Taliban Emirate in Pakistan

[WhizNews]

April 14, 2009 | 0155 GMT


Geopolitical Diary icon


The legislative and executive branches of the Pakistani government on Monday approved a Feb. 17 peace agreement between the provincial government in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and a Taliban rebel group based in NWFP’s Swat district. The agreement allows for the enforcement of a legal system based on “Islamic” law in the greater Swat region, in exchange for an end to the Taliban insurgency. Arguing that legal systems will vary from area to area in keeping the local culture, the supporters of the move — both within the government and society — say that the agreement will lead to the end of violence. Given the jihadist agenda, it is unlikely that this will happen; rather, the state’s capitulation will only embolden the jihadists to pursue their goals with greater vigor.


Lacking any strategy to combat the spreading insurgency, the Pakistani state over the past couple of years has lost more and more ground to Pashtun jihadists in its northwest. But until now, there has been only a de facto evaporation of the writ of the state – a situation Islamabad viewed as temporary. The approval of the Sharia deal by an overwhelming majority in Parliament, however, and the president’s signature on the peace agreement represent an acknowledgment of defeat on the part of the state — a situation that is very difficult to reverse, especially for a country that is grappling with all sorts of domestic and international issues.


Allowing a special political and legal dispensation in a given part of its territory essentially amounts to recognizing the autonomy of the region in question. It should be noted that the Pakistani state has, since its inception, fiercely resisted the minority provinces’ demands for autonomy.


The recognition of what amounts to a Taliban emirate in a significant portion of the NWFP comes at a time when Balochistan, the large province in southwest Pakistan, is experiencing a fresh wave of violence — triggered by last week’s killing of three key separatist leaders, allegedly by the country’s security apparatus. Not only will legislating a Taliban-style legal system for the greater Swat region facilitate the Talibanization of significant parts of the country, it also will embolden Baloch separatism. In other words, the two provinces that border Afghanistan could spin out of control. An accelerating meltdown of Islamabad’s writ in its western periphery seriously undermines the Obama administration’s regional strategy concerning the Taliban and transnational jihadism.


Insurgencies in the Pashtun and Baloch areas threaten Western military supply routes running through the two provinces and make it increasingly difficult for U.S. and NATO forces to level the battlefield in Afghanistan. The situation on the Afghan-Pakistani border is becoming even more fluid, allowing Taliban insurgents on both sides to make gains in their respective theaters. Such a scenario has a direct bearing on the political component of the U.S. strategy, as it makes negotiations with pragmatic Taliban elements all the more elusive.


In fact, the negotiations between the Taliban in Pakistan’s Swat region and Islamabad set a bad precedent, undermining any U.S. efforts to reach out to pragmatic Taliban in Afghanistan. Seeing the success of their counterparts in Swat, the Afghan Taliban are likely to insist that they will negotiate with their fellow Afghans only after Western forces leave the country. This means that Western forces are looking at a long conflict — one in which the jihadists, and not the United States and NATO, will have the advantage called Pakistan.

Pakistani Taliban begin imposing rule in new area

Reuters

By Zeeshan Haider Zeeshan Haider – Mon Apr 13, 5:32 am ET


ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani Taliban are imposing their rule in a Pakistani mountain valley they took over last week, spreading fear in the area only 100 km (60 miles) from the capital, police and residents said on Monday.


Surging militant violence across Pakistan and the spread of Taliban influence through the northwest are reviving concerns about the stability of the nuclear-armed U.S. ally.


Pakistan is crucial to U.S. efforts to stabilize neighboring Afghanistan but the government has been unable to check militant attacks in its cities let alone stop insurgents crossing into Afghanistan from border strongholds to battle Western forces.


Clashes erupted in Buner district last week after scores of Taliban moved in unopposed from the neighboring Swat valley, where authorities struck a deal with Islamists in February to enforce Islamic law in a bid to end violence.


Buner residents formed a militia, or "lashkar," to resist the militants and 13 people, including eight Taliban, three policemen and two villagers, were killed in clashes.


Authorities say they are negotiating with the militants to persuade them to withdraw but the Taliban have stayed put and appeared determined to take over the valley, police said.


"They are everywhere," Arsala Khan, a deputy superintendent of police, told Reuters by telephone from Buner.


"They are visiting mosques, they are visiting bazaars asking people to help them in enforcing sharia," he said.


"Buner is fast turning into Swat."


Swat, to the west of Buner, was one of Pakistan's main tourist destinations until 2007 when militants infiltrated into the North West Frontier Province valley from strongholds on the Afghan border to support a radical cleric.


Authorities agreed to an Islamist demand for Islamic sharia law in Swat in February to end the fighting but critics said appeasement would only embolden the militants to take over other areas.


Pakistan's Western allies fear such pacts create havens for Taliban and al Qaeda fighters.


PANIC


Residents of Buner said they feared more bloodshed.


"There's panic all over," said ethnic Pashtun tribal elder Fateh Khan. "If the Taliban don't leave there will be more fighting, there might be a military operation. If that happens, who will lose? Only us."


The spread of the Taliban has alarmed many Pakistanis.


Many people were horrified when video footage emerged this month showing Taliban beating in public a teenaged girl accused of having an affair. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon denounced the flogging as "unacceptable."


But the government's support for the United States is also deeply unpopular, with many Pakistanis seeing militant violence as a result of that alliance.


President Asif Ali Zardari, who has vowed to stand up to the spread of militancy, is facing pressure from both conservatives and liberals over the issue of sharia law in Swat.


He has yet to sign into law a bill imposing it in the valley and the president's aides have said he would only sign when peace returned to the valley.


But conservatives and the main political party in the northwest, who support the law as the only way to bring peace, say he is delaying because of liberal and U.S. opposition.


Acting on Zardari's advice, the government has referred the bill to parliament which was due to debate it later on Monday.

[Dr. Shabbir]

No person can be punished for stealing bread during famine or in an impoverished society. Similarly, it is important to ensure that all doors conducive to adultery have been closed by the Islamic society.


Secondly, is it possible that the 100 'littar' (Jaldah) verse might point to adultery committed in public, such as on beaches? ['Littar', wah maza aa gya Punjabi da :-)]


24:2 The adulteress and the adulterer, flog each one of them with a hundred stripes. And let not compassion sway you in their case from carrying out God’s law, if you believe in God and the Last Day. And let a group of believers witness the penalty. [Jaldah (from skin) implies that the lashes must be superficial on the skin. And the presence of a group of believers clearly indicates the punishment as a means of deterrence and not torture. Nowhere does the Qur’an ordain the barbaric punishment of stoning to death anyone for any crime. Lewdness: 4:15, 25. Punishment as a deterrent: 5:38. Capital punishment for rape: 33:60:61. Notice that the punishment would, in general, apply to adultery committed in public since it is almost always done in privacy with anyone seldom being a witness]


Thanks a million for gracing the forum!