The continued successes notched up by the ANP – which come despite its rather poor effort to offer up good governance – demonstrate how desperate people are to escape the Taliban. It is sad that so often there is an insistence that these people in fact back extremists. The perception has been created by the state’s long failure to stand up to the Taliban. From Waziristan, the intellectuals, the writers and the journalists of that agency who opposed the Taliban were forced out. This drive against those who opposed them was conducted by the Taliban in other places too. The ouster of such persons meant that those left behind were too frightened to speak out and an impression of support for the militants was created by the silence that then prevailed. It is important to challenge this myth. In Swat, hoteliers and others who made a living from tourism are desperately trying to revive it. Some people have been persuaded to venture back; the people of Swat hope that others will follow. Those who have lived under the Taliban know there is nothing remotely romantic about their worldview. In recent days the media has been conveying the voices of these people to others everywhere. This effort needs to be stepped up and it must be made clear that in Swat and other places people want, more than anything else, an escape from the militancy that has endangered their lives and welfare for years.