Justice at gun-point in Swat?

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Quite frankly I am puzzled by what has happened vis-a-vis he Nazim-e-Adl regulation passed by the National Assembly and signed by the president. The reason I say this is because parliament has decided for a change in the justice system of an area which is very much within the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and hence it needs to be governed in accordance with laws that are in line with the Constitution. It also means that any changes to this system or bringing an altogether new system would require an amendment to the Constitution for which a two-thirds majority of the total electoral college is required.
What the government has done is that it has brought a change in this system through the force of militancy and terrorism. The provincial ANP government is mainly to blame for this – I am equally puzzled by how Malakand, which is a part of PATA, even comes under the jurisdiction of the National Assembly.

A Q Anjum
Rawalpindi

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Ansar Abbasi's article "Zardari makes his mark" (April 14) is a blatant attempt to massage the facts to present a rosy picture where there is none. For instance he is optimistic about people to deliver justice when they themselves were involved in brutal activities only a short time back. Will the Nizam-e-Adl hold the throat-cutters accountable? What is even more shocking that Maulana Sufi Mohammad openly threatened to declare war against the rest of Pakistan if he did not have his way. It seems that billions spent on defence cannot protect us from a small band of militants and if they are in large numbers with public support they should take the moral high ground and opt for a peaceful movement.
Mr Abbasi should also provide some justification on behalf of "seekers of justice" who not only killed people in Swat but carried out suicide attacks throughout Pakistan to get their way. I am sure the peaceful route taken by the lawyers movement would serve as a model for "justice seekers". After all two wrongs don't make a right.

Adnan Cyprian
Riyadh

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Parliament has now endorsed the Nizam-e-Adl regulation for Swat and the president has signed it into law. My question is will parliament do the same thing is another district wants to follow suit? The precedence has been set. Of course, this is happening because of our ineffective justice system which fails to provide any remote semblance of justice to ordinary people.

Rashid Maqsood,
Lahore