Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Details of the Swat Deal

Sufi unveils nine-point peace plan By Delawar Jan
The News, February 24, 2009
Asks militants to stop activities; schools reopen in Swat

MINGORA: Tanzeem Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad, while expressing concern over the activities of the militants in Swat after the peace agreement, asked them on Monday to stop their militant actions.

The TNSM, whose black-turbaned activists are staying in a mosque here till ìrestoring peaceî, asked NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haidar to visit the Taliban-infested Swat Valley, where until recently ministers and even MNAs and MPAs could not go.

Unabated activities by the militants even after a ceasefire have been causing a serious setback to the peace deal. The militants picked up the newly-posted District Coordination Officer (DCO), Khushhal Khan, and three other people on Sunday, who were released after six hours of talks.

However, cashier of the National Bank of Pakistan Yousaf, Akbar Zaman and Bakht Ghulam, who were kidnapped from Odigram area near Mingora, are still in the captivity of the militants. Sufi Muhammad, who has been making unflinching efforts for bringing back tranquillity to Swat, was perturbed and intended to have a direct contact with the militants in near future.

Unveiling a nine-point plan for restoration of peace here at a press conference, he asked both the militants and the government to fulfil their responsibility by taking measures for bringing back calm to the valley. Sufi, who was unwell, started the press conference with emphasis on a life in accordance with Shariah. He, however, asked the TNSM spokesman, Amir Izzat Khan, to read out the plan.

Before going into the details, Izzat thanked the government for enforcing the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation and doing away with certain check-posts.

The nine points of the plan are:

1) The government should shift the Army from schools, houses, mosques, hospitals and other places to safer locations and remove all the ìobstaclesî so that the problems of the people are addressed.

2) The district administration and police should be taken to their respective positions with the help of the TNSM activists and the people.

3) The government should immediately reinstate those police and Levies officials and FC personnel who had been sacked or imprisoned.

4) People’s losses, particularly human, should be compensated and the process should commence in line with the announcement of Chief Minister Ameer Haidar Khan Hoti. He should visit Swat to accomplish ìthis noble task.î

5) Tehrik-e-Taliban Swat’s leaders should direct their Taliban fighters to immediately remove the barricades and stop checking people there.

6) The Taliban should stop armed movement and other militant activities.

7) The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan should not create obstructions on roads for vehicles taking soldiers or their ration. Also, they should not interfere in the affairs of the administration and police.

8) Both the sides should release all the prisoners straightaway.

9) The people (IDPs) should come back to their homes.

The document said that incident of Musa Khankhel murder and kidnapping of the DCO had created panic among the people and hindered the process of establishing peace.

The TNSM urged the people from all walks of life, including the civil society and political parties, to help the TNSM in restoring peace and implementing Nizam-e-Adl.

“Particularly, I appeal to the media to help restore peace,” Maulana Alam, deputy chief of the TNSM, requested on behalf of Sufi Muhammad.

For complete article, click here

Also See:
For Pakistan's Swat residents, uneasy calm - Christian Science Monitor
Presence of army in Swat part of peace deal: Sherry - The News
State fails to control non-state actors: Athar Abbas - SANA

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