PESHAWAR,PAKISTAN: The NWFP government is unlikely to enforce the Nizam-e-Adl Regulations 2008 on the 27th of Ramazan owing to delays in the consultation process and a lack of response from the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM).
Officials said the draft was forwarded to the TNSM a few days back, but the Dir-based group had not responded as yet. Earlier, the government had announced that the shariah law would be enforced in Malakand during Ramazan.
Sources close to TNSM said the group's chief Sufi Mohammad wanted amendments to the shariah regulations that had already been finalised by the provincial government.
NWFP Law Minister Barrister Arshad Abdullah told Daily Times that a government meeting had been scheduled for Thursday last week to discuss the enforcement of the shariah law. However, it was postponed due to the provincial cabinet meeting the prime minister in Islamabad on that day.
Abdullah said the meeting would be held this week, but no date had been fixed. The NWFP chief minister would chair the meeting, which would be attended by two senior ministers, cabinet members from Malakand and the law minister.
The minister said his ministry had proposed the appointment of new judges and their staff , numbering around 100 , to ensure speedy trials and quick decisions, a major demand of the people of Malakand. He said the government was trying to enforce the law during the month of Ramazan, but no date had been fixed and the law might be implemented after the end of the holy month.