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TNSM – Women – Muslims – State Protection Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE Research Response Number: PAK17691 Country: Pakistan Date: 30 November 2005 Keywords: Pakistan – Nepazi Shariat – TNSM – Women – Muslims – State Protection This response was prepared by the Country Research Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Questions 1. What information is available on an organisation known as the Nepazi Shariat group which may operate in Swat? 2. What does the Nepazi Shariat group about women studying? 3. Does the Nepazi Shariat group attack Muslims? 4. Are the police complicit with the Nepazi Shariat group? 5. Do the police offer protection to Muslims, from the Nepazi Shariat group? RESPONSE 1. What is the Nepazi Shariat group? No information was found amongst the sources consulted concerning a group with the exact title “Nepazi Shariat group”. Information was located on a movement which is sometimes referred to by a title of a similar nature and which is operative in Swat in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The group, which is generally known as Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e- Shariat-Mohammadi (TNSM or the Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Laws) is referred to using a variety of renderings of the various components of the TNSM title, including: Tehreek, Tehrik, Tanzim and Tanzeem, e and i, Nafaz and Nifaz, Shariat, Sharia and Shariah and Mohammadi and Muhammadi. The TNSM is a militant, Wahabi tribal outfit whose primary objective is the imposition of Shariat in Pakistan. The TNSM was founded in 1992 and proscribed by President Pervez Musharraf on 12 January 2002. The TNSM operates in the tribal belt and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The TNSM headquarters are located in Maidan, Dir district. Maulana Sufi Mohammed leads the TNSM, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor is the Deputy Chief and Muhammad Abdullah is the spokesperson. During the 2001 US military campaign in Afghanistan, TNSM cadres fought alongside the Taliban. Despite the 2002 ban and subsequent arrests of TNSM activists, the TNSM remains active in Pakistan. The South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) provides the following information on the TNSM with respect to formation, ideology, objectives, area of operation, activities and incidents: The Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) is one of the five outfits that have been proscribed by President Pervez Musharraf on January 12, 2002. Formation The Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) was founded in 1992 with the objective of a militant enforcement of Islamic law. It came into prominence in November 1994 when it laid siege to the Saidu Sharif city Airport demanding imposition of the shariat. Ideology and Objectives It is a militant, Wahabi tribal outfit. The primary objective of the TNSM is the imposition of shariat in Pakistan. Ideologically, it is dedicated to transform Pakistan into a Taliban style state. In an August 1998-speech in Peshawar, Maulana Sufi Mohammed, its leader, reportedly declared that those opposing the imposition of shari’a in Pakistan were wajib-ul-qatl (worthy of death). The outfit while outrightly rejecting democracy has termed it as ‘un-Islamic’. In an interview Sufi Mohammed said, “We want enforcement of the Islamic judicial system in totality: judicial, political, economic, jihad, fi sabilillah, education and health. In my opinion the life of the faithful will automatically be moulded according to the Islamic system when the judicial system is enforced.” TNSM rejects all political and religio-political parties as, according to it, they follow the western style of democracy. Its Chief frequently uses the term talaq (divorce) for his opponents when he criticizes any of their acts of infidelity, such as voting in the election. TNSM openly condones the use of force in what they see as a Jehad. Leadership, Structure and Headquarters Maulana Sufi Mohammed is the leader of the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM). Maulana Abdul Ghafoor is the Deputy Chief of the outfit while Muhammad Abdullah is its spokesperson. The executive body is the highest policy making organ of the TNSM. The outfit has a large number of ex-servicemen, including many retired Commissioned Officers, in its ranks and, thus, poses the greatest concern to the military regime in Pakistan. Many serving senior officers of the Pakistani Army are also related to these ex-servicemen. According to a media report, many TNSM cadres are alleged to be persons with criminal background. Dissension within the TNSM ranks has led to the expulsion of many senior leaders. Maulana Fazal Dian, a central leader was expelled by Sufi Mohammed for violating TNSM rules. Maulana Israil, the then spokesperson of the TNSM, said, on September 5, 2000, Maulana Fazal Dian had attended the meeting of Jamaat-e-Islam (JeI) held in Timergara Dir, which was a violation of the TNSM’s rules and regulations. Fazal Dian later formally joined the JeI. Rham