Members of religious minorities in the restive Swat Valley have no grudge against Taliban and say they are not troubled by the enforcement of a Shari’ah judicial system under a recently-signed peace deal with the government, reports Islamonline.net.
“As far as minorities are concerned, I haven’t heard about a single incident in which minorities have been targeted,” Kuldeep Singh, a Sikh who runs a mobile phone franchise in Mingora, the capital of the valley, said. “I am not forced at all,” he replied emphatically when asked if he was beautifying the situation just to avoid any reprisal from the Taliban. “It’s not that I am scared or terrorized as western media often reports.”
Singh, who dubs himself Mona (without beard) Sikh, argues that Western media is full of misconceptions about religious minorities in Pakistan and particularly Swat. “Western media has no idea about the locals living here at all. They have some stereotypes about minorities in Malakand division.” Malakand is a conglomerate of eight districts including Swat, Buner and Dir. “We are independent citizens. Justice is not restricted to any particular religion. We have our Gurdwara in the midst of violence-affected area, but it has never been attacked,” he maintained.
Swat was an independent state governed under Shari`ah until 1970 when then military ruler General Yahya Khan scrapped its independent identity. Locals say they used to settle their issues under Shari`ah, insisting that the enforcement of British laws complicated the situation. “It’s simply because we feel that the incumbent system has failed to protect the minorities. That’s why we support the Shari’ah judicial system, which will protect us from the excesses of criminals backed by area bigwigs,” he argued. Taliban and the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) government signed in February a peace deal allowing enforcement of Shari’ah in Swat. Under the new system, there is Qazi courts in Swat, Dir, Chitral, Kohistan and other NWFP districts. The courts decide civil cases within six months and criminal cases within four months. “It has nothing to do with any particular religion. This is purely aimed at dispensing speedy justice to the common people,” argues Singh.