PESHAWAR – Chief of the banned Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) Maulana Sufi Muhammad, who brokered a peace deal with the Taliban in Swat Valley, was arrested from a house in Sethi Town, Peshawar, on Sunday noon.
“Maulana Sufi has been arrested in the wake of threats to the ongoing peace process and a formal case against him will be registered soon,” NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said during a Press conference.
When asked that why the government arrested a person whom it had released earlier, Iftikhar said that the government had released Sufi with the hope to restore peace in Malakand. “ Now, in fact, Sufi’s activities were proving harmful to the govt’s efforts for restoring peace and writ of law in Malakand,” Iftikhar said.
Justifying the arrest of Maulana Sufi, Iftikhar said that after the launch of military action, Sufi had left his native Dir district and been residing in Peshawar and other places. During this period, there was no need to arrest Sufi as he remained silent and peaceful. But when he resumed his activities by contacting his aides and supporters and convened a meeting of TNSMÂ’s Shura, the government was left with no option other than arresting him, the minister claimed.
Iftikhar also said that Sufi had expressed his desire to go to Malakand. “All such acts on part of Maulana Sufi were harmful to peace and stability in the region affected with violence and terrorists’ activities,” Iftikhar said.
Though Iftikhar neither confirmed nor rejected the reports about the arrest of three others, his two sons and one unknown person, but the residents of Sethi Town have said that Sufi and three others were arrested during the raid.
Iftikhar also said that law-enforcement agencies would investigate Sufi and upon the completion of the investigation process a case would be registered against him. He also said that SufiÂ’s fate would be decided according to law of the land.
It may be recalled that Maulana Sufi had promised to disarm Taliban militants in an accord, signed between TSNM and the NWFP government on February 16, 2009 for the enforcement of Nizam-e-Adl Regulation. But after signing the agreement, Taliban militants, instead of honouring the commitment, had been extending their network towards adjacent areas of Buner and Lower Dir. In this regard, the minister also listed out details of Maulana SufiÂ’s post-agreement activities, speeches and remarks against the constitutional institutions like judiciary and the Parliament.
Staff Reporter from Islamabad adds: Interior Minister Rehman Malik has ordered the concerned authorities to constitute an investigation team to interrogate TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad.
APP/AFP add: The police raided City Town on GT Road and took Maulana Sufi Muhammad in their custody and shifted him to an unknown location, the NWFP Information Minister said in the Press conference.
Iftikhar said NWFP government had earlier released Maulana Sufi with hope to restore law and order situation in Swat but he instead worked against the countryÂ’s interests. He said that enemy of peace and the country would be tried in courts.
He said that the NWFP government had signed a peace deal with TNSM Chief but he did not reciprocate the governmentÂ’s goodwill gesture and instead worked to strengthen hands of anti-state elements.
“We released Sufi Muhammad for peace and was arrested again for the sake of peace,” he said. The NWFP government would take every decision in line of national interests and people, he added.
He said that peace is returning to Malakand Division and the government has achieved its objectives.
The aging Maulana Sufi had attracted public attention in 1994 when his TNSM movement got momentum and they blocked Malakand Tunnel demanding Adl regulations in Swat and Malakand Division.
“He killed a lot of people. Again he was planning for this. We will not allow anyone to destroy peace at Malakand and Swat,” Iftikhar said.
Iftikhar said Sufi was arrested for encouraging violence and terrorism. “Instead of keeping his promises by taking steps for the sake of peace, and speaking out against terrorism, he did not utter a single word against terrorists,” Iftikhar said, adding that the cleric’s stance ‘encouraged terrorism. It encouraged violence’.
Iftikhar accused Sufi of ‘again preparing to get more people killed’ and said: “We cannot let it happen. The price we have paid for the sake of peace, we cannot allow any person to disturb the peace.”
Iftikhar said Sufi would be investigated regarding his role as mediator between the government and the Taliban, and that a case would then be made based on that investigation.
Monitoring Desk adds: Sufi’s son Azmat Ullah, 12, told a foreign news agency that police arrived at his home in Sethi on the outskirts of Peshawar in four vans and took away his father and three brothers. “My father and brothers went with them without offering any resistance,” Ullah said.
One witness, local resident Mohammad Arif, said police fired a shot in the air to disperse a crowd that had gathered during the operation to arrest the cleric.
Sufi is also the father-in-law of the Taliban leader in the Swat Valley, Maulana Fazlullah.
NNI adds: Earlier in the day, in an interview with a private TV channel, Maulana Sufi said that he had migrated to Peshawar and living there just like the other displaced people.
He said he would not issue any statement without consulting with council (Shoora).
About the council meeting in Peshawar, he said no such meeting was held.