Pakistan’s Sharia Law for Swat

As a first step towards legalising Talibanisation in the country, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has signed a pact between the government and the militants to impose Sharia (Islamic) rule in the tribal Malakand division including Swat.

The President has signed the agreement and allowed the Governor of the NorthWest Frontier Province (NWFP) to promulgate the Nizam-eAdal (Islamic justice system) Regulation 2009. The President signed the pact known as peace deal, after the National Assembly passed a resolution in the favour of the “peace deal”.

The assertion highlights the dilemma facing Pakistan’s beleaguered government as it seeks to halt 18 months of bloodletting in the Swat valley while convincing the US and other foreign sponsors that it is not capitulating to allies of Al-Qaeda.

The peace agreement was signed between Provincial Government of NWFP and Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-eMuhammadi, on February 15, 2009.

The deal covers the Malakand division of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, a largely conservative region which stretches north along the Afghan border for hundreds of miles. The Swat Valley section lies less than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the capital, Islamabad, and is believed to be largely under Taliban control.

The deal will drain public support for extremists who have hijacked long-standing calls in Swat for reform of Pakistan's snail-paced justice system.

The Regulations
The regulation will see the imposition of Sharia laws in the Malkhand division of the NWFP that comprises seven districts, including Swat.

The measure was part of a peace deal brokered by Sufi Muhammad, a cleric who led tens of thousands to fight US forces in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, attacks, but later renounced violence.

The terms of the agreement remain murky, fuelling concern that it cedes effective control over the region to the private army of Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah, who is the cleric’s son-in-law. In the past that radical groups allied with Al-Qaeda have helped fight security forces in Swat.

Many Western nations, including the US, termed the deal a “retrograde” step as it was seen as bowing before the Taliban and getting in return too little for giving up too much.

The deal appeared to have come unstuck recently with Sufi Muhammad winding up his peace camp and leaving Swat to protest Zardari’s delay in acceding to the accord. He then clarified the pact was intact but was dependent on Zardari signing it.

Impact on US-Pak Relations

As Pakistan ratified the peace deal with the Taliban in restive Swat Valley despite strong objections from the US., it is believed that the move would increase the tensions between Islamabad and Washington.The Obama Administration could even move to expand its unilateral airstrikes inside Pakistan.Not only will Pakistan see greater domestic turmoil as a result of the passage of this law, but the new regulation will further aggravate tensions between Islamabad and Washington, complicating Western efforts to combat the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

The US may even move to expand its unilateral airstrikes and covert operations deeper into Pakistani territory. Besides, the signing into law the peace deal with Pakistani Taliban would virtually convert the Swat Valley into a Taliban territory.The Nizam-i-Adl Regulation becoming law without the militants laying down their arms is thus far the most significant example of the Pakistani state’s retreat in the face of a powerful jihadist insurgency.

Zardari’s signature was a boon for Islamic militants who have brutalised the Swat Valley for nearly two years in demanding a new justice system. It was sure to further anger human rights activists and feed fears among the US and other Western allies that the valley will turn into a sanctuary for militants close to Afghanistan.