Shariah law in Malakand

Much to Richard Holbrooke's chagrin who was in Pakistan last week to seek tightening of screws on the militants the guns have fallen silent in Swat and other districts of Malakand Division - following an agreement on Monday between the NWFP government and the Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) to enforce Shariah laws in the embattled region.
A day before, the militants had released the Chinese engineer and announced a 10-day cease-fire, prompting schools to reopen as per their regular schedules. Both the warring militants and the Pak Army say the agreement would be fully respected. These are dramatic developments that would hopefully lift the curse of war and deprivation from the blighted mountainous region inhibited by some three million hapless Pakistanis.
On the face of it, all this could have been achieved some months earlier also but the federal government and proponents of Islamic rule in Malakand Division had differed on the applicability of appellate jurisdiction of superior courts and appointment of advisors to the judges of Qazi courts. Those differences still remain to be tackled by a joint team of experts from both sides.
Given the spirit of the agreement, the questions like how to fit these courts into the constitutional scheme of things and thus countenance a "parallel judiciary" are amenable to resolution. Such a legal system aptly fits into the demands of the local population of Swat that have had Shariah courts in the past.
Of course, Richard Holbrooke and some other secular-liberal circles at home and abroad are unhappy over the agreement but the general public in Pakistan has heaved a sigh of relief. The cease-fire followed by agreement to introduce Shariah courts has been celebrated in the NWFP, particularly by the residents of Swat by distributing sweets.
As to why Information Minister Sherry Rehman, who acts as the federal government's chief spokesperson, should predicate the presidential signature to implementation of the agreement is yet an unanswered question. May be the ruling government is worried and rightly so, about its international image as a liberal entity.
But that concern is unfounded because it is the parliament that is supposed to give constitutional cover to the Qazi courts and not the president. Her stance also comes clashing with the provincial government's persistent position that the agreement with the militants had the blessings of President Zardari.
For his right credentials Maulana Sufi Muhammad, the chief of TNSM, has helped clinch this agreement. He had led this movement, with reasonable success, in the 90s during the governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. And, his credentials also gel with the militants for he had led a 'lashkar' to Afghanistan when the Americans entered there to dislodge the Taliban government.
Since Maulana Sufi Muhammad's role as representative of the militants has been acknowledged by the Swat chapter of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Taliban (PTT) there is the hope that the agreement would be implemented by both sides, putting to rest the worry in the US-led anti-terror coalition that such agreements give militants the time to re-group.
Should this agreement endure it has the potential to bring peace and prosperity to Swat and its adjoining areas. It would help retrieve a significant part of population and territory from the clutches of extremism and militancy. Hundreds of internally displaced people would be able to return to their homes and hearths and resume their lives.
With Swat militants dropping out of the loop the TPP constituency would shrink by many miles. Most importantly, Pakistan Army would save its image from further dents incurred as they are by fighting its own people. These are substantial gains, and have the desired potential to trigger the crucial national task of mainstreaming the tribal people of our troubled north-west.
The next step should be a critical examination of the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR), the relic put in place by the colonial power to tame and control the fiercely independent tribesmen. None of it that comes into clash with the essentials of a modern state should be retained, as bringing the FATA at par with other federating units should be the nation's ultimate goal.