05-19-2006, 06:31 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Religious Organization TNSM Re-Emerges in Pakistan
By Sohail Abdul Nasir
[From: Terrorism Focus (The Jamestown Foundation, USA)
Volume 3, Issue 19 (May 17, 2006)]
Western parts of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) are gradually
coming under the grip of religious radicalism. People in Malakand and
Swat districts, populated mainly by the Yousafzai Pashtun tribe, have
been gathering in public places to burn personal electronics equipment
such as television sets, tape recorders, VCRs, computers, CDs and
other musical equipment. The significance of this development is that
it has been motivated by the religious sect
Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), the Movement for the
Enforcement of Islamic Laws.
TNSM was formed by Maulana Sufi Mohammad, one of the active leaders of
Jamat-e-Islami (JI) in the 1980s. He left JI in 1992 and formed TNSM.
One of the main objectives of TNSM was to enforce Islamic laws, by
force if necessary. Sufi Mohammad encouraged and organized thousands
of people to fight against the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan at the
time of the downfall of the Taliban in 2001. Most of his mujahideen
were killed or arrested by the Northern Alliance and only a few were
able to return to Pakistan, including Sufi Mohammad. The Pakistani
government immediately arrested him and for the past five years he has
languished in jail. Locals argue that thousands of mujahideen were
killed as a result of Sufi Mohammad's incompetence and lack of combat
skills. As a result, Sufi Mohammad lost much of his support.
Additionally, TNSM members have been killed and regularly arrested by
Pakistani authorities, reducing the organization's effectiveness. TNSM
has been almost completely dormant in its stronghold of Swat and the
adjoining areas. Recently, however, this situation has changed.
After the devastating earthquake that hit the region on October 8,
2005, Sufi Mohammad's followers capitalized on the incident and are
using it to revive TNSM. There is a strong and growing belief among
the people of Swat and Malakand districts that the earthquake was
punishment for their misdeeds. Remnants of the TNSM have been
encouraging them to burn their valuable electronic equipment in order
to avoid the sinful life and prevent further retribution.
The magnitude of this movement can be gauged from a news item reported
by the newspaper Mashraq on April 15 that after a short period, once
again people have begun to burn their electronic music appliances.
According to the report, on April 14 hundreds of people gathered after
Friday prayers at two different villages. Maulana Abdullah was leading
the procession at the Bilogram village in Malakand when he and his
followers gathered in a nearby area and set fire to thousands of audio
and videocassettes, televisions, computers and CDs. The same episode
took place simultaneously at Brikot village in Malakand. Furthermore,
the aftershocks from the October 8 earthquake are still occurring and
continue to frighten the region's inhabitants. On April 11, for
instance, another powerful aftershock jolted the whole area. These
aftershocks result in more determination by the local populations in
these districts to set their music-related appliances on fire
(Mashraq, April 19).
As a result of Sufi Mohammad's imprisonment, his son-in-law Maulana
Fazalullah is now leading the TNSM movement. Although it is not
operating at a high level and does not enjoy the influence of the
past, the earthquake has revived the organization to the extent that
thousands of people tune into its FM radio transmission. This radio
station was recently banned by the government and, as a result,
thousands of people staged demonstrations against this decision.
Fazalullah established this FM radio station at Imamdairi, a small
town in Swat district. The station is used to deliver teachings of the
Quran and persuade people to destroy their musical appliances by
arguing that listening to music and performing other sinful acts
caused the recent earthquake. According to the broadcast, if believers
do not give up their musical and electronics equipment, it may invite
the anger of God. As a result of these teachings, thousands of
inhabitants voluntarily destroyed their electronic goods in just a few
days and this chain of events has continued with short intervals.
Additionally, as a result of TNSM's religious urgings, 50 families
announced the end of their years-old rivalries, hundreds gave up the
use of drugs and unaccountable numbers disconnected their cable
television connections.
