PESHAWAR, Feb 4: The defunct Tanzim Nefaz-i-Sharia-i-Muhammadi (TNSM) has prepared some fresh recommendations to be sent to the provincial government regarding the government’s plan to enforce Sharia in the defunct Malakand division.

A source in the TNSM said some main points had been discussed with officials of law and home departments in the past, but most of the proposals had been turned down, which had led to differences between the group and the government.

The source, who hails from the Malakand region, said the TNSM would continue its court boycott if any step contrary to Sharia was taken by the government. All cases in the courts, he said, needed to be decided on the basis of Sharia.

Appreciating government’s intentions about enforcement of Sharia in the region, he said the decision was easy and a longstanding demand of the people.

He said an agreement had been signed by the provincial law secretary and TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Mohammad in Timergara in November 1994, leading to the announcement of the Shariah Regulation, 1994, in Hazara and Malakand regions.

In order to remove the remaining differences, he said, another meeting had been held at Gul Kada in Swat. The meeting, attended by the Malakand region’s then commissioner, deputy secretary home and the law secretary, had discussed the issues, but the government had taken no practical steps, he added.

About the banned group’s recommendations, he said it was a long list but the main points related to establishment of Qazi courts. “The conditions for the Qazis are very clear.

They must be having beard, educated from a recognised Islamic university and fully abiding by the tenets of Islam.”

He said Qazis should be appointed at district and tehsil levels with full authority to decide cases of civil and criminal nature. Police, he said, must follow directives of the Qazis and police should have no powers to arrest or interrogate someone without the consent of the Qazis. Appeals against decisions of the local Qazis could be made only to the Aala Qazi (district Qazi) and the decisions could not be challenged in the high courts, he added.

He said representation of lawyers in courts was not necessary and the parties themselves should plead their cases, adding that lawyers could prepare case files for their parties outside the courts but they could not argue the cases. He said the cases must be finalised in the courts where they were filed and no Qazi could transfer them to any other court or scholar out of the courts.