Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has signed a law introducing Islamic ‘shariah’ law in the picturesque Swat valley in northwestern Pakistan in an attempt to end Taliban violence, but critics warn that it could encourage Taliban influence to spread further in the fragile country.
Lawmakers in the lower house of parliament on Monday unanimously approved a resolution paving the way to install Islamic law in courts in the Malakand region, of which Swat is the headquarters.
Mr Zardari immediately followed the parliamentary resolution by formally approving the law, agreed on between the government and Islamic militants in February to end months of intense fighting between the Pakistani military and Taliban militants.
However, critics denounced the law on the grounds that it would embolden the Taliban to demand similar ‘shariah’ Islamic law elsewhere outside Malakand.
“This step by the government will only embolden the Taliban movement in the sense that if they demand for something, the government concedes, and then they come back with more demands” said Asma Jehangir, a Pakistani human rights lawyer.
The agreement has attracted fresh controversy after a group of Pakistani human rights activists earlier this month released footage showing the Taliban publicly whipping a 17 -year old woman in Swat after she was accused of adultery. The incident sparked fresh debate over the Taliban’s particularly harsh brand of justice.
“If you are the Taliban and you believe in such public displays of harsh measures, you are then capable of doing anything, especially once you have legal cover” warned a western diplomat in Islamabad. “The danger is that these laws give cover to practices that have questionable legitimacy.”
However, a Pakistani government official said the deal was vital to bring peace to Swat as a prerequisite for the government re-establishing its control over the area. “This was a bitter pill that had to be swallowed in the long term interest of Swat and its surrounding region” said the official.
who would have thought!? mashallah, i hope pakistan has shariah Law all over!
so does this mean that there is going to be a mass exodus of Pakistanis from the west moving to swat now?
Pray:
Our Lord! we have heard the call of one calling (Us) to Faith, 'Believe ye in the Lord,' and we have believed. Our Lord! Forgive us our sins, blot out from us our iniquities, and take to Thyself our souls in the company of the righteous.
3:193
^So cz are you being sarcastic?
all this time on the forum and still you think the Shariah Law =
-Oppression of women has returned
-Girls have been barred from school
-Schools are being burned down
-Increased beheadings, shootings, and bombings are on the rise
-Government buildings are bombed or burned down
-Police are being killed or driven out
I think you’re missing the point (well missing my point at least) whether it is or is not sharia law is for Muslims to decide, in this particular case the problem is not whether it is or is not sharia law, the problem is that they are calling it sharia law and the rest of the has no reason to believe otherwise particularly as the Muslims outside of Pakistan are silent about how the Taliban are interpreting and implementing their version of sharia law.
hey that sounds like Iraq and Afghanistan thanks to you trying to force your democracy on them!
I agree – Iraq was complete stupidity, Afghan was a necessity; we’re on the way out of Iraq, we’d like (I am sure) to be on the way out of Afghanistan; why doesn’t the Muslim world offer to replace the western armed forces in Afghan with Muslim armed forces?
A lot of people will suffer pain and many will die, the lives of many will become a misery and It'll all end in tears. And, the impact will be felt not just by those in the Swat valley and not just by those in the rest of Pakistan but by all Pakistanis all over the world because whether you like it or not and no matter how hard you shout about not being judged by the actions of a few fanatics, and no matter how unjust to you that might be, you will be so judged by their actions by the rest of the world.
I think you might be confusing things Thinker.
They said Shariah Law was being implemented, not that America was intervening.
poor people, when will they ever learn,,
they are doing nothing more than breaking up Pakistan, as the situation there has gone from bad to worse thanks in no small part to their actions against the government, now the government is corrupt yes, but some semblance of it is much better than no government. this will be another Afghanistan/Iraq all over again if they continue their idiotic 'crusade' for Shari'a+Pakhtun Wali+I don't what from lord knows where, and the US is not helping with it's drone attacks murdering 'terrorist' civilians and 5 year olds.
stupidity incarnate all over,,
poor people, when will they ever learn,,
they are doing nothing more than breaking up Pakistan, as the situation there has gone from bad to worse thanks in no small part to their actions against the government, now the government is corrupt yes, but some semblance of it is much better than no government. this will be another Afghanistan/Iraq all over again if they continue their idiotic 'crusade' for Shari'a+Pakhtun Wali+I don't what from lord knows where, and the US is not helping with it's drone attacks murdering 'terrorist' 5 year olds.
stupidity incarnate all over,,
Greetings Thinker, How do you know that the Muslims outside of Pakistan who know about this are silent on this issue?
