Legal System in Swat Valley

Background

• Four Stages:

1. Till 19472. 1947-19693. 1969-20054. 2005-2011

•Till 1947: Swat was a princely state under British empire and had its own ruler.

•From 1947-1969: it was governed by royal class independently, Miangul Abdul Haqq Jahan Zeb being its last ruler.

•From 1969 to 2005: Swat became a part of Pakistan and was governed by the Pakistan’s law. Also it saw various disruptions in this time due to PATA regulation and other incidents.

•From 2005 to 2011: it was a time of great chaos, rise and fall of Taliban. The most dreadful time in the history of Swat.

Rise of a new Legal System.• The PATA Act was held unconstitutional; there was

a lack of Economic development in Swat.

• The underdeveloped Judiciary and ineffective local govt. was responsible for the rise of Tahrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as a political party in Swat.

• Maulana Fazlullah became the head of TTP’s swat chapter (TTS).

• In 2009, Pak army signed an agreement over swat with Taliban and the Taliban took advantage of it and took over Swat region.

• Pak’s President Zardari, declared the de-facto control of Taliban over Swat when he signed an ordinance establishing shariah law over swat.

Regime of Taliban

• The definition of justice became the brutal beheadings, merciless public floggings and corpses hanging for days in the main public squares of Swat's capital, Mingora.

• Fazlullah was then called as Mullah Radio, and his fathwas were the new law of the valley.

• Only religion was Islam; and other heavy taxes were levied on other religions.

The Backfire

• Pak’s army backfired on Taliban, half heartedly under pressure of USA.

• The Swat became the land of Drones.

• Mayor of the Swat after the backfire of the Pakistan’s army against the Taliban, prepared his own lashkar, an army of 2,500 armed men to defend his village and nearby areas.

Back track of Life• The life of the people started coming back to normal

after the fall of Taliban; but they initially after fall of Taliban lived in fear of resurgence of Taliban; but now, they are not living in fear and life is coming back to normal.

• A 14 year old girl Malala Yousafzai, who fought for the education for the girls in Swat region and won National Youth Peace Prize from Pak's PM, Yousuf Raza Gilani., was shot dead by the Taliban in 2012.

• The laws enacted in Pakistan are again enacted in Swat.

Thank You