Shariah implementation in Pakistan's restive tribal region sought

The Bajaur chapter of the Tehrik-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) on Sunday demanded immediate implementation of the Shariah (Islamic law) in Pakistan’s troubled Bajaur tribal region, assuring the government of its cooperation to establish the complete state writ and demanding the army to stay in the region till reconstruction work is completed.
TNSM Bajaur chief Dr Ismail Muhammadi made this demand while reacting to the finalisation of a five-point agreement for enforcement of Shariah in Malakand Division after successful talks between the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) government and TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad.
“We assure the government of complete cooperation in establishment of lasting peace and the state writ in the troubled agency if people’s demand of enforcement of Shariah is met,” said Dr Ilyas, son of Dr Ismail Muhammad, while talking from Bajaur Agency via telephone.
“After people’s major demand of the enforcement of Shariah is met, the restoration of peace and purging the area of miscreants will become easier and the TNSM will be in a position to help establish the writ of the government,” he said.
Dr Ilyas, who recently completed his house job after obtaining MBBS degree and is now also working as spokesman for his father, said that the TNSM Bajaur chapter is ready to assume the responsibility of restoring peace in the restive tribal agency after enforcement of Shariah. He said the TNSM activists would fully help the security agencies in establishing the writ of the government and flushing out the troublemakers.
“Implementation of Shariah in the Bajaur Agency is the best way to defeat terrorism and deal with the miscreants,” the spokesman for the TNSM Bajaur chapter said. “Army is our national asset and we want the army to stay in the region till completion of the reconstruction work in the area because the recent strife brought large-scale destruction to the agency,” he said.
The government had launched military operation in Bajaur Agency in August last year, which led to killing of hundreds of people, both militants and civilians, while hundreds of thousands were displaced from the tribal agency home to 600,000 people, according to the most recent census.
Maulana Sufi Muhammad is one of the founders of TNSM, which was declared a terrorist outfit and banned in 2002 and which claims to be vying for implementation of the Shariah in the country. It operates mainly in the Swat and Malakand districts of the NWFP. Sufi Muhammad was jailed for sending thousands of volunteers to Afghanistan to fight the US-led invasion in 2001. However, he was freed in 2008 after he renounced violence.