Sufi Mohammad to be tried by military courts

ISLAMABAD: The federal government intends to transfer to the military courts all the terrorism related cases pending against the detained chief of Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-Mohammadi (TNSM) Maulana Sufi Mohammad, who is the father-in-law of the fugitive TTP ameer, Mullah Fazlullah.
The move is on the cards because of the fact that Sufi Mohammad, who has been behind the bars since 2009 military operation in Swat, has already been acquitted in ten of the 12 terrorism related cases due to refusal of the witnesses to appear before the trial courts, mainly out of fear.
As the witnesses refuse to record their statements, the courts are left with no other option but to acquit Sufi and his co-accomplices. Sufi is currently incarcerated in the Central Prison Peshawar.
Another major reason for the failure of the courts to convict the TNSM chief in any major case of terrorism so far is the atmosphere of fear which has not only scared the judges but also the investigation officers as well as the prosecution department officials.
Even the police witnesses are reluctant to appear before the courts due to fear of attacks by Sufi Mohammad’s followers who had warned official witnesses not to attend the courts to record their statements or they would have to face the consequences.
The prevalent state of fear among those who are responsible for collecting evidence and submitting challans of the cases against Sufi Mohammad can be gauged from the fact that a Peshawar Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) judge Abdur Rauf had to issue an arrest warrant [on December 13, 2014] of the scared investigation officer [Inspector Gul Raheem] who was pursuing two cases against the TNSM ameer, but was reluctant to appear before the court out of fear. The first case was registered for attacking the Kabal police station in Swat on June 18, 1995 while the second case was lodged for delivering an anti-government speech at the Grassy Ground in Mingora on July 30, 2009, shortly before the military operation was launched. Sufi was charged in these cases with several sections of the Pakistan Penal Code for collecting arms, attempted murder, waging war against Pakistan, and Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.
In fact, a dozen cases had been registered against Sufi Muhammad under sections 122, 121, 121-A, 148, 149, 186, 324 and 353 of Pakistan Penal Code read with sections 3 and 4 of Explosive Substance Act. However, to date, he has been acquitted in ten of the 12 cases due to faulty investigation, disinterest shown by the prosecution department and the investigation officers and the subsequent lack of evidence against the accused. Interestingly, the state-hired lawyers are defending Sufi in all the cases on the direction of the ATC as the TNSM chief refused to hire a counsel after declaring the Pakistani judicial system un-Islamic. Therefore, the federal government is contemplating to transfer to the newly set-up military courts the remaining cases of sedition and terrorism which are still pending against Sufi Mohammad.
Sufi has mostly remained behind the bars during the last decade as the successive governments didn’t conduct his trials. When the ANP formed a coalition government with the PPP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2008, Sufi Mohammad was released from Dera Ismail Khan Jail under a peace agreement with the provincial government of KP on April 21, 2008. It followed another peace agreement between Mullah Fazlullah and the ANP-led government in 2009. All the cases against Sufi and his key associates were withdrawn under the agreement as per which Fazlullah was to renounce violence. But the peace deal with Fazlullah could not last longer and the cases against the TNSM chief and his men were revived. As Fazlullah’s private army let loose a reign of terror in the Swat valley in a bid to enforce Shariah, a massive military operation was launched in Malakand division, which led to the re-arrest of Sufi from the Sethi Town in Peshawar along with his three sons on July 26, 2009.
The father of 13 sons and seven daughters, the 82-year-old Sufi Mohammad comes from the Dir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who had completed his religious education in 1959 from Darul Uloom Haqqania. After abandoning the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Sufi had launched the Movement for Enforcement of Islamic Laws in June 1989. Basically a Wahabi militant organisation, the TNSM’s goal has been quite clear since its creation - the implementation of a strict version of Islamic Shariah in the entire Malakand region, which includes the districts of Swat, Buner, and Upper and Lower Dir. Therefore, the TNSM had gradually emerged in the Malakand and Swat divisions as a private militia to reckon with, finally compelling the government to order a military operation against the organisation in May 2009.
While Maulana Sufi Mohammad is the central ameer of the organisation, the Swat chapter of the TNSM was led by his fugitive son-in-law, Maulana Fazlullah, who is also the ameer of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. Sufi had chosen the black turban and black flag as the insignia of his pro-Taliban group, leading to their nickname, “The Black Turbaned Brigade”. The TNSM was one of the five jehadi organisations proscribed by the Musharraf regime on 12 January 2002 under the Anti-Terrorism Act 2000. In terms of sectarian linkages, Sufi is an ardent believer of the Wahabi school of thought and had been associated with some Saudi-sponsored groups from the Afghan war theater of 1980-88.
The TNSM motto is ‘Shariah Ya Shahadat’ (Islamic laws or martyrdom) which rejects all political and religio-political parties for they follow the western style of democracy. The members of the TNSM, whose leadership openly condones the use of force in jehad, are identified by their shoulder-length hair and camouflage vests over traditional shalwar kameez clothing, being the trademark of Sufi Mohammad, which has become their identity. Ideologically, the TNSM is dedicated to transform Pakistan into a Taliban style Islamic state. In the words of Sufi: “Those opposing the imposition of Islamic Shariah in Pakistan are Wajibul Qatal (worthy of death).”
Just like his son-in-law, Maulana Sufi Mohammad also rejects democracy as un-Islamic: “We want enforcement of Islamic judicial system in totality: judicial, political, economic, Jehad Fi Sabilallah (holy war in the name of Allah Almighty), education and health. In my opinion, the life of the faithful will automatically be molded according to the Islamic system when the Islamic judicial system is enforced”, Sufi Mohammad had declared in a speech 2009 shortly before a military operation was launched in Swat and he was held on sedition and terrorism charges.