Wajid, who was the TNSM General Secretary during the May 1994-demonstrations against the provincial administration, later applied for refugee status in Canada. The TNSM headquarters is located in Maidan, lower Dir district. Media reports have indicate that the TNSM has now attained the status of a well-trained and well- equipped militant organization by getting hundreds of its youths trained in Afghanistan. Area of operation The TNSM operates primarily in the tribal belt, such as in Swat and the adjoining districts of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Although well established in the NWFP, the TNSM has had only limited success in expanding its activities beyond the tribal areas of the province. The strategy of the then NWFP government of Mehtab Abbasi, in 1999, to reportedly work with the TNSM rather than confront it assisted the outfit in expanding its activities in the region. News sources indicate that the government reportedly announced concessions with regard to implementation of shari’a in the area. The TNSM and the JeI are locked in a turf war in the Malakand division and the Jamaat- Ulema-e-Islam, JeI and TNSM are in conflict with each other in the tribal areas. Media reports of April 2001 indicated that the TNSM’s operations shifted from its earlier strongholds in Mingora in Swat and Dir to the tourist resorts of Madyan, Bahrain and Kalam where hundreds of armed youths with black turbans were reportedly seen roaming around. Tourism operators, especially hoteliers, who have invested large amounts of money in constructing some three dozen standard hotels and other tourist attractions are facing threats of attacks on tourists. Reports were circulating in the area that no unveiled woman would be allowed to enter or move about in the summer resorts, giving credence to the fears that all government efforts to promote tourism in the area would suffer a setback. Activities and Incidents It first came into prominence in November 1994 when it led an armed uprising in support of shariat in the Malakand division, North West Frontier Province (NWFP) The TNSM’s call to arms reportedly drew large numbers of experienced Afghan Mujahideen from nearby Peshawar and Bajaur areas. Approximately 40 persons, including 12 security force personnel, were killed in a week of fighting before the government was able to reestablish law and order. The Frontier Corps was deployed to regain control of the Saidu Sharif airport, roads, police stations and judicial courts in the area. The TNSM’s siege against the provincial administration is witnessed mostly during the summer, every year, and there has been no change in this routine since 1994 when violent clashes took place between its cadres and the law enforcement authorities. The TNSM, Malakand division, organized a protest procession in Mingora on September 20, 2001 where the speakers called for raising a ‘voluntary army’ in order to extend support to the Taliban militia against the then impending US strikes. The outfit has also established parallel ‘courts’ in the Malakand division to protest against what it perceives is the non-cooperation of the government. A media report of December 2000 indicated that these courts had so far decided approximately one hundred cases in all the districts of the division. According to the TNSM leadership, the legal system in Pakistan was based on English laws and hence was not acceptable to the outfit. Further, these ‘courts’ are reportedly pronouncing ‘decisions’ on many cases free of charge. The TNSM has also demanded the use of Pashtu language for court proceedings instead of the national language, Urdu. In the US military campaign in Afghanistan, the TNSM is reported to have sent thousands of armed cadres to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban militia. News reports of October 27 from Bajaur, NWFP, indicated that approximately 10,000 TNSM cadres led by their Chief, Maulana Sufi Mohammed, crossed the Pakistan-Afghan border. They were armed with Klashnikovs, rocket launchers, missiles, anti-aircraft guns, hand grenades and swords. Their convoy comprising 300 vehicles had left the TNSM headquarters in Maidan, lower Dir district, and reached Bajaur Agency. 4,000-armed tribesmen are also reported to have joined the TNSM cadres and they have reached the Ghaani Pass on the Pakistan-Afghan border. News reports added that the political administration of Bajaur Agency allowed the TNSM cadres to pass through the agency jurisdiction on their way to Afghanistan. According to the TNSM Chief, the cadres were proceeding to Kandahar, headquarters of the erstwhile Taliban regime. Qazi Ihsanullah, a TNSM spokesperson said in Bajaur, on October 27, “We will resist if the authorities try to stop us. The jihad (holy war) will start here…Initially Mullah Omar advised us to wait and come to Afghanistan only when necessary but we have told them that we will stay in Afghanistan as a reserve force.” TNSM sources indicated that scrutiny of cadres was carried out to send only the able-bodied and young people to fight along side the Taliban.
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