Swat has lost its beauty

PESHAWAR: Shop owner Saeed Khan has already buried one child killed in fighting between the Taliban and government forces in northwest Pakistan. He cannot bear to lose another, AFP reports.

So the 50-year-old bundled his wife, son and daughter onto a bus in the Taliban-infested town of Mingora in the Swat valley and hurried to the city of Peshawar, hoping for a future free from further bloodshed.

‘I lost my son, who was a police officer in Swat, in a suicide attack in Mingora early this year. I buried him in front of my house,’ Khan told AFP, tears rolling down his cheeks.

‘I don’t want to dig graves for my daughter and son in Mingora. That is why I left the area... His death broke me. Tell me where should I go and from whom should I seek justice?’

Local officials say more than 40,000 men, women and children have packed up and fled Mingora since Tuesday, fearing that Pakistan’s military could unleash a fresh ground and air assault against Taliban fighters.

The bedraggled refugees, some leading goats and cattle through the streets, are seeking safety for their loved ones, as the Taliban claimed to control 90 per cent of the former ski resort and tourist getaway, once favoured by Westerners.

‘I am immediately leaving the city with my wife, mother and four kids,’ said taxi driver Ali Rehman, 46.

‘I don’t really know my destination and destiny. My family and I need protection.’

At the bus stop in Peshawar — the capital of the North West Frontier Province — exhausted and anxious people told stories of horror as they poured out of vehicles carrying old bags, blankets and bundles of clothes.

Zarina Begum, 40, pleaded for help as she staggered off a bus.

‘A mortar hit my house and as a result, I lost one of my eyes. Please take me to hospital, I want medical treatment,’ Zarina begged.

‘They (Taliban) killed my husband, they slit his throat after accusing him of spying... I escaped Swat because I don’t want my son to be killed under the same circumstances. I don’t want to receive his decapitated body.’

The government had hoped that a peace deal agree in February would placate hardliners trying to impose a repressive brand of Islam, but instead the deal appears to be in tatters.

Clashes have flared in recent days throughout Swat, where wealthy Pakistanis and foreigners used to enjoy the breathtaking mountain scenery from plush hilltop hideaways, or cruise down the ski slopes.

Now, gunfire rings out in Mingora, where armed Taliban patrol the streets.

‘I’m really scared of going to Swat. Whenever I see Taliban, they look like vampires,’ said 25-year-old shop keeper Salman Mujtaba, who lost family members in a suicide attack near Mingora.

‘I will never ever go back to Swat. It has lost its beauty.’

Pakistan Students against Taliban scourge

YOUTHINK: Youth stand up to the Taliban menace By Nosheen Abbas
Saturday, 02 May, 2009 | 05:20 PM PST Students shout anti-Taliban slogans during a protest. –AFP Photo The youth of Islamabad is not sitting idle in the face of growing religious extremism and Talibanisation in some areas of Pakistan. Even if individually, some are trying to combat ‘Talibanisation’ in a manner they deem fit; and some are even finding creative avenues.
Amna Mawaz, a bachelor’s student, is in the process of organizing street theatre. She has drawn up her first script and talks about her aim to spread more awareness through entertainment. ‘I figured after attending protests and seminars that no one will listen to you if you give a lecture but rather through something entertaining like theatre. I think if you keep it light and yet have a meaning one can spread awareness about extremism.’

But extremism, some say, is like a symptom that was carelessly ignored, until it turned into cancer.

Nazish Zahoor, a bachelor’s student, and a member of a left wing political party spoke about his efforts in spreading awareness long before the threat was at our doorsteps.’The Taliban of today are the outcome of the 80s Afghan war, and we have been condemning it since then. The state is involved in this whole issue in one way or the other; and it’s a structural fault and if the structure cannot be fixed than nothing will change in a real way,’ he says.

Many questions remain unanswered about these criminals: where have they got their sophisticated arms from? How do these illiterate men make a living? And probably the most dicey question: who or how many institutions are behind the Taliban?

Before taking action against extremism, however, the youth of today wants to understand the root causes of the problem. ‘First we plan to understand the problem from all aspects. It’s a complex issue. But for now we will give moral support to all those who are suffering, even if it means that we go to those areas and stand with them in protest,’ says Nazish.

Moral support of those suffering also includes women, who, somehow, are always the first targets of extremists. The Taliban’s aim to isolate women from the mainstream of life means making half the population of Pakistan dormant. Any progressive nation cannot move forth without the national contribution from women and this is an issue that has been completely ignored in the parliament.What is the point of having the ‘greatest number of female parliamentarians in Pakistan’s history’ if the topic of women’s rights, far from being tackled, is not even being mentioned?

Abbas Saleem Khan who organized a protest in the federal capital against the Taliban on the Constitution Avenue also speaks of the youth’s unity. He talks about the importance of collectively standing up against the Taliban. ‘By not joining in, you are literally giving the Taliban a free pass to allow them to walk into your streets and homes and tell you how to conduct your daily affairs. The heart of the matter is that we will stand up against the Taliban and steer this country towards the vision it was created for.’

He says it was a shame that the parliamentarians signed the Nizam-i-Adl and not a single woman MP stood up except the MQM and Ayaz Amir who was the lone voice of reason among the uncouth crowd who pathetically shrank from doing their duty. This just indicates that most of the current parliamentarians don’t deserve the position they have, he says. ‘We went on the streets and asked people to donate money for the girl schools that were shut down in Swat and collected Rs250,000,’ says Ali Zaidi, founder chairman of the Pakistan Youth Alliance. ‘Our agenda is to spread socio-political awareness and wake up the youth of Pakistan; 70 per cent of our population is the youth and most of them are not proactive,’ regrets Ali, who believes that the youth can make a difference against this plague of Talibanisation.

Samad Khurram, who is currently studying at Harvard is doing his bit to counter Talibanisation. His logo denouncing the Taliban has caught on Facebook with many youngsters making it their display picture. He also wrote a strong piece warning people about their apathy. ‘Any country that has fallen to the Taliban has never recovered. The Taliban are here to stay and unless we stand up against them in every possible way Pakistan will be lost for good!’

A bunch of his friends have come up with a four dimensional strategy to rid the country of this menace. They have pulled their sleeves up and have made a comprehensive strategy to combat the Taliban. A lot depends on how much cooperation they receive form their fellow youth. He criticises the West for its rhetoric against the extremists who were its own creation. He says it is time they stand up for the future of the country.