They scare away some local thieves , they impose very , very quick justice , very harsh justice , and initially in some places they are even welcomed . '' The Taliban 's promise of Islamic justice would be welcomed in farm fields on the outskirts of Islamabad . Rows of wheat -- along with the posh villas of Pakistan 's ruling elite -- are within sight of Islamabad 's iconic white Faisal Mosque . `` In the present judicial system , even the innocent people are punished , '' said Sajeet Hussein , as he and a group of farmers shared lunch under the shade of a tree . The group explained that they were losing a court battle to stop the government from seizing their land , because they claimed they could n't afford to bribe policemen and judges . `` Every part of the country should have sharia law , like in Saudi Arabia , '' said Hussein 's brother Babar , who sported a long bushy beard . `` Then poor and rich people will be equal . '' `` We love the Taliban , '' announced one Pashtun farmer who asked not to be named . He called the militants heroes . Sports star-turned-politician Imran Khan summed up his response to the Taliban in Pakistan by saying , `` The poorer section of society is joining them ... this is now developing into a battle between the 'haves ' and the 'have-nots . ' `` What the Taliban are giving them is cheap -- in fact , free -- accessible justice at the village level , '' he added . `` This is what Pakistan should be doing for its own people . '' But if farmer Babar Hussein has his way , Taliban justice would mean taking away freedoms from Pakistani women , like the right to have a driver 's license . `` Women should not even come out of their houses . That 's against Islam '' he said , while complaining about the un-Islamic fashions he saw women wearing in Islamabad . When Taliban militants overran Buner last week , they told women to stay indoors , warned men to stop shaving their beards , and threatened shopkeepers who sold movies and music . In Pakistan 's rural society , male strangers are not even supposed look at local women . And yet , some farmers enjoy blaring Bollywood music and even dancing on trailers full of hay , while driving their gaudily-decorated tractors . If the Taliban 's rural revolt succeeds , it could bring silence to the Pakistani countryside .
Amnesty International : Taliban first targets unpopular landlords , bureaucrats . Taliban spokesman in Swat , describing Pakistani society as ` ` un - Islamic '' Islamabad 's Faisal Mosque surrounded by posh villas of Pakistan 's ruling elite . Imran Khan : Battle shaping up as one ` ` between the ' haves ' and the ' have - nots ' ` `