RabzonKhan
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Editorial: Swat muddle over sharia
March 31, 2009
The Chief of Tehreek-e Nifaz-e Shariat-e Muhammadi (TNSM), Sufi Muhammad, has warned of unrest in the Swat Valley if President Asif Zardari does not approve the Nizam-e Adl Regulation of 2009. The businessmen and shopkeepers of Malakand have also protested at the delay in the signing on to the deal made by the NWFP government with the warlike Sufi. Attracted by the return of normal conditions in Swat, the refugees from Bajaur in the Jallozai camp are also demanding sharia of the same sort in their agency so that they too can return home.
The President is understandably hesitant to sign the Nizam-e Adl law because of the way the sharia in Swat has been envisaged. First of all, the Sufi and his son-in-law warlord Fazlullah refuse to allow the provincial administration to serve as the executive authority behind the sharia. The Sufi wants to personally oversee the selection of the judges who would serve as qazis in the new judicial order. He rejects the appearance of lawyers in these courts and will not subject the local Taliban led by Fazlullah to the jurisdiction of these courts.
The other truth that one must recognise is the consequences of negotiating peace with the terrorists from a position of weakness. The NWFP government did not engage in talks with Sufi Muhammad because it was keen to abandon Swat to him; it was compelled to do so because of the target-killing of ANP leaders and the failure of the security forces to stem the growing power of the TTP in the region. In fact, ANP leaders have been quite outspoken about why they were compelled to talk peace with their killers.
This is a deadlock grown out of the joint parliamentary resolution earlier this year asking the army to vacate and the government to seek negotiations with the terrorists. Swat is just one example of what will happen if the state decides to seek peace with the Taliban-Al Qaeda combine from a position of weakness. The next step in Swat looks almost unavoidable unless the army goes in and changes the status quo.
March 31, 2009
The Chief of Tehreek-e Nifaz-e Shariat-e Muhammadi (TNSM), Sufi Muhammad, has warned of unrest in the Swat Valley if President Asif Zardari does not approve the Nizam-e Adl Regulation of 2009. The businessmen and shopkeepers of Malakand have also protested at the delay in the signing on to the deal made by the NWFP government with the warlike Sufi. Attracted by the return of normal conditions in Swat, the refugees from Bajaur in the Jallozai camp are also demanding sharia of the same sort in their agency so that they too can return home.
The President is understandably hesitant to sign the Nizam-e Adl law because of the way the sharia in Swat has been envisaged. First of all, the Sufi and his son-in-law warlord Fazlullah refuse to allow the provincial administration to serve as the executive authority behind the sharia. The Sufi wants to personally oversee the selection of the judges who would serve as qazis in the new judicial order. He rejects the appearance of lawyers in these courts and will not subject the local Taliban led by Fazlullah to the jurisdiction of these courts.
The other truth that one must recognise is the consequences of negotiating peace with the terrorists from a position of weakness. The NWFP government did not engage in talks with Sufi Muhammad because it was keen to abandon Swat to him; it was compelled to do so because of the target-killing of ANP leaders and the failure of the security forces to stem the growing power of the TTP in the region. In fact, ANP leaders have been quite outspoken about why they were compelled to talk peace with their killers.
This is a deadlock grown out of the joint parliamentary resolution earlier this year asking the army to vacate and the government to seek negotiations with the terrorists. Swat is just one example of what will happen if the state decides to seek peace with the Taliban-Al Qaeda combine from a position of weakness. The next step in Swat looks almost unavoidable unless the army goes in and changes the status quo.