IN the recent past there have been worrying reports of militants convening forums to ‘try’ alleged offenders in various parts of the northwest. On Monday, a self-proclaimed TTP ‘Shariat court’ in Orakzai found a man guilty of theft. The TTP subsequently chopped off his hand. On Sunday night, they slit the throat of a man whom they accused of ‘spying’ for the security forces. Last November, in the same region, the TTP flogged 25 men it accused of peddling drugs. Similar reports, suggesting that the Taliban are styling themselves as investigators of what they see as the ‘truth’ and dispensers of their idea of ‘justice’, have come from North and South Waziristan. In this category can be placed the Dec 26 kidnapping of 23 tribesmen after they met the army chief. Before being released they were apparently made to face a Taliban ‘court’ to decide on their ‘crime’.

These reports show that the TTP remains active. Further, its court-like activities present a serious threat to the state’s writ. Quite apart from the mediaeval brutality of the ‘punishments’ they propose, the fact is that such forums and their methods of inquiry or sentencing are unconstitutional and illegal. That they exist shows the state’s failure in establishing an effective, legitimate judicial system in the country’s northwest. It is true that space for the Taliban ‘courts’ existed in these areas because of the tradition of jirgas. However, jirgas were never dominated by religiously motivated persons or concerns. Given that no successful political system has been put in place after the collapse of the political agent system, people have little access to legitimate justice forums. If the Taliban are not stopped from exploiting this situation, Pakistan risks allowing a parallel but extra-legal and horrifyingly brutal ‘justice’ system to establish itself and the consequent legitimisation of the Taliban as a quasi-political force.