PESHAWAR, Nov 2: Maulana Fazlullah’s following among his women supporters in Swat is getting divided after reports that militants have beheaded security personnel, it is learnt.
Maulana Fazlullah, who ran an FM radio channel for about a year in Swat, had gained popularity among women despite his controversial views on women education and employment.
Swati women, interviewed earlier by this reporter and who had staunchly supported the radical views of the cleric, now have a divided opinion about his brand of Shariah through militancy.
A young widow from Saidu Sharif requesting anonymity said she had changed her lifestyle and devoted herself wholeheartedly to whatever Maulana Fazlullah, also known as ‘Maulana Radio’, said on the FM channel. But now, she said, she was having second thoughts about whom to side with.
“I think that Shariah cannot be enforced by beheading a person. It’s a brutal act and this is not Islam,” opined the young widow with three children.
She said she started donning the burqa and took admission in a madressah after listening to the maulana’s sermons, but now, she said, she thought the militants were committing wrong in the name of enforcing Shariah.
“Using violence and force to enforce Shariah is wrong. It is not Islam, it is a barbaric act of people who have political interests,” she said.
Another woman from Charbagh said her family was displaced due to the on-going violence and all she wanted was a ‘peaceful Swat’ like the way it used to be.
“We want Shariah but not through violence,” she said. She added that beheading was wrong and un-Islamic.
“We are not sure who is behind this barbaric act. We are confused and we don’t know who is committing such acts,” she said.
The young widow from Saidu Sharif said that most Swati women were uneducated and lacked exposure due to their conservative Pukhtun culture.
She claimed that some women were supporting such acts due to their lack of understanding of Islam.
A young madressah student from Kabal said she was ‘happy’ that security personnel were being beheaded and said they were responsible for killing their own people.
“The forces are killing innocent people and trading Shariah for dollars. The beheadings will let them feel the pain of the innocent people being killed,” she said.
The student, who had done her matriculation and left nursing due to the ‘un-Islamic dress code for nurses’ was of the view that Maulana Fazlullah was right in saying that women should not go out of their homes for education or jobs as a ‘woman’s kingdom’ was inside her house.
She regretted being single else, she said, she would have sacrificed her husband, sons and donate resources to support the radical cleric’s objectives.
