Ulema Diplomacy to Save Swat Deal

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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Ok i have been looking around to find this for a while so thought i might post it , in case someone else was/is interested.

**Ulema Diplomacy to Save Swat Deal **
Aamir Latif, IOL Correspondent

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Mufti Rafi Usmani is leading a 20-scholar delegation to save Swat deal.
SWAT – A galaxy of renowned religious scholars, led by Mufti-e-Azam of Pakistan Rafi Usmani, arrived in Swat on Monday, April 27, to save a peace deal between the government and local Taliban, which has been shaken by fresh clashes between the two sides in nearby districts. “We are trying our level best to save the peace (deal),” Mufti Kifayatullah, one of the members of the Ulema delegation, told IslamOnline.net.
“But no doubt the situation is grave especially after the launch of fresh military operations in Dir and Boner (districts).”
Pakistani troops killed 20 militants in a ground and air operation in the northwest Monday, increasing the death toll since Sunday when the military launched its operation to around 50.
Paramilitary troops and helicopter gunships bombed suspected bases in Lower Dir, the home district of Sufi Mohammad, the guarantor of the peace deal between Taliban and government, for a second day running.
The operation has virtually besieged him in his hometown, propelling his Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shari’ah Mohammadi (TNSM) to suspend talks with the local government of the Northwestern Frontier Province (NWFP).
The Ulema delegation, which met TNSM Shura council in the suburbs of Swat, is still trying to reach Sufi Mohammad.
“All the communication system and even the mobile phones have been jammed by the government forces in the area making it impossible for us to contact Sufi Mohammad,” said Mufti Kifayatullah.
Security forces claim to have taken control of Dir district after fierce clashes with Taliban, and have set up check posts in and around the city.
Mufti Kifayatullah believes the fresh offensive undermines chances of reconciliation between the two sides.
“If fresh military operations are not stopped, then the situation will go out of even Sufi Mohammad’s control. He will not be able to do anything.”
Sufi Mohammad negotiated in February a peace deal between local militants and the NWFP government, allowing the enforcement of Shari’ah in Swat and other districts of the province.
The deal was recently signed by President Asif Ali Zardari after it was endorsed by the federal parliament.
Defiant

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The government’s new offensive in Lower Dir is forcing many residents to flee their homes. (Reuters) Muslim Khan, the Taliban spokesman, accused the government of violating the agreement. “According to the agreement, the security forces were bound not to patrol in the valley,” he told IOL.
“Taliban have come out after the security forces breached the agreement and started patrolling and establishing check-posts.”
He also played down the government’s threats to his group.
“We will not lay down our arms until Darul-Qadha is established. Only it can order us to lay down arms,” said a defiant Khan, referring to the court supposed to be established under the Shari’ah deal.
“We have sacrificed a lot and are ready to render more sacrifices for Shari’ah rule.”
The NWFP government, which earlier had refused to support any military action in the region, has issued a clear-cut warning to Taliban.
“There is no excuse for them to carry arms after implementation of Nifaz-e-Adal Regulation. If they do not abide by the peace deal and do not lay down arms, they will have to face the action,” Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussein told reporters.
The same threat was made by Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
“They are trying to establish their own rule in the region in the name of Nizam-a-Adal regulation. This will not be tolerated what may come as there will be only one rule, and that will be the rule of Pakistan government,” he thundered.
“There is only one way left for Taliban, i.e. to lay down arms and be peaceful citizens, or face the military action.”
The Taliban promised to lay down their arms in exchange for Shari’ah courts in a deal that was expected to bring to an end a nearly two-year militancy that ravaged the otherwise peaceful Swat area.
According to a senior TNSM leader, Mufti Rafi Usmani is the last glimmer of hope to save the Swat peace deal.
“We give no importance to NWFP government’s assurances, but we have great respect for Mufti Sahib (Usmani),” he told IOL.
“He is the one who can convince Sufi Mohammad not to break contacts with the government and remain engaged with the process for peace in the region.”
Moral Edge
Analysts think that if the Swat peace deal is broken, more blame would be pn Taliban this time than the government.
“The government this time will have a moral edge because it has fulfilled the promises it made to Taliban whereas Taliban are continuously violating the peace agreement,” Brigadier rtd Mahmood Shah, a former secretary of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), told IOL.
“Now, the people of Swat have understood that Taliban will not lay down the arms and they are following some other agenda rather than Nizam-a-Adal,” he contends.
“If an operation is launched, then this time the people’s support will be with security forces.”
Rustum Shah Mohmind, a former Pakistani envoy to Afghanistan, disagrees.
“This will be the beginning of a new bloodshed,” he told IOL.
“I agree that Taliban are doing some blunders, but the government has to show more restrain because ultimately it has to bear the brunt.”
Mohmind, who retired two years back as the country’s envoy to Afghanistan, notes that military operations are easy to launch, but hard to control.
“The government should utilize people like Sufi Mohammad, though his outburst against the Supreme Court and parliament are not acceptable,” he suggested, referring to Sufi’s statements describing parliament and the Supreme Court as against Shari’ah.
“The government should continue to engage with militants as it will isolate them. If the government fulfils its promises, then the sane people will be with it and only a handful of extremist will be left, and those can easily be tackled.”

Ulema Diplomacy to Save Swat Deal - IslamOnline.net - News

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Re: Ulema Diplomacy to Save Swat Deal

Since everyone else has pretty much failed, ulema can play an important role in order to save us from a civil war. Right now the country is severely polorized and the actions of the Govt, and the dictatorship before it has very little credibility in the eyes of the people. This is one of the reasons why our armed forces is reluctant to engage because they fear that the civilians will continue to think of them as opressors.

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Re: Ulema Diplomacy to Save Swat Deal

It was mistake for army to go after bloody barbarians in Bunir. They should’ve let them come little closer to Islamabad & then we would’ve seen the reaction from media and liberal elite who romanticize Sharia and Taliban Islamic rule.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
Overreach cost Taliban popular support
** Lt Gen (r) Orakzai says Sufi’s statements have turned public opinion against Taliban*

LAHORE: After the government and the Taliban signed an accord in February mandating the establishment of sharia courts in Malakand, the Taliban started pushing for expansion. This may have been where the Taliban blundered.

“There was a certain kind of a tipping point after the so-called Swat Accord. It was when the Swat Taliban were seen to be overreaching themselves,” MNA and columnist Ayaz Amir has told the Voice of America.

“One or two speeches by Sufi Muhammad that democracy is un-Islamic, the courts are outside the pale of Islam – that, and the advance of the Taliban into Buner.”

Public opinion: Lt-Gen (r) Ali Jan Muhammad Orakzai, a former NWFP governor, says public opinion has decidedly shifted against the Taliban.

“There has been a complete change in the attitude of the entire nation towards these people. … And the Pakistani nation stands united in defeating their designs because nobody in Pakistan would like these people to take over and establish their version of Islam or impose their version of Islam on the people. There’s quite a sudden change in the mood of the nation.” Others are not so sure. Christine Fair of the RAND Corporation says the public appears to be still deeply conflicted about what is going on and how to deal with it.

“You see a lot of ambivalence. … You still see a lot of support for peace deals, not a majority, but the country is really divided on whether military solutions or peace deals are the most appropriate way to handle the threat. So what I can see is that the country is deeply divided.”

The United States has been urging Islamabad to root out Taliban sanctuaries in the Tribal Areas. But aggressively taking on the Taliban and its allies has been widely seen in Pakistan as caving in to US pressure and thus politically unpalatable.

The Predator drone airstrikes too have sparked resentment because of civilian casualties. Ayaz Amir says Pakistan is caught between two sides.

“What is threatening the fabric of the Pakistani state are two forces – the Taliban on one side and American desperation in Afghanistan on the other.” Fair says she recognises the resentment the drone attacks cause, but still wonders how Pakistanis blame the United States for the militant problem.

