http://www.clarin.com/diario/2009/05/17 ... 920088.htm


DETAILS OF A LITTLE KNOWN RELIGIOUS LEGAL CODE


Pakistan: why they want the return of Islamic justice


How was the Shariah in Swat that applied prior to the arrival of the Taliban and its fundamentalist crusade.

By: Maria Laura Avignolo


There are three Z governing the lives of Pakistanis in the area of Swat Semi: Zar (money), Zamin (land) and Zan (Women). They feel these priorities should be resolved by a justice system which disappeared from the idyllic valley, where the Pakistani state, then transformed the principality of Swat in the country in 1969 and removed its autonomy, the British had granted under the Empire. The federal government in Islamabad abolished the tribal court system in effect for 70 years and imposed a wage model that never knew a speedy justice accessible and free.

In this vacuum, the power of the mullahs and the Taliban grew and strengthened with its proposal for sharia. Imposed on the tip of Kalashknikov and finally the Pakistani government offered a peace agreement-including the application of Islamic justice to leave the weapons, after a military operation against the militants. The agreement alarmed U.S. and the Taliban not only failed, but his power extended to other cities in the valley. In response, the Army reopened the operation, with nearly two million refugees and a strong support of the middle classes and the Pakistani elite.

"The Taliban manipulated in nostalgia swatis for law and order, the old system they called Sharia," he explained in English with an accent of the Eton wali (prince) of Swat heir, Adnan Aurangzdeb. "The swatis want a modern system of justice. The medieval system of Islam was distorted and used by the Taliban and initially the people followed them. Then they became violent and people started to suffer with them."

During the principality had two judicial systems in operation in the valley. One was a code of conduct made by the elders in a jirga, or assembly, that Wali had organized. For citizens who had no faith in this system, there were Qazi courts with Islamic jurisprudence since 1917. These courts governed throughout the valley, they were free and quick. These courts would be reinstated by the present government of Asif Zardari in return for disarmament Taliban. Now the promises again after the military operation. "There is a perception that the Islamic judgments are very hard. We are in the paper but the code of procedures makes it impossible to apply these punishments. For adultery, a sin in Islam, requires four witnesses to prove the crime and is impossible: for this reason we never executed the expected punishment, "says Wali or crown prince, who was until recently legislator in the National Assembly of Pakistan.

This model is called the Sharia by the Swatis and that took an extreme version with the Taliban. "The dictates of the Taliban are a contradiction to the life style of the Pashtuns, my tribe. This is his interpretation of Islamic life. An example is the education of girls. The prophet Muhammad said that there is a place for education women and deny them, "said the crown prince. The Taliban have burned 200 schools since it was settled in the region, girls do not go to school and women are forced into confinement.

For the prince, the "love story" between swatis, and ended when the Taliban fundamentalists' began to behave in a horrible manner: extortion, beheading knife, whipping a young audience. "This is not part of our religion, our culture. Pashtun society is death, punishment, but with honor. The Taliban culture is the most brutal and anti-Islamic," he says.

Although the Army has said that the militants are 4000, the future Wali believes it does not exceed 2,000. The heir detail the mechanism of recruitment of the Taliban. "It's a combination of power and money. In every family where there are two children, one must add. Others are paid 15,000 rupees a month. How are young people without work, are added.

During the benevolent autocracy of the Wali, Swat was one of the most peaceful and progressive kingdoms in Asia, with good roads, public health and education spending highest in the country. Parents were forced to educate their daughters until marriage and at a reasonable age past puberty. The valley became a hippie haven in the 60's, with its royal palace located in Saidu Sharif, the capital. Miangul Aurangzeb lived here, the current command without Wali and his son Adnan, the heir.

'We are part of the past. But if you go to Swat and asks people what they want the judicial system, 95% will say "we want the system of the Wali. But we are in the twenty-first century, another time. You can not go back."

Talibanization has seized Swat, first by abandoning the civil rule and then by force. In the name of religion and a lack of real justice and practice, a generation has suffered a kind of brainwashing that allows you to kill in the name of Islam and punishment worthy of the worst obscurantism. Today that ideology can be expanded to other parts of Pakistan quickly if a real and effective justice is not applied, along with an educational and social plan immediately after the unpopular military operation between swatis end. Probably a tie, without winners or losers on the ground.



Dictionary Swat Valley
Zar: Money.

Zamin: Earth.

Zan: Female.

Wali of Swat: The prince who governs.

Kalashnikov: The most famous rifle of the Russian world, using the Taliban.

Mullah: Islamic version of a local priest. Several Ulema form a mullah.

Taliban: Students of religion

Jirga: A meeting with tribal notables, where decisions are made on behalf of the people.

Swatis: Originating in the valley of Swat.

Qazi courts: A court which is governed by Islamic law.

Pashtun: Ethnic group inhabiting the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan and a majority in Swat.

Saidu Sharif: Capital of Swat where the Royal Palace.

Miangul Aurangzeb: Prince of Swat, which left power in 1969, when his principality was annexed by Pakistan.