Swat Taleban find Sharia a challenge

Seems like the system may actually be working...

I was reading about problems about Shariah law in the past in Pakistan and specifically Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization and came across this nugget:

However, he did not have a smooth sailing even with the clipped Sharia Benches. The Federal Sharia Bench declared rajm, or stoning, to be un-Islamic; Ziaul Haq reconstituted the court, which then declared rajm as Islamic.

Seems like the Shariah council found one thing and that was unacceptable from what the people understood through culture about Islamic law. (there is a point of view out there that rajm is NOT for adultery but for rape only...)

There's a different take on the Swat situation here:
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/world/asia_pacific/sharia+law+tak…

I think the Taliban's plan has back fired.

BeastThere's a different take on the Swat situation here:
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/world/asia_pacific/sharia+law+tak…

Wouldn't want to live there. They seem to make no differentiation between personal liberties, laws and what the state should uphold - and their way of going about it was all wrong.

I wonder what will be done about education?

(Also, the whipping seemed less bad than I expected it - I expected something like out of "He Man" where the whip would tear the flesh off the back etc...)

BBC, the Independent and the Telegraph report today that there is a video of a woman being flogged under Taliban law in Swat. They report that there has been an outcry in Pk and the PM has called for an inquiry.

This video was also being shown on Pk TV today. But this video was first shown on Channel 4 news on Tuesday 24 March - over a week ago.

I don't get why there has been such a delay in gov's reaction and the reaction in the media. Are things really that slow in Pk? Or has the gov only just got round to realising what they've let loose in Swat? Or is there something else amiss here?

its all about publicity. I remember when you linked to the video before, but its seems to have now gained critical mass so the people in charge see it as a PR disaster.

Question: Do people actually trust these courts to get to a correct verdict, or would you expect them to be "unprofessional" and inconsistent?

Apparently that video is from before the implementation of shariah.

According to BBC News:

Relatives of the man involved in the incident told the BBC he had gone to the house of the girl in the village of Kala Kalay to do repairs as an electrician, but militants accused him of having a relationship with her.

They dragged him from the house and flogged him before punishing the girl, his relatives said.

The Taleban made the girl's brother hold her down during the flogging, they said.

After the incident, the Taleban forced the couple to marry and instructed the man not to divorce his wife. His relatives say he has been left mentally scarred.

The incident happened weeks before the new Sharia courts began to be introduced in Swat.

f%^&*(g morons!

on a brighter note, from the same article:

he Sharia system was agreed in Swat to try to stop the Taleban from imposing their harsh brand of justice, the BBC's Islamabad correspondent Barbara Plett says.

Previously they had beheaded dissidents and killed women accused of un-Islamic behaviour...

so the shariah implementation is supposed to curb some of the excesses of the morons, (while potentially enshrining others) so there could be some benefit.

Flogging probe begins in Pakistan

A court hearing has begun in Pakistan over a video in circulation showing the public flogging of a teenage girl in north-western Swat valley.

The hearing was called by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

He had summoned police and officials from North West Frontier Province to the Supreme Court and ordered them to get the girl to testify.

The film shows apparent Taleban members holding her down and hitting her with a strap as she cries out in pain.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has condemned the incident as "shameful".

Justice Chaudhry has called the flogging a "cruel violation of fundamental rights".

BBC

At the very least this will put an end to the crazy talk that the Chief Justice is a Taliban sympathiser.

BTW This is all wrong:

I love how its always the woman thats punished and never the man
it takes two
or are these people that stupid

The guy was also punished, but with the guy, it was less newsworthy because its always over the women and the children that a fuss is kicked up.

Taleban storm district near Swat

Taleban militants from Pakistan's troubled Swat valley have stormed the nearby district of Buner, killing at least five people, police say.

A local tribal force has been battling the militants since Monday, but their resistance is weakening, residents say.

The Taleban overran Swat district nearly two years ago, and have held it despite an 18-month-long military operation to uproot them.

The Buner incursion is likely to strain a peace deal with the NWFP government.

Tribal force

Police said a group of Taleban fighters travelled late on Monday from Swat to Buner, a previously peaceful district about 100km (60 miles) north-west of the capital, Islamabad.

After the militants ignored appeals from community leaders to go back, armed tribesmen and police confronted them, sparking a battle that left three policemen and two tribesmen dead, local police officer Zakir Khan said...

Read more @ BBC News

Thats it, its back to fighting for the mullas.

Thursday, 9 April 2009 11:51 UK

Cleric in Swat peace deal protest

The cleric mediating a peace deal between the government and the Taleban in Pakistan's Swat district says he is leaving the region in protest.

Sufi Mohammad had brokered the deal which brought Islamic Sharia law in return for an end to the insurgency.

