Kamna Arora
A teenage girl accused of having an illicit relationship with a man is flogged on a street full of mute onlookers. Masked men shoot dead a man charged of burglary. Burqa-clad women are not allowed to go to public places and visit markets. Girls’ education is banned. Any sort of debate on Islam is forbidden. Listening to music or selling DVDs is a punishable offence. Public lashing is encouraged. These are the scenes witnessed day in and day out in a place that was once called a paradise on Earth – the Swat Valley.
An international organisation working for the journalists’ rights, Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) has described Swat as the most dangerous area for journalists. Terming Swat as a “valley of fears”, RSF said in a report, “The Taliban use extremely brutal methods to inspire fear in the civilian population, including journalists. They left a trail of bodies by the fact that their heads had been cut off or their throats slit. The list of people to be punished or killed for not respecting the Sharia was announced in the evening by the illegal FM radio stations, especially Maulana Fazlullah’s." (It is noteworthy that the FM radio is said to be the ‘second almighty after God’ in this valley because whatever the Taliban leader declares on radio in the evening, he does the next morning.)
Once a paradise for tourists, the scenic mountainous region is now a safe heaven for al Qaeda and Taliban fighters. Acting absolutely beyond the control of Islamabad, Taliban did not even waste a single minute in firming up their law of the land – Sharia – in exchange of a ‘peace deal’ with the Pakistani government.
The peace deal between Taliban and authorities in Swat valley is now in jeopardy since Sufi Muhammad, the father-in-law of Maulana Fazlullaha, has vowed to quit the region to protest the government`s failure to impose Sharia. However, President Asif Ali Zardari has said that he will not allow enforcement of Sharia in Swat till peace is restored completely. Mr President must be referring to ‘peace’ in the form of laying down arms by militants, but for residents of Swat, the word ‘peace’ has another meaning attached to it.
The recent incident of the public flogging of a 17-year-old girl has put Swat back on the radar of human rights activists. The grainy video of the girl being lashed 34 times for allegedly being seen with a man who was not her husband has infuriated many, including President Asif Ali Zardari. According to The News, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry were seeking to use the flogging incident to “get back control of events in Swat where the writ of the state has vanished".
Sherry Rehman, who was Information Minister at the time the Swat Valley peace deal was inked, was of the view that the government may be pushed to re-evaluate its stand apropos of the peace deal in the wake of growing condemnation. The Member of Parliament from the ruling Pakistan People`s Party added, "(We) have a responsibility to stand for our people if they are being subjected to atrocities by elements that are not recognised by the state as legitimate actors. Ignoring such acts of violence amounts to sanctioning impunity."
Justice Chaudhry had summoned police and government officials from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) to the Supreme Court, calling the flogging a "cruel violation of fundamental rights". But Chand Bibi, the 17-year-old girl who was being flogged, reportedly told the judge that the incident had never taken place. The girl’s denial indicates that the revelation could have proved costly for her.
At the time when Pakistan’s government is supposedly fighting hard to cooperate with the US in cracking down on terrorism breeding within the country, the situation in the Swat Valley east of the Federal Administered Tribal Areas has embarrassed Islamabad to its fullest. The fanatic Taliban state is existing no more than 100 miles from the national capital.
Why this deal?
The Pakistani government had tried hard to oust the Taliban militants from Swat. However, the military campaign failed to do so despite running for three years. It was then that the government decided to bring Islamic militants to heel by inking a peace deal, which called for the withdrawal of government troops from the area, and for enforcement of Sharia law in Swat in exchange for the arms of Taliban.
The Government of the NWFP finalised the so-called peace deal in Swat with a radical cleric, Maulana Sufi Mohammed, and the Taliban on February 15. Albeit Pakistan’s weak civilian government had expected a lot from the ceasefire with Islamic militants, it seems the consequences of the agreement might prove to be dangerous for Islamabad in its desperate battle against terrorism as well as extremism. The Pakistan government’s formula for ceasefire in exchange for enforcement of Sharia law in the Valley has brought no ‘cease’ to the ‘fire’ by militants. In fact, the situation has worsened.
Deal beneficial?
Bringing up the ongoing disturbances in Swat, Major General Athar Abbas of the Pakistan Army told CBC news, “These sporadic incidents and events do happen when you have to deal with a huge area. Now this whole area was subject to militancy and terrorism and therefore this transition period is very delicate. It is to be handled very carefully."
But human rights activist Tahira Abdullah objects to it, questioning the agreement is beneficial ‘for whom’? “For the bearded men? For the men who are willing to toe the line of the Taliban`s sharia law? No woman is allowed to go out. The moderates and progressives are not allowed to return. They have suffered deaths.”
Strongly speaking, the agreement between the Pakistani government and the Taliban has redounded on the entire humanity. On one side, the international community is trying hard to spread democracy, and on the other, Pakistan’s government entered into a deal that offered nothing but a barbaric rule driven by religious fanatics.
When the ‘peace’ deal was announced, it amused citizens and politicians belