Afghan Press Author: Rooh-ul-Amin

Once an indolent cobbler got a tear in his shoe. He observed that there was only a single split in his shoe and went on ignoring it that some time else he would mend. For nine days, he could not stitched it, because he was too busy in mending the shoes of others. After nine days, when he sit to mend it he found that the single split has reached to nine rips. As repentance, he felt that, had he repaired it in time, the matter would not have reached this point. The moment he accepted his sloth, this valuable saying came out of his mouth that a stitch in time saves nine. Similarly the NWFP government after receiving a huge loss, at length, inked a truce with Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM). The provincial government in this peace deal has full support of the president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari.

When, he visited Peshawar February 06, 2009, Asif Ali Zardari, who is Karachi-based Balochi, threatened the militants in this language, “the militants must know that I am also a tribal and we (the government) will never be lily-livered before them.” Most of the people, who have no political education, whistled that the government this time, is serious enough in coping with the issue of terror, in FATA and Swat. With that he also announced different developmental projects, (but I am sure none of them will come true as I have been hearing such announcements since my childhood but on the ground there is no development either concrete or abstract), will be carried out. For instance, the establishment of factories, the construction of Bara dam, and educational institutions, were the main points of his address to tribal elders. Nonetheless, contrary to past and present announcements, you will see only bleak and barren land, bleak and barren mind and bleak and barren future. These are elusive promises, and announcements, made by the rulers of Pakistan, since the creation of Pakistan. Because of such hollow slogans and keeping the masses of eastern Pakistan deprived of their basic rights and sidelining them from the mainstream of politics, we lost it forever. Now the same has been in repetition here.

When Richard Hollbroke, US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, called to Asif Ali Zardari, he ensured the envoy that, it will be a temporary deal. It, indeed is, a hazardous path. If it is a temporary peace deal, then what would be done for those displaced people, who are making their return to Swat. In case once again the violence breaks out, it will let loose a more catastrophic series of violence and vitriolic abhorrence and consequently the returnees will join the ranks of militants. Why did the armistice and peace deal in 1994 could not last? The only reason that I could remember is that the government was not serious in overcoming the issue created by TNSM. The then Chief Minister of NWFP, Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao played a ploy with TNSM by replacing the word ‘Magistrate’ with ‘Qazi’ and the when Maulana Sufi Muhammad felt that he, and his TNSM has been beguiled into signing the peace accord, it disappeared like a rainbow. One thing, which must be brought into focus, is that, at that time, insurgency was not that much vitriolic and organised, as currently is. Then, in 1999, the peace treaty with TNSM did not bear fruit, and the whole peace journey, dashed headlong.

And once again let me say, the governments since the creation of Pakistan deliberately have ignored this part of the world so that they can milk out aids from America and international philanthropist organisations.

Those, who have some know-how of political education, turned down the announcements of Asif Ali Zardari, mere announcements.

Shortly after his visit the news echoed that NWFP government with the support of Asif Ali Zardari inked truce with Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM), a banned Taliban outfit led by Maulana Sufi Muhammad, instead meeting the militants with iron hands. I am not lamenting that why the government carried out truce with those who had challenged the writ of the government rather I complain that why the government let off them with such a long-margin. The militants did surge overnights rather they made their debut one by one. That was a pragmatic season for their blockade.

The chief minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti called it an historic event but it sparked a volcano of controversy. Since then there is an endless debate on media. It will encourage other factions across the country to impose their own brand of Sharia. It is too much controversial and convoluted. Sun can rise from east, lion and lamb can drink water from same spring but religious leaders belonging to different schools of thoughts cannot be yoked under a unanimous Sharia Law. Each group declares and considers the others to be ‘Kafirs’ or infidels. For instance, a high level judicial Committee of Inquiry (into sectarian riots in 1953), led by the country’s two most prominent judges, after summing up the evidences taken from all major religious groups wind up as follows: Going through the collected evidences it is concluded that neither Deobandis nor Ahl-e-Hadith nor Barelvis nor Shias nor Sunnis, are Muslims. And in an Islamic state, if the government is in the hands of the group, which considers the others to be Kafirs, then in such a case they (Kafirs) must be sentenced with death penalty. When we have seen their intolerances and now been witnessing then why to allow them for such an act, which does not go in favour of nation, and state also. Is not lunacy and madness? According to Einstein, it is lunacy when an experiment is repeated for so many times, chasing different outcomes when it is already gone barren. When there is no unanimity among the different religious outfits and Taliban factions then enforcing of Sharia is a kind of collective suicide. It will yield disastrous and irreparable chaos and cracks.

