Islamic law was the main demand of the Swat Taleban, and one of the main pillars of their peace deal. This appealed to people who see the government system as painfully slow and favouring the powerful.

“If Islamic law is enforced, our cases will be solved in two or three weeks,” said one man I met at the district courts. He had been trying to settle a land dispute for two years.

“Plus,” he said, “Islamic law will distinguish between the oppressed and the oppressor and give justice. Our courts don’t do that.”

Very few Pakistanis want the kind of society that the Taleban offer. But they do want governance and justice.

Faced with a leadership that seems unable to deliver either, the Taleban stand as a bleak but increasingly real alternative. [more….]

 Don’t pay attention to the “Taliban” and “Islamic law” in this report from the big brother corporation (BBC). Look at what is being sought: distinction “between the oppressed and the oppressor” and ”justice” for the oppressed.

Taliban is a stigma attached to the longstanding desire of the masses for peace, justice, order, self-rule and exercising their right to self-determination. Islamic Law is not a solution in itself. It is part of the bigger picture and cannot come into play without first achieving total freedom from colonial rule, excercising the right to self-detrmination and establishing a just society, where everyone’s basic needs and rights are fully guaranteed. Without meeting these prerquisites, it will become another Afghanistan under the Taliban, who put cart before the horse and provided their critics instances and opportunities to demonise not only them but anything associated with Islam.

The problems now is, the moment you talk about freedom and a just social, political and economic order, you challenge the status quo, which means you are challenging the military and civilain feudal lords, serving the colonial masters. hence, you are labelled as a Talib if you are a Muslim.

The reason: By simply challenging to the status quo, you actually challenge a number of powerful forces and their vital interests. To demonise you, the easiest way is to label you as a Talib; call your desire to have equality and freedom for all as a 7th century utopia, and limit evreyhting you struggle for to merely establishing Islamic law.

The terms Taliban and Islamic law in themselves are powerful tools for discrediting the movement for independence because these are good enough to conjure up the images of cruelty and all the evils so systematically associated with the Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

Irrespective of these labels, this is what Pakistan and other colonised countries needs: a just socio-policial and economic order and total liberation and independence from the colonial clutches and the repressive, puppet regimes they support.

Labels and titles for this struggle are irrelevant. We don’t need Taliban to demand and do that. Nor a demand for exercising the right to self-detrmination makes one a Talib. This is everyone’s responsibility. If this happens, Pakistan has a chance to survive. If it doesn’t, Pakistan is on the road to becoming history anyway as it has already lost the very reason for which its existence was justified. Labelling everyone a Talib, who strive for true independence and justice, is a new tactic of the 21st century colonial masters, which won’t work for far too long as this report admits.

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