The Return of Shari'a Law to Pakistan's Swat Region
By Mukhtar A. Khan
After 16 months of bitter fighting between local Islamists and government forces in Pakistan's Swat region, the central government has announced the implementation of a set of judicial regulations that will ensure that all legal cases in the region will be decided in accordance with Shari'a law. The "Nizam-e-Adl (Justice System) Regulations 2009" will apply in the Malakand division of the North-West Frontier Province, which includes Swat and the adjoining Kohistan district. The decision to implement the new regulations follows the failure of a major military campaign, Operation Rah-e-Haq (True Path), to contain militants in the region. In response to the government's decision, the region's leading Islamist, Maulana Sufi Mohammad, has asked the local Taliban to bring a halt to all armed activities and open blocked roads to the military. He has also called for a prisoner exchange, the return of internally displaced persons and the resumption of government and security duties in the Swat region.
