Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ISLAMABAD380
2008-01-25 09:07:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Islamabad
Cable title:  

SHARIA LAW: TRYING IT AGAIN IN NWFP'S MALAKAND,

Tags:  PGOV PREL PTER PINR PK 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L ISLAMABAD 000380 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PINR PK
SUBJECT: SHARIA LAW: TRYING IT AGAIN IN NWFP'S MALAKAND,
SWAT

Classified By: DCM: PETER W. BODDE REASONS 1.4 b, d

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISLAMABAD 000380

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PINR PK
SUBJECT: SHARIA LAW: TRYING IT AGAIN IN NWFP'S MALAKAND,
SWAT

Classified By: DCM: PETER W. BODDE REASONS 1.4 b, d


1. (SBU) Summary: The Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) has
sent legislation to the federal government proposing Sharia
Muslim law be instituted in Malakand agency, Swat, and some
other areas north of Peshawar. This is tied to ongoing
efforts to mollify Malakand and Swat leaders, but by so doing
it may raise the specter of causing religious leaders
elsewhere to ask for special Sharia rule in their areas.
Human rights groups and liberal journalists have already
raised alarm bells. End summary.


2. (SBU) In an effort to quiet on-going turmoil in the
Malakand and Swat areas of the Northwest Frontier Province,
the provincial government is once again proposing to
institute traditional Muslim Sharia law there and in its
adjoining Dir and Chitral districts. The Provincial
government has sent to Islamabad for approval draft
legislation ("Sharia Nizam-e-Adl Regulation, 2008") to
placate Malakand Firebrand Maulana Sufi Mohammed and his
equally troublesome Swati son-in-law Fazlullah. Over the
past decade, in Malakand, the Maulana has blocked government
access to the district by occupying the Malakand hills and
blockading mountain passes to the north. In Swat,
Fazlullah's militants have had check points on the roads
which the government could not control, terrorized the
population with his militant Taliban-like government, and
kept government rule from the area for several years. This
new legislation is a result of JUI-F led negotiations with
Fazlulllah. In March, Fazlulallah agreed to reinstate the
Sharia law of 1999 for the area and allow the army to the
establish troops in a cantonment in the Swat area for the
first time.


3. (SBU) The draft regulation will make all laws in Malakand,
Dir, Chitral, and Swat (historically all part of the old
Malakand Division, now abolished) subject to the principles
of Sharia, or traditional Muslim law, with a Qazi (a Muslim
judge) adjudicating all cases. The Qazi will attempt to
dispose of a civil case in six months and a criminal case in
three. He will be appointed from among those who hold a
Sharia degree or equivalent course of Koranic study of three
months. As the January 23 "Dawn" reports, "Islamic law
cannot be mastered in three months." However, under the
cumbersome current legal system, it can take years for a case
to reach a decision. In comparison, the Islamic system,
however imperfect, may be more appealing to this
conservative, rural population. There is a means to appeal
the Qazi's decision to the Federal Shariat Court, but not to
the civilian High Court of Peshawar, which currently acts to
backstop slow provincial courts.


4. (SBU) The January 24 "Daily Times" reports that the
proposal to resume implementation of Sharia law is tied to
the release from prison of Maulana Sufi Mohammed. The same
paper editorializes, however, that Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif tried the same experiment with Sharia courts in
Malakand in 1999 (also to placate Maulana Sufi Mohammed),and
the result was the region became a haven for smugglers.


5. (C) Comment: Past efforts to bring Sharia to this area
have a mixed history. Bringing Sharia law there implies
that Pakistan's Constitution doesn't apply nationwide.
Undoubtedly, setting up Sharia law in these areas may tamp
down some very serious law and order problems and may in fact
be popular with much of the local populace. But this is not
being brought about by the "will of the people", but to quiet
troublesome radical mullahs whom the government have not been
able to control by other means. It also sets an unfortunate
precedent. As the January 23 "Dawn" asks "How will the
government resist the demands of other militants" to extend
these provisions elsewhere in the country? End comment.


6. (U) This cable was coordinated with Consulate Peshawar.
PATTERSON