By: Ghazal Mahtab
Afghanistan Monitor, March 3, 2009
A recent “Peace deal” between Pak provincial government and Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi militant group (TNSM – Movement for Enforcing Mohammad’s Sharia Laws) although is described as “efforts to bring peace and negotiated settlement”, majority of Pakistanis see it as an instrument for converting NWFP into a safe haven for al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
On 16th Feb. 2009, Pakistan reached a “peace deal” agreement with Taliban in Swat valley, where its military has been battling insurgents since 2007. Under the deal, government will implement Sharia law in Malakand division of NWFP (which includes Swat valley) and military troops will be redeployed to their designated camps and forts.
Information Minister Sherry Rehman believes “The public will of the population of the Swat region is at the centre of all efforts and it should be taken into account while debating the merits of this agreement”. But critics argue majority of local people in Swat are not in favor of the deal, despite thousands in Swat demonstrated in support of it.
In an interview with Pakistani private TV channel, Geo news, Retired Lt. Gen. Hamid Nawaz, former Interior Minister and Defense Secretary, said “people in Swat were living in fear of militants and they have no other choice but to praise the accord.” Mr. Nawaz added, the accord reflects government’s “weakness and helplessness.”
Since the Taliban insurgency in 2007, more than 1,200 policemen, government servants and Swat residents have died in shelling by the army or from beheadings sanctioned by the Taliban. Tens of thousands of residents had fled the conflic in Swat and hundreds of schools had been demolished.
Many Pakistanis in country’s main cities were alarmed by the deal saying it marks a setback for girls and women’s rights. Taliban mostly have appeared to oppose girls’ education calling it “un-Islamic”. They demolished hundreds of schools and educational institutions in Swat valley since 2007. Eventually on December 24th 2008, Maulana Shah Dauran, a Taliban spokesman, announced that girls’ education was being outlawed in Swat valley from January 15 2009 and issued a warning that all girls’ schools would have to be closed by the set deadline.
However, Pakistan civilian government insists it needed to bring peace to the valley, so that girls could return to school and business return to normal.
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