Indeed, there is no gainsay that before 1969, in Malakand, Sharia was functional, and going well, but now it does not go with the trends of the times. Imitating them, Tehreek-e-Taliban in Waziristan will announce its own brand of Islamic Sharia, and another faction elsewhere. Consequently the state will fall into the hands of intolerants.

The spokesman for Awami National Party (ANP), Zahid Khan extolled the peace deal to the extent that he called Maulana Sufi Muhammad a non-violent Taliban leader. It is as if to call a snake, non-poisonous, and sans fang. A militant cannot be non-violent and a non-violent cannot be a militant. Here we will have to accept that according to the ‘Zahid Khan Theorem’ A is equal to B; hence violence is equal to peace. Accepted, but still there is a “but”. And that “but” is, it can be his political kiting and political jugglery and he must be doing it for his party’s fame that it has succeeded in bringing Taliban to the table of dialogues but Maulana Sahab is not a non-violent leader.

It is vivid than sun that, he is the same Maulana Sufi Muhammad, who led a group of thousands of gullible Pathans to wage a holy war in Afghanistan against America and leaving them in the bleak and barren land he fled back to Pakistan. Hundreds of ‘holy warriors’ were arrested in Afghanistan and kept in cells where they have been languishing until the Afghan government handed over them to Pakistan.

Upon his return he was arrested and thrown behind the bars.

It is also worth mentioning that it is not the duty of a citizen to wage or declare jihad (a holy war). It is the duty of state and its strong organ–army. It is the dilemma in Pakistan that has created the havoc and hellhole in the country. The day until we change our mindset there would chaos in the country in one form or the other. And the day until the government does not introduce FATA and tribals into the mainstream politics, there would be no development in the country. As Sharia Law is parallel to the constitution so is Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR). Is not the duplicitous role? Beyond any doubt it is. Instead enforcing Sharia the government must have abrogated FCR, which is anti-constitutional and anti-humanity. Why the people of FATA want to have Sharia law? It is because; FCR allows collective punishment, where a political agent is omnipotent and more than a monarch. He is judiciary, he and he is executive. It means if he wills he can punish you and if wills he can absolve you. And a tribal has no right to defend himself. This is why tribals prefer Sharia to FCR. It is this black law, which has erupted a sense of hatred and abhorrence among tribal against the state and system. It is on the record that Quaid-e-Azam, the founder and first Governor General of Pakistan was not given permission by the then political agent of Khyber Agency to visit Torkhum then what is the value of an ordinary man in the eyes of a political agent. This is why there has been always revolt and insurgency in this land. Looking into the past peace deals and accords one can easily connote that this one is also a fragrance, which will disappear soon.

The first augury of its failure is that the second day of armistice, Musa Khan Khel, a Swat-based correspondent to Geo News, a private channel and an English daily The News, was killed when he was covering the TNSM-led peace-march in Swat. It is the fourth case of journalist’s murder in Swat. The killing of a journalist was that still there are some forces, which don’t want peace in the valley. Muslim Khan, the spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Swat, denied that its outfit has involvement in this case. Since then different news organisations and civil societies have given vent to their fierce resentment to the murder of Musa Khan Khel. The third day (on February 19, 2009) of peace deal with TNSM, Dera Ismail Khan witnessed a violent scene of suicide bombing. A young man ran into the funeral prayer of a Shia leader and blown himself up. The suicide bombing resulted at the loss of 35 human lives and 150 other casualties. It is the second incident of suicide bombing in funeral prayer. It means the situation is not coming to normalcy.

Though these incidents reduced the importance of the armistice yet there has been a series of debates.

The delegation of TNSM met with the faction of Maulana Fazlullah, the son-in-law of Maulana Sufi Muhammad. Now it is also worth mentioning that how much exertion TNSM and Maulana Sufi Muhammad has in Swat, which is a district of Malakand Division. Maulana Sufi Muhammad has a good circle of influence in Malakand while Swat comes under the noose of Maulana Fazlullah. If there is no consensus between father-in-law and son-in-law, the peace deal will be undermined.

In such a scenario it is not hard to say that the story of Swat and FATA has gone worse. And the truce will be nothing more than a rainbow-armistice, which will disappear soon.