He said he was returning to his village because of the government's failure to finalise the accord.

Many in Swat had welcomed Sharia but Western powers feared the deal was a capitulation to the militants.

Punishments

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says although this is not an end to the peace deal it will be more difficult to implement without its leading negotiator.

Sufi Mohammed had set up a peace camp in the main town of Mingora but says he is leaving.

President Asif Ali Zardari had said he would only confirm the peace deal and the implementation of Sharia law once peace was restored.

The peace deal has been under strain ever since the cleric announced it in February.

Swat is mostly under Taleban control. Thousands of people have fled and hundreds of schools have been destroyed since they began their insurgency there in 2007.

Sharia courts began operating last month and have been welcomed by many in the region as a quick and efficient means of justice.

However, there have also been reports of controversial punishments.

This week Pakistan's top judge called for a court hearing into the public flogging of a teenage girl which was captured on video and shown around the world.

From the outset of the deal the US feared it might "become a surrender" to militants.

Wednesday's attack by Taleban militants from Swat on the nearby district of Buner also raised doubts about the deal.

At least five people were killed, police said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7991769.stm

Was this then all propaganda by SKYNEWS?

Some stories later turn out to be complete fakes.

Swat girl denies she was flogged

Image taken from Pakistan’s Dawn News channel on Saturday shows the flogging of a woman by Taliban members in Swat valley.

The girl who was reportedly whipped by the Taliban in Pakistan’s Swat Valley has denied the incident, even as a rally was taken out in Karachi to condemn the public lashing. The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a probe into the matter.

The girl was reportedly flogged by a Taliban cleric for “coming out of her house with another man who was not her husband”.

The girl’s statement before a magistrate was presented in the Supreme Court through Attorney-General Latif Khosa. “The girl has denied the alleged flogging incident,” Geo TV reported. The lashing footage was telecast on many news channels worldwide.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/04/07/stories/2009040756741500.htm

Taleban 'kill love affair couple

The Taleban in Afghanistan have publicly killed a young couple who they said had tried to run away to get married, officials say.

The man, 21, and woman, 19, were shot dead on Monday in front of a mosque in the south-western province of Nimroz.

Nimroz is an area where the Taleban have a strong influence.

Governor Ghulam Dastageer Azad told the AFP news agency the killings followed a decree by local religious leaders and were an "insult to Islam".

Dangerous region

Mr Azad said: "An unmarried young boy and an unmarried girl who loved each other and wanted to get married had eloped because their families would not approve the marriage."

Officials said the couple were traced by militants after they tried to go to Iran. They were made to return to their village in Khash Rod district.

"Three Taleban mullahs brought them to the local mosque and they passed a fatwa (religious decree) that they must be killed. They were shot and killed in front of the mosque in public," the governor said...

Read more @ BBC News

$%$£^&$ morons!

Omrow

Swat girl denies she was flogged

There was a guy flogged too. Why does no one care about him?

Anyway, the peace deal has been approved by parliament and signed into law. Not surprising considering:

A spokesman for the Taleban, Muslim Khan, told the Associated Press news agency that MPs who opposed the deal in parliament would be considered apostates.

Apostasy, or abandoning Islam, can in some areas mean the death penalty.

Pakistan President has caved into thugs.

and also the will of Parliament.

But then again, democracy has never worked well in that region...

America is leaving Iraq, because of those evil terrorists
America is leaving Afghanistan, because of those evil terrorist
Russia is leaving Chechnya because of those evil terrorists

seems like the same people that Muslims are always bashing and attacking are the only people who have the strength to defeat the mightiest armies in the world

what is the power of the f16 compared to the power of Allah???

Or... if people are too busy blowing themselves up, you have no need to fight them. let them self destruct while maintaining a safe distance.

The russian operation in Chechnya is ending, but that does not mean they lost - they went in, installed their chosen leadership and after many hickups, the place is stable/draconian enough for them not to have to take a 24/7 hands on approach. I would not call that a victory for the Mujahideen.

As for Afghanistan, its a dump. its is a state of never ending war and as long as that continues, its the residents who suffer.

Muslims killing Muslims in no way defeats America or any other power, apart from the power of good.

You

Omrow

Swat girl denies she was flogged

There was a guy flogged too. Why does no one care about him?

Anyway, the peace deal has been approved by parliament and signed into law. Not surprising considering:

A spokesman for the Taleban, Muslim Khan, told the Associated Press news agency that MPs who opposed the deal in parliament would be considered apostates.

Apostasy, or abandoning Islam, can in some areas mean the death penalty.

A message for the Taleban: Who's Muslim or not is NOT your call! Allah hasn;t given you that right, and he never will. Live with it, and show some compassion and empathy like a proper Muslim.