PUKHTOONS

PESHAWAR — The Chief Minister of the NWFP, Amir Haider Khan Hoti, in an exclusive panel interview with TheNation, talks about the peace deals in different parts of the province and FATA, the renaming of the province and other issues.
The peace deals in the NWFP are in accordance with the tradition of the land, he said. These are definitely going to yield peace and stability in the region. The recent efforts at negotiation are in line with the party's established stance on the issue of militancy.
The non-Pukhtun residents of the province need not feel insecure about anything. The renaming of the province is an old demand but there is not intention of sidelining anyone.
About the judicial crisis, Hoti remarked that all sides might be required to make certain compromises to remove the terrible deadlock that has become a spanner in the works for the new system.
The following is a transcript of the interview.
Tell us about the necessity and utility of the peace deals and negotiations going on in your province
If we look at the culture and tradition of our region, it is negotiations and dialogue that have been the dominant tool of conflict resolution, not force. When the conflict in Waziristan first started, our party's stance was very clear and unequivocal: use the jirga system, do the necessary bits of negotiations; if we don't handle this situation well, this tension will spill out and spread to the rest of the province. That is exactly what has happened.
In the general elections of February, the mandate that our party got was based on the peace and stability our party had promised the electorate. We had to be good for our word and the strategy we had been advocating to this effect. Remember, we are not negotiating with outsiders; these are our own brethren who are disaffected for some reasons. Let's talk it out with them.
Q: Tell us about the nature of the peace deals.
If we look at our two recent peace deals: one with Sufi Muhammad's TNSM and the other one in Swat, which is to be implemented in three months, the other side has been asked to ensure certain things. First they will have to renounce violence. Second, they will have to respect the writ of the government. Third, they will not indulge in any sort of anti-state activity.
What could be better than winning over our own people? We know, however, that there are many people who would want to derail the peace process. These are the people against our national interests.
Q: But there are also some well-intentioned people that are against the deals. These people also don't doubt your intentions, just the effectiveness of your plans. They argue that the government is getting from the militants a respect for writ of state and a renunciation of violence. But what is the government bringing to the table? What is the motive for the militants to enter the negotiations?
Speedy justice. That's all that they want.I have gathered from recent jirgas. Swat, as you would know, had a particular system of justice from back when the Wali of Swat was alive and the people were satisfied with that. Then, in later times, the dispensation of justice in Swat had taken a slump. Criminal and civil cases going on into years and years. Justice delayed is justice denied. We are going to work on that.
Q: A different set of laws for a part of the province? NWFP has gone from the most rightist end of Pakistani mainstream politics (MMA) to the country's most left-liberal party. But liberals in the rest of the country allege that because of deals like these, it is going to be on the ANP's watch, not the MMA's, that parallel systems of justice are going to be creating a retrogressive environment in the province.
A bit of misunderstanding there. This is not a parallel system of justice. Nor are these going to be Taliban courts. Nothing out of the box. It is going to be the same judiciary, the same system but with a provision for speedy justice that is going to be evolved by a consensus with all sections of society. Then, who knows, it might become a system that will not be limited to Swat alone.
Q: How would you counter the allegations that the peace deals would free up these militants' resources to intensify the insurgency in southern Afghanistan?
There is Swat and then there is FATA. As far as Swat is concerned, the last time I checked, it wasn't on the border with Afghanistan. Peace there will not be intensifying anything in Afghanistan. As far as FATA is concerned, all we're advocating for is for there to be negotiations with indigenous people with certain grievances as long as they renounce violence. There are NATO forces in Afghanistan as well. Instead of worrying about the effects of our peace deals, they should be busy doing some soldiering.
Q: You just might become the first premier of a renamed Frontier. What is your message to the non-Pukhtun residents of the province whose CM you are?
As far as ethnic minorities are concerned, I have a point of view. It is the point of view of my party: people living in this area, regardless of the language they speak, even the religion they have, they are all Pukhtuns.
Democracy is about respecting the majority. We have a case for renaming the province. But having said that, we are definitely not going to be imposing anything. We are not going to be cornering anyone. Or marginalizing anyone.
Q: It was a surprise for many when the first point of what was going to be a constitutional package concerning the judiciary turned out to be about Pukhtunkhwa. A quid pro quo for the ANP's accepting the indemnity being given to the President?
Not at all. First of all, about this indemnity bit, nothing is clear right now. It is a bit premature to say it has happened. But yes, if that becomes the only way to remove a deadlock, then that can be looked into.