Religious parties termed the government's decision to ban the radio
station as a conspiracy to prevent religious teachings, and accuse the
Musharraf government of acting on the orders of the United States
(Mashraq, April 13). On April 20, the English-language daily The Post
reported that so far 10,000 people have set their electronic goods on
fire as a result of motivation given by the FM radio station of
Fazalullah, who declared that watching television is un-Islamic.
The October 8 earthquake hit a vast area of northern NWFP and Azad
Kashmir (the part of Kashmir controlled by Pakistan). Devastation in
the rest of the areas, which were just as damaged as Malakand and
Swat, did not lead to the same developments. The reason is that
outside of Malakand and Swat, no leader is persuading people to
destroy their electronic appliances on a powerful tool of
communication like FM radio run by a cleric pushing extreme religious
views does not exist.
The provincial government that banned this FM radio station must be
concerned about the increasing influence of TNSM, an organization that
once caused a major threat to the writ of the government in these
areas during the mid-1990s when the government had to use force to
control the volunteers of this movement who were demanding the
enforcement of Sharia. The provincial government, due to political
reasons, cannot afford the revival of TNSM. The ruling religious
alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, and particularly JI consider
Malakand and Swat their strongholds and will not allow TNSM to damage
their positions in the region. It is worth mentioning that Sufi
Muhammad is a JI dissident.
TNSM is now increasing its activities. Nawa-i-Waqt reported on May 1
that TNSM has decided to launch a movementâconsisting of protests
after Friday prayers and additional ralliesâagainst the government.
Five leaders of TNSM held a press conference on April 30 at Chakdara
in Dir district and alleged that their workers are being harassed.
They said that the government has failed to enforce Sharia in Malakand
district against which TNSM will launch a movement; however, they did
not specify when the movement would begin. While the leaders attempted
to make clear that they are against terrorism and do not have any link
with al-Qaeda terrorists, the revitalization of the TNSM movement
could create further instability in Pakistan's NWFP, adding to
Islamabad's existing difficulties of maintaining stability over the
entire country.
http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/ar...ticleid=2369997<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
By Sohail Abdul Nasir
[From: Terrorism Focus (The Jamestown Foundation, USA)
Volume 3, Issue 19 (May 17, 2006)]
Western parts of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) are gradually
coming under the grip of religious radicalism. People in Malakand and
Swat districts, populated mainly by the Yousafzai Pashtun tribe, have
been gathering in public places to burn personal electronics equipment
such as television sets, tape recorders, VCRs, computers, CDs and
other musical equipment. The significance of this development is that
it has been motivated by the religious sect
Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), the Movement for the
Enforcement of Islamic Laws.
TNSM was formed by Maulana Sufi Mohammad, one of the active leaders of
Jamat-e-Islami (JI) in the 1980s. He left JI in 1992 and formed TNSM.
One of the main objectives of TNSM was to enforce Islamic laws, by
force if necessary. Sufi Mohammad encouraged and organized thousands
of people to fight against the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan at the
time of the downfall of the Taliban in 2001. Most of his mujahideen
were killed or arrested by the Northern Alliance and only a few were
able to return to Pakistan, including Sufi Mohammad. The Pakistani
government immediately arrested him and for the past five years he has
languished in jail. Locals argue that thousands of mujahideen were
killed as a result of Sufi Mohammad's incompetence and lack of combat
skills. As a result, Sufi Mohammad lost much of his support.
Additionally, TNSM members have been killed and regularly arrested by
Pakistani authorities, reducing the organization's effectiveness. TNSM
has been almost completely dormant in its stronghold of Swat and the
adjoining areas. Recently, however, this situation has changed.
After the devastating earthquake that hit the region on October 8,
2005, Sufi Mohammad's followers capitalized on the incident and are
using it to revive TNSM. There is a strong and growing belief among
the people of Swat and Malakand districts that the earthquake was
punishment for their misdeeds. Remnants of the TNSM have been
encouraging them to burn their valuable electronic equipment in order
to avoid the sinful life and prevent further retribution.
