Adil Najam
After an intense, and sometimes tense, debate in Parliament, Asif Ali Zardari’s government has now promulgated the ‘Nizam-e-Adl’ regulation in Swat. The deal is now official. In this ATP Poll, we would like to ask you if you think that this deal will still be standing in 3 month’s time and, whether it would or not, who (government or Taliban) would be stronger?
There are, of course, other questions related to the Nizam i Adl deal. For example, will this spur more demands from other areas for similar regulations? Will this actally bring peace and justice to Malakand? What form of Shariah will actually be implemented? What effect will this deal have on the ruling coalition itself?
These, and other questions may not be part of the Poll – which focusses only on whether the deal will last 3 months and who will emerge stronger out of this at the 3-month mark. However, we hope that readers will discuss these – and any other – larger questions about just what the implications of this Nizam-i-Adl deal will be on Swat and all over Pakistan.
We really need to think.
Assume Taliban are finished tomorrow. Zilch. They are gone. Then what? What is the end game?
Is there a plan to uplift SWAT
Wahid,
The results of the Dark Ages of the 1980s under Zia ul Haq are indeed very clear.
Hejazi obscurantists imported into South Asia, supplanted by billions of dollars of oil money from the terrorist Wahabi cult for over 20 years have resulted in these demonic forces being emboldened beyond belief, openly defying the state in the valley of Swat.
In the past, the myopic rulers of Pakistan (including Benazir and Nawaz) have actively supported these dark forces to seek “strategic depth” in Afghanistan.
But you reap what you sow. Today, these dogs have come back to bite their masters in the rear. Instead of learning the lesson and finally wiping out the terrorists in an all out operation, Gen Kiani has confined himself to his den preferring to let the locals bear the brunt of Sufi Muhammad and the other terrorists.
Just today the terrorist “Sufi” has said that anybody who participates in the Pakistani legal system is a kafir. These guys are unbelievable – these terrorists must be destroyed and Pakistan Army can do it, if they have the will.
Unfortunately, the Wahabi rot has penetrated the Army too. Army officers including Colonels and Brigadiers openly subscribe to Saudi version of Islam, and sympathy for Taliban is widespread in the army. And the future is very bleak indeed.
The only thing that can save Pakistan is an IDEOLOGICAL TURNAROUND.
A complete ban on Wahabi’ism, Deobandi’ism and obscurantism in Pakistan. Saudi aid should be banned, and the Saudi ambaassador must be expelled from Pakistan as a protest for over 20 years of terrorist support.
Tougher laws need to be made to outlaw hate speech, with tough jail sentences. This needs to be coupled with strong anti-terrorist action to root out militants.
@Naqvi (high intellect of east or south or somewhere glorious)
Looks like you have figured it all out.
Since the inception of Pakistan, your kind (with its intelligent policies) has been the architects and rulers of Pakistan. And the results are clear.
Shame on you, General Kiani, for having lost the country – entirely unnecessarily – to the uncivilized barbarians of north
The corrupt, obscurantist and nihilist Saudi ideology is already on its way out in the Middle East, but it has left its ugly mark upon the low-intellect barbarians of the northern Indus valley, a painful reminder of the disgusting legacy of Abu Sufyan.
We must all bow our heads in shame.
This stands doubly true for General Asfhaq Kiani and the rest of the Pakistan “Army”, who have given ample proof of their virility.
Capitulating to the barbarians of the north means putting a big question mark on the viability of the Pakistani state and what it means to live in the land of the Indus.
There can be no doubt that this is the result of a military defeat – a defeat caused by a half-hearted effort at fighting the barbarians of the mountains.
This is a MILITARY DEFEAT for Pakistan. Read the article in Today’s The News:
Life post-Nizam-e-Adl
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Dr Farrukh Saleem
Here are four of our historical, landmark, monumental mistakes. First: in 1947, we accepted that 27,220 square kilometres of FATA — Bajaur, Khyber, Kurram, Mohamand, North Waziristan, Orakzai, South Waziristan plus FR Peshawar, FR Kohat, FR Tank, FR Bannu, FR Lakki and FR Dera Ismail Khan — shall continue to be governed under the Frontier Crimes Regulation of 1901. Second: in 1970, Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA), a total of 72,496 square kilometres — that includes Skardu, Ghanche, Gilgit, Ghizer Diamer, Astore and Hunza — was created as a separate administrative unit. Third: in 1997, Ehtesab Act was passed by the Nawaz Sharif government that gave birth to Ehtesab Courts. Fourth: in 1997, the Anti-Terrorism Act gave birth to Anti-Terrorism Courts.
For the past 62 years we have failed to integrate FATA into the rest of Pakistan. For the past 39 years we have failed to integrate FANA into the rest of Pakistan. That’s 99,716 square kilometres, nearly 13 per cent of our total landmass, outside the boundaries of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The results of our follies are for the world to see. On April 13, President Asif Ali Zardari, the 11th president of Pakistan, signed Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009 donating an additional 5,337 square kilometres of Pakistan to Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM). The TNSM has already laid its claim to 14,850 square kilometres of Chitral and 5,280 square kilometres of Dir. That would mean 16 per cent of our landmass. Where would it all stop? FATA is beyond Pakistan de facto. Swat is now beyond Pakistan de jure. Pakistan has no writ in most of Balochistan. And, that’s a total of 452,243 square kilometres, or 58 per cent of Pakistan, beyond Pakistan’s writ. What would Swat now be like? Which one of the 192 member-states of the UN would Swat be like? Which one of the 57 OIC countries would Swat be like? Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan?
Would the ‘Switzerland of Pakistan’ now be like Saudi Arabia? Saudi Arabia’s per capita book readership is one of the lowest on the face of the planet. Saudi Arabia is yet to produce a Nobel prize winner (Israel has produced eight). Saudi Arabia has no more than 5,000 scientists (200 per million) while the US has 1.5 million (4,000 per million). Saudi Arabia hasn’t invented anything of consequence for the human civilisation in its 77 years of existence. Saudi Arabia officially practises a comprehensive gender-based apartheid system whereby 14 million Saudi women have different legal rights than Saudi men, an “unequal access to property and jobs, and restrictions on freedom of movement