“I’m a little bit confused as to how it is this narrative persists,” she said. “This is not a problem that the United States has made. This is very much coming out of Pakistan’s incessant and unrelenting interest in maintaining some militant groups as strategic assets, while trying to declare other militants to be an enemy of the state.” daily times monitor

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Re: Ulema Diplomacy to Save Swat Deal

^ taliban controlling islamabad is just laughable. Like I said before, a grand total of 10K ill equipped foot soldiers dont stand a chance against a huge army stationed right next to islamabad, not to mention the population of the twin cities. These absurd theories belong in 9-0. These talibans can only fight in the mountains, not in plains. The pak army may not be designed for the mountains, but are invincible against a small amount of insurgency in plains and the taliban know that very well.

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Re: Ulema Diplomacy to Save Swat Deal

lets hope we can fold this with least amount of blood shed.

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Will they give the Ulemas a chance to strive for a peace deal? I remember the Ulemas were minutes away from reaching a deal in lal mosque case...things were almost finalized between the Ulemas and Chod Shujaat...but then all of a sudden some idiots halted the deal and gave wrong dishonest breifing to Musharraf and caused the military operation.

Some parties with vested interests wont let peace happen. Their bread n butter depends on continuing war

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Re: Ulema Diplomacy to Save Swat Deal

No need to save this stupid deal

Pakistan signing this stupid deal with the Taliban is similar to Soviet Union signing the non-aggression Pact with Nazi Germany in 1939

Nazi Germany had every intention to invade and conquer the Soviet Union but the Soviets fooled themselves into this peace deal with the Nazis

That is what happened to Pakistan by signing this stupid deal

No Peace with these animals

Only unconditional surrender

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Re: Ulema Diplomacy to Save Swat Deal

They want to save swat deal, so that it further emboldens taliban to try for new areas.

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Not if the taliban are successful in turning the peasant and laborer class of the country to their side through hook or crook. I see his war being fought in every city and town in pakistan.

Hi
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Does anyone know if this peace deal also makes the Taliban relinquish control of the Emerald mines in Swat ?

Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pakistan

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or maybe they might be able to distinguish extremist factors from misguided sympathisers thus having fewer casualties?

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yea lets bomb em all as you never tire of posting they havent contributed towards progressive studies so we get the right to kill em all? :rolleyes:

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Then they must be pretty convincing if they were to get the support of the entire peasant and labor class of the country. Either wake up, or stop lying so outright, thats not going to happen. Also, bhai failed to win the hearts of the 'middul, working, and peasant class' so no complains should be coming out.

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Pakistani public has been brainwashed for jihad for last 20~30 years, so it is very plausible. Taliban are also good at using existing grievances to their advantage. This is exactly the gameplan they used to kill of the maliks in FATA and other sarhad areas.

The Hi/Bye Thread
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Re: Ulema Diplomacy to Save Swat Deal

The only brainwashed people are the ones that support anti-pakistani flag burning ethnic based political parties.

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Peace deals can’t make the Taliban relinquish control of emerald mines. However, killing enough of them like the dogs that they are is quite successful.

Pakistani forces retake emerald mines from Taliban _English_Xinhua

Pakistani security forces have retaken emerald mines from the Taliban after heavy shelling in the Swat valley in the country’s northwest, killing 35 militants, according to local press reports Wednesday.

Taliban occupied mines of extremely precious stone mines of Lapis Lazuli near Mingora, the main city in Swat, in February shortly after a peace deal was signed to end violence.

Taliban recruited people to continue excavation of emerald and the income of the international level of precious stones were being divided among Taliban and laborers, according to Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan.

Pakistani forces, who launched a major offensive against the militants, used artillery to bomb the emerald mines, according to the TV reports

Siraj-ul-Haq, a Taliban spokesman has been quoted as saying that they had vacated the emerald mines on the instructions from Taliban leader Fazalullah.
kya yeh sach hai
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Re: Ulema Diplomacy to Save Swat Deal

^ good stuff maddie.

The problem is, these Ulema only show up when the Taleban are taking a beating and are on the run. I would appreciate a more active role by them when the Taleban are trying to expand control over greater parts of Pakistani territory, occupying government buildings, killing government personnel, etc.

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good news about the mines, ty for that link. Its one step in cutting off the cash flow, but they also control 3 other mines in the area.

Timepass April 2013
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Good point, they are interested in saving "Swat deal", they didn't seem interested in saving Buner.

smiley wala thread!
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exactly...thumbs up.