VIEW: It is only calm, not peace —Daud Khattak

The army did a tremendous job and won the hearts and minds of the people of Swat by routing the Taliban, but they need to leave the valley if they are confident the militants have been eliminated and peace has returned to the valley

The 20-day much-trumpeted celebrations came to an end in Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, marking the return of ‘peace’ to the scenic valley, once converted into a hellhole by the so-called custodians of Islam, thanks to the military’s May 2009 Operation Rah-e-Rast.

It was heartening to see locals and their guests — people from Mardan, Swabi, Charsadda, Nowshera and Peshawar districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as other parts of Pakistan, who hosted the displaced people of Swat last year — joining music functions in Mingora and other parts of Swat. But there is also a dark side to the whole episode that cannot be concealed beneath the otherwise shallow arrangements under official patronage.

The foremost question rankling in the mind of a common man is why the celebration in Swat? Of course, it is to mark the return of peace in the valley, will be the answer. But what kind of peace is the quicker and supplementary question that needs to be answered by the government and the organisers of the 20-day gala.

Was not the July 15 suicide attack, that killed five and injured over 50 people, a slap on the face of the government and its security agencies claiming the return of peace and that too at a time when foolproof security measures were in place for the celebrations?

Though reassuring to see the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Amir Haider Hoti and the army personnel play tug of war in the open in Swat now, all this seems symbolic and superficial and in no way can restore the trust of the people of Swat, who are still longing for the times when there were no Taliban and of course no army barracks and check points in the valley.

The army did a tremendous job and won the hearts and minds of the people of Swat by routing the Taliban, but they need to leave the valley if they are confident the militants have been eliminated and peace has returned to the valley. An overdue stay in Swat would certainly undo what they achieved following the May 2009 operation against Fazlullah and his brigades of armed men.

Besides, the people of Swat also did not and cannot forget the tormenting days and months when Fazlullah and his armed men were kidnapping, torturing, shooting and beheading their brethren, burning their hospitals and bombing their schools. Hence they want him traced, arrested or killed. Otherwise, all promises of peace and celebrations like the one concluded last week would be no more than hollow slogans. And they are justified because many believe that if Fazlullah is able to break the army cordon and escape the valley despite the massive ground and air assault against the militants in May last year, he can also stage a return in the same fashion.

Hence, there is fear and also the hankering for revenge. Can the celebrations give back Nasim Akhtar, former woman councillor from Swat, her only brother, who was killed along with dozens others when a suicide bomber attacked the funeral prayer of DSP Javid Iqbal in Mingora on February 29, 2008? Can someone help console the relatives of Shabana, the female dancer from Banr Bazaar of Swat, who was brutally murdered at the Green Square, renamed by locals as the Khooni Chowk as they used to find beheaded bodies there each morning during the Taliban days?

Certainly not, but the arrest of Fazlullah and his other commanders can surely console the dejected people on the one hand, and remove the fear of re-emergence of the dreaded men in the valley on the other. But, unfortunately, Fazlullah and his key men are still at large, and the few, like his spokesman Muslim Khan, who are in the custody of the authorities, are yet to be presented before any court of law.

In these circumstances, the people of Swat are justified to look askance at the peace claims of the government and the security forces. In the words of Abdullah, a medical student from Swat, the celebration was an entertainment opportunity for the government officials, their wives and children, and carried nothing for the people of Swat, as “we want the government to give our land back to us and let us live in our paradise in peace”.

Besides, the people of Swat are also not happy with the reconstruction process. Children are still studying in tents, under trees or in damaged buildings. Farmers have yet to recover from the shock they suffered and yet to get any assistance from the government or any other aid agency.

In the prevailing situation, where bomb attacks and targeted killings are still being carried out and the people of Swat have yet to get permission for free movement without being stopped and searched at check-posts, it can rightly be said that what is visible in the valley is a temporary calm; peace is still elusive.

The writer can be reached at daud_72@yahoo.com