In 2001, on return from Afghanistan Maulana Sufi Muhammad offered himself to be taken into protective government custody fearing he would be lynched by the parents of young men he led to a quixotic expedition to fight on the side of the Taliban regime against the invading American forces.
Hundreds of his foot soldiers died; some in the fighting but more by suffocation in containers. He is once again under the spotlight for his ditching the ANP-led NWFP government he sold for a penny to the Taliban.
Perhaps showing profound naively or feeling overwhelmed by the terror created by militants, the ANP leaders mistook him for a peace-broker, and accepted his offer of 'surrender' on behalf of the Taliban in return for enforcement of Nizam-i-Adl in the Malakand division - not realising that he is one of them.
Hardly a day or two passed after the agreement was granted presidential assent, the peace-broker showed himself in his true colours. Standing before a large captive crowd he rubbished anything and everything that stands in Pakistan in the name of Constitution and democracy. He may modify the stand he took at the Grassy knoll last Sunday in Mingora being a maverick that he is, who knows.
But his words have triggered a huge controversy, casting doubts about the viability of the peace he has brokered. Essentially, two clear but contrasting perspectives seem to have emerged since the implementation of Nizam-i-Adl Regulation. First, a semblance of relative peace has returned to Swat Valley and other districts of Malakand division following the agreement and life is returning to normalcy.
The judicial system is being overhauled to the satisfaction of the people. They had it once upon a time and have been struggling to have it back again. Second, the Swat Taliban are in violation of the deal by refusing to surrender arms amidst reports that some of them have entered the neighbouring Buner district triggering fears that their empowerment in Swat is likely to have its domino effect all-around.
Lending credibility to these fears the JUI (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has now claimed that the Taliban have reached Tarbela and only the Margallas stand between them and Islamabad. Quite surprisingly, among the ready buyers of Maulana Fazlur Rehman's perception is the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. But there is no panic in the Capital. There are certain ground realities that need to be grasped in order to bring out the truth from this admixture of myth and reality of the Swat situation.
The fact is that by and large the people in the north-west mountainous region are poor, and their poverty has deepened over the last some years. Then this is also a reality that they have been misruled by the corrupt and lethargic bureaucracy and the judiciary. So, given their backwardness and underdevelopment they are easy victims of manipulation both by politicians and religious leaders. They wanted the Nizam-i-Adl because the existing courts had failed them.
But to their bad luck a wayward speech by Maulana Sufi Muhammad has kicked up a storm against the Nizam-i-Adl Regulation agreement. That the PML (N), always seen as natural sympathiser of the religious movements in Pakistan, is moving to the forefront of Nizam-i-Adl rejectionists, one is intrigued by the development. Add to this Nawaz Sharif's recent interaction with the western media and Secretary Clinton's warning of an "existential threat" to Pakistan - doesn't it stir a feeling of déjà vu?
The fact is that Swat militancy did not face the military might as such. The forces were there in a defencive mode, not to attack and wipe out the insurgents but only to defend if attacked. And the NWFP government, under pressure of its losses at the hands of local Taliban, cut the peace deal from a position of weakness. Therefore, now that the agreement is not delivering its full promise it needs to be re-visited.
And as and when it is done, provision for military intervention should be factored in the revised version. It is also necessary that fighting militancy is separate from introduction of the new judicial system in Malakand. These should be treated as two different subjects. Arriving at an agreement deal that brought peace to hundreds of thousands of people in Malakand division is no mean achievement but then it can certainly not be at the cost of the State losing its writ. The Taliban have made their designs very clear and Sufi is undoubtedly one of them.
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