The magnitude of this movement can be gauged from a news item reported
by the newspaper Mashraq on April 15 that after a short period, once
again people have begun to burn their electronic music appliances.
According to the report, on April 14 hundreds of people gathered after
Friday prayers at two different villages. Maulana Abdullah was leading
the procession at the Bilogram village in Malakand when he and his
followers gathered in a nearby area and set fire to thousands of audio
and videocassettes, televisions, computers and CDs. The same episode
took place simultaneously at Brikot village in Malakand. Furthermore,
the aftershocks from the October 8 earthquake are still occurring and
continue to frighten the region's inhabitants. On April 11, for
instance, another powerful aftershock jolted the whole area. These
aftershocks result in more determination by the local populations in
these districts to set their music-related appliances on fire
(Mashraq, April 19).
As a result of Sufi Mohammad's imprisonment, his son-in-law Maulana
Fazalullah is now leading the TNSM movement. Although it is not
operating at a high level and does not enjoy the influence of the
past, the earthquake has revived the organization to the extent that
thousands of people tune into its FM radio transmission. This radio
station was recently banned by the government and, as a result,
thousands of people staged demonstrations against this decision.
Fazalullah established this FM radio station at Imamdairi, a small
town in Swat district. The station is used to deliver teachings of the
Quran and persuade people to destroy their musical appliances by
arguing that listening to music and performing other sinful acts
caused the recent earthquake. According to the broadcast, if believers
do not give up their musical and electronics equipment, it may invite
the anger of God. As a result of these teachings, thousands of
inhabitants voluntarily destroyed their electronic goods in just a few
days and this chain of events has continued with short intervals.
Additionally, as a result of TNSM's religious urgings, 50 families
announced the end of their years-old rivalries, hundreds gave up the
use of drugs and unaccountable numbers disconnected their cable
television connections.
Religious parties termed the government's decision to ban the radio
station as a conspiracy to prevent religious teachings, and accuse the
Musharraf government of acting on the orders of the United States
(Mashraq, April 13). On April 20, the English-language daily The Post
reported that so far 10,000 people have set their electronic goods on
fire as a result of motivation given by the FM radio station of
Fazalullah, who declared that watching television is un-Islamic.
The October 8 earthquake hit a vast area of northern NWFP and Azad
Kashmir (the part of Kashmir controlled by Pakistan). Devastation in
the rest of the areas, which were just as damaged as Malakand and
Swat, did not lead to the same developments. The reason is that
outside of Malakand and Swat, no leader is persuading people to
destroy their electronic appliances on a powerful tool of
communication like FM radio run by a cleric pushing extreme religious
views does not exist.
The provincial government that banned this FM radio station must be
concerned about the increasing influence of TNSM, an organization that
once caused a major threat to the writ of the government in these
areas during the mid-1990s when the government had to use force to
control the volunteers of this movement who were demanding the
enforcement of Sharia. The provincial government, due to political
reasons, cannot afford the revival of TNSM. The ruling religious
alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, and particularly JI consider
Malakand and Swat their strongholds and will not allow TNSM to damage
their positions in the region. It is worth mentioning that Sufi
Muhammad is a JI dissident.
TNSM is now increasing its activities. Nawa-i-Waqt reported on May 1
that TNSM has decided to launch a movementâconsisting of protests
after Friday prayers and additional ralliesâagainst the government.
Five leaders of TNSM held a press conference on April 30 at Chakdara
in Dir district and alleged that their workers are being harassed.
They said that the government has failed to enforce Sharia in Malakand
district against which TNSM will launch a movement; however, they did
not specify when the movement would begin. While the leaders attempted
to make clear that they are against terrorism and do not have any link
with al-Qaeda terrorists, the revitalization of the TNSM movement
could create further instability in Pakistan's NWFP, adding to
Islamabad's existing difficulties of maintaining stability over the
entire country.
http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/ar...ticleid=2369997<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->