Punish the Perpetrators, Not the Peace Accord
By Misbah U. Azam, PhD
Phoenix , Arizona
The public flogging of a young girl in Swat has created a wave of fear and anger among most sections of the Pakistani society, both inside and outside the country. But the footage has become controversial and an enquiry is underway following suo moto action by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It will be quite difficult to find the truth about the incident but members of the civil society and human rights organizations are blaming the Swat peace accord between the Pakhtoonkhwa government and Maulana Sufi Mohammed for it. They are already rejecting the accord.
They believe that negotiations with the Taliban will be a capitulation and will neither bring peace nor any positive change in the region. They are also worried that if in one place the government submits to armed groups then in other places too such forces will be encouraged to take up guns to get their demands accepted – a trend that will push the whole country into a civil war.
The concerns of the civil society and human rights organizations are understandable, but some of the ground realities too must be accepted:
1) This agreement was first agreed upon and signed by Aftab Sherpao in 1994 during Benazir Bhutto’s second government but never honored. In 1998, once again, during Nawaz Sharif’s government, it was revisited by Mehtab Abbasi but no action was taken.
2) The same accord was once again taken up by the Awami National Party but with the inclusion of two extra points one of which related to the time limit on property disputes and the other calling for the addition of an Appeal Bench in Mengora.
3) It should be remembered that one of the prominent critics of this peace deal was the law minister in 1994 when the peace deal was first suggested.
4) It should be noted that unlike the MMA, which entered the corridors of power by virtue of engineered elections in 2002 by a military dictator, the ANP, with its long-term agenda for Pakhtoonkhwa came to power with the peoples’ genuine mandate. It has visionary and pragmatic politicians, who should be trusted and given some time.
It is very important for the human rights organizations, media and the civil society to maintain sustained pressure on the Pakhtoonkhwa government regarding the peace deal; however, it is also necessary for these organizations to give some time to the elected government to try to achieve what they believe the people want. Incidents like the flogging of the young girl are highly condemnable but the emphasis should be on the punishment of the perpetrators not the entire peace deal which at least so far has brought a lull in the violence in the scenic city.
