Provinces

Troops kill nine militants in Swat

Troops kill nine militants in Swat

MINGORA: A high ranking government functionary announced on Sunday that Maulana Sufi Mohammad would conduct interviews of qazis and they would be appointed in Malakand region prior to the deadline of March 15 set by him.

The Commissioner Malakand, Syed Mohammad Jawed, told media persons that he had received a list of prisoners from Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariah-i-Mohammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Mohammad and they would be released in phases after scrutiny by the government.

The commissioner held made the statements after an emergency meeting with the TNSM chief to assure him that the government would abide by its commitment and would enforce Nizam-i-Adl in the region.

The announcement made by the commissioner regarding appointment of qazis is in contradiction to the earlier stance of the provincial government including the Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti who had claimed that the qazis would be regular judicial officers functioning in the normal judicial system but would be called qazis in Malakand just like the existing system.

Earlier on Sunday Maulana Sufi Muhammad in an emergency press conference expressed dissatisfaction over the steps taken by the provincial government and set a deadline of March 15 for appointment of qazis and release of prisoners. 

He said that although the government had announced that Nizam-i-Adl Regulation would be enforced in Malakand Division, but no practical steps were being taken for the purpose as un-Islamic laws were still followed in the courts.

Interestingly, a day earlier the TNSM’s Spokesman Amir Izzat had stated that they were satisfied with the steps taken by the government.
 
Maulana Sufi said that the TNSM would organize protest camps if the government failed to enforce practical Sharia by March 15 and the Taliban and the government did not release all the prisoners by the deadline.

He demanded that before the deadline such qazis should be appointed who qualified on basis of Shariah, appearance and personal conduct.

He said that no practical steps have been taken for the enforcement of Sharia after the Feb 16 peace agreement reached with the government. “Our basic objective is the enforcement of Islamic Sharia”, he added.

The TNSM chief said that if either the government or the Taliban violated the peace agreement till March 15, the violator would be responsible for trouble according to Sharia law.

His press conference created ripples in the government circles and soon the commissioner and the Swat DCO, Khushal Khan, called on Maulana Sufi Mohammad.
 
Following the meeting, Syed Mohammad Jawed told media persons that the government would appoint Qazis before March 15 to uphold the agreement reached with TNSM on the enforcement of Nizam-i-Adl Regulation in Malakand.

He said that the TNSM chief would himself interview the candidates for the posts of Qazi.

The commissioner confirmed that the TNSM chief had handed him a list of prisoners, saying that all the prisoners would be released in phases after thorough perusal of the list.