Stoning To Death Of Two Lovers Draws Angry Reaction

Stone to death of two lovers in Mohmand Agency, tribal areas situated on Pak-Afghan border draws angry reaction from the tribesmen and Pakistani press. They demanded stern action against all those who responsible for this gruesome act of terrorism.

According Dawn comment, the stoning to death — the first incident of its kind in the Fata region — of a man and a woman accused of adultery fills one with unspeakable horror. The sheer barbarity of the punishment aside, it is clear that the local Taliban want to demonstrate to the new government that they will not tolerate any attempt to dilute their hold in the region. Neither will they be swayed by the promise of a democratic form of governance if this is designed to undermine their moral authority in any way. This is particularly disturbing because the militants had earlier welcomed Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s willingness to hold talks with them. It is incumbent on the new government to strongly condemn this incident, hold an enquiry into it and arrest those responsible for ordering and carrying out the execution, the circumstances behind which remain far from clear-cut. Such instances of summary justice were disregarded by the previous government, many of whose members actually gave their tacit approval to the dehumanising punishments being meted out.

In fact, the incident once again highlights the flaws of the jirga system and the need for Fata to be brought into the political mainstream and to have institutions that are the hallmark of a civilised society. In this regard, one can question NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Hoti’s words of praise for the jirga system recently. True, he approved of its perceived merits more in the context of ensuring peace in an unstable region. But in a shrinking world and changing society, the success of such a mechanism for resolving disputes and administering justice is temporary and limited in scope. If and when the promised social and economic development comes to Fata, there will, hopefully, be increasing realisation among its people that political freedom is the right of every individual. The laws of the land are meant to guard individual liberties which should not be in the hands of a selected few jirga members to bestow or take away. It is keeping this view in mind that the present dispensation should introduce reforms in Fata that are grounded in the reality of global and national political systems. It is in the same spirit that it should strive to rescue the region from the clutches of the militants whose medieval mindset is keeping it from progress.
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