Because I watch the news everyday and I've never seen any statements from leaders of any of the recognised Muslim groups (or for that matter anyone outside of the Government of Pakistan who are in denial) stating that what the Taliban are calling sharia law is their misguided interpretation of sharia law.
poor people, when will they ever learn,,
they are doing nothing more than breaking up Pakistan, as the situation there has gone from bad to worse thanks in no small part to their actions against the government, now the government is corrupt yes, but some semblance of it is much better than no government. this will be another Afghanistan/Iraq all over again if they continue their idiotic 'crusade' for Shari'a+Pakhtun Wali+I don't what from lord knows where, and the US is not helping with it's drone attacks murdering 'terrorist' civilians and 5 year olds.
stupidity incarnate all over,,
I agree with you that it look like Pakistan is fragmenting but I don't blame the Americans for that I blame the leaders of Pakistan who supported and nurtured the Taliban for years, who allowed their Madrassas and whose corruption has left them weak.
I would also like to know what you would do if you were President of Pakistan?
If you go to page one, you can see several of your brethren inshallah-ing Pakistan's decision.
Well you see this is one step forward, the interpretation of sharia will most definately change for the better when more and more educated scholars get involved
anything but suicide bombings and killing your own muslim brothers, this is not how Allah's law is implemented, this is a crucial point, the greater harm is to be avoided when there is choice between greater and lesser harms. implementing their tribal law and destabilizing the government right now is akin to treason, if Pakistan is broken up like Iraq/Afghanistan are, there is no telling what the repercussion will be, the muslim ummah needs to advance and compete in this world where anyone but us has a say in any matter, how will there be even potential for that if there is no government? a government could be pressured to change internally, but a lawless no man's land where everyone is killing everyone else means destroying any form of meager progress there was, how much longer will it need then for us to survive let alone rebuild and advance??
what should be done is that the narrow views in play right now should be abandoned, the government's writ is not so bad at all in that area especially, right now the country is to be more united especially when there are so many enemies targeting it, Afghanistan and Pakistan rise or fall together, and the US wants the Pakis to abandon all of their interests short term and long for it's own interests, which markedly clash now more than ever, not to mention the economy's sinking to rock bottom, all that is needed to tear the country apart is another insurgency.
the president is as ineffectual as they get, and listening to the US on the matter and sending the troops is a very stupid idea too, these organizations fall apart when their heads are taken out, and when the population is not with them, and that's easy enough, the ISI+army+aid and development could solve most of this in the short term, and the US needs to stop killing more civilians, if they can't help they shouldn't make it worse. the change guy seems genuine but misinformed/green, he does have ears though, unlike his predecessor.
Because I watch the news everyday and I've never seen any statements from leaders of any of the recognised Muslim groups (or for that matter anyone outside of the Government of Pakistan who are in denial) stating that what the Taliban are calling sharia law is their misguided interpretation of sharia law.
When they are asked about it, what do they say? Are they asked?
"I spent thirty years learning manners, and I spent twenty years learning knowledge."
and the US needs to stop killing more civilians, if they can't help they shouldn't make it worse. the change guy seems genuine but misinformed/green, he does have ears though, unlike his predecessor.
Yes, it is a shame when civilians are targeted in missile attacks but it has been made clear that the US will not back down when it comes to the Taliban or terrorists that hide within their ranks. The only way things will change is when the Pakistan government determines enough is enough and is willing to do anything to fix the problem. Their mistake was when they gave up and gave in to Taliban demands because now once the Taliban have a stronger foothold in Swat they will continue to advance till more territory is under their control. Pakistan should have had learned from Afghanistan's own history when it came to the Taliban and how they interpreted Shariah law.
Now watching these videos from a Westerners prospective you do note positive and negative aspects of the return of strict Shariah law to the area especially since no law has governed in this area for a long time. The problem I have with all of this is 1. the Taliban and 2. how they terrorized the area to get what they wanted. If Pakistan wants to implement Shariah law that is their choice but it shouldn't be done because the government was backed into a corner with a gun pressed against their head.
it would be better if the taliban had better media relations, but that is not really the issue here.
the first issue is should the muslims impliment shariah? of-course they should, it is a fundemental part of our deen, the denial of which is kufr and takes you outside the fold of islam (not a particular issue for you i am sure but most people are muslim)
the 2nd issue is whether this is the correct form of shariah, i agree there are problems with it but it is better than nothing at all. the people here have had no justice and no working legal system, now they have one.
so they are trying to implement shariah, so i support them and love them for it, indeed swat and pakistan in general have gone up in my estimation by a huge amount because of this and looks a more positive place to make hijrah towards.
i love my taliban brothers and hope they are successful whether in afghanistan, pakistan or elsewhere and keep making dua for their success and also their continued purification so the occassional mistakes dont happen, but those mistakes are not any reason a muslim should not support them and support secularism instead which is what some on here have mistakenly done.
I agree – Iraq was complete stupidity, Afghan was a necessity; we’re on the way out of Iraq, we’d like (I am sure) to be on the way out of Afghanistan; why doesn’t the Muslim world offer to replace the western armed forces in Afghan with Muslim armed forces?
because they would be viewed by the taliban and all right minded muslims as apostates, stooges of the west and killed in huge numbers as they would be fighting a war that the west is already losing with its massive technological advantage, how do you suppose the armies of these apostate regimes would manage any better with less technology?
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