After the enforcement of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation in Malakand division, the Taliban have no moral justification to display arms in public, NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said on Saturday.Addressing a press briefing at Pir Baba's shrine, Hussain said anti-state elements were out to sabotage the Swat peace accord. "The government and the Tahreek Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) will have to act responsibly to save it," he said.
Before the briefing, the minister handed over the charge of the shrine, which was earlier occupied by the Taliban, to the local administration. The minister said the provincial government would not tolerate any un-Islamic activity in Buner district, and directed police officers to act strictly against those trying to deteriorate the peaceful environment of Buner through un-Islamic activities.
Hussain also condemned Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain's remarks about the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation.
The minister asked if regulations for Malakand division in 1994 and 1999 were right, what was wrong with the 2009 regulation?
About the rise of the Taliban in Buner and their occupation of certain places, the minister said the NWFP government had complete writ in the district, and "now Pir Baba shrine is under the control of the local administration".