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| Swatis are happy but the West isn’t |
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009
By Rahimullah Yusufzai
PESHAWAR: People in Swat and rest of Malakand division heaved a sigh of relief and expressed happiness following the announcement that Nizam-e-Adl Regulation was being enforced in their area but in keeping with expectations the Western capitals appear apprehensive and their media is critical of the decision.
The reaction by the Western media and some liberal and progressive sections of the population in Pakistan was so strong and negative that it appears to have unnerved the federal government. The statement by Information Minister Sherry Rehman that President Asif Ali Zardari would sign the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation only after restoration of peace in Swat could be interpreted as an attempt to allay the fears in the Western countries and deflect the criticism against the amended Islamic-rooted law. This statement doesn’t take into account the fact that enforcement of Nizam-e-Adl Regulation is necessary for restoration of peace as any further delay would provide the militants an excuse to continue their attacks against the security forces and pro-government people and provoke the military to take retaliatory action.
It is unfortunate that Pakistan has become so weak and vulnerable to foreign pressure that its government cannot even initiate measures and make laws in accordance with the wishes of its people. The people of Swat and other parts of Malakand Division have made it abundantly clear that they want Shariah as they believe it would make their area peaceful and facilitate quick and affordable delivery of justice.
More importantly, they feel this would bring an end to the military operations in Swat and restrain the militants. In fact, return of peace is now the most important wish of the people in Swat and they would welcome any decision that could achieve this objective. The expressions of joy in Swat as seen on our television screens and distribution of sweets in villages even in places like Lower Dir to celebrate the announcement about Nizam-e-Adl Regulation were proof of the relief that the common people felt about return of peace to their troubled area.
So strong was the reaction in the Western media that an American TV channel in a report termed the “deal” as capitulation to the militants. It wrongly claimed that the whole of NWFP would now be under Shariah and that strict Islamic law would be enforced. It also stressed that the Pakistan government gave up its sovereignty, that secular law was over and that the Taliban would henceforth impose their tough Islamic laws in Swat and beyond. Other Western media outlets argued that the Taliban got what they wanted after the government agreed to impose Islamic law and suspend the military operation across much of northwest Pakistan.
Unfortunately, much of this criticism is misplaced. This is primarily due to the lack of knowledge about the kind of law that is being proposed for Malakand region and the adjoining Kohistan district of Hazara division. In fact, the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation isn’t much different from a similar law that was enforced in Swat and rest of Malakand division and Kohistan in 1994 and then, with some amendments, in 1999. Some changes have certainly been made to appease Maulana Sufi Mohammad, founder of the Tanzim Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) and the foremost campaigner for Shariah in the area, and bring him on board. Some commentators were even asking as to who would sit in the proposed Qazi Courts because they were unaware that such courts already exist in the whole of Malakand division as a result of the previous Shariah and Nizam-e-Adl ordinances and qualified and trained judges renamed Qazis man the Qazi Courts. The argument that the country cannot afford to have two different kinds of law or legal system is also irrelevant because Swat, Chitral, Dir and the new districts Buner and Shangla that comprise Malakand Division were merged into Pakistan as late as 1969 and, therefore, had a special status with their own set of laws. The Nizam-e-Adl Regulation for the area was rather a continuation of the semi-Shariah laws that were already in force in the states of Swat, Dir and Chitral at the time of their merger in Pakistan.
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briefs...
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ISSN 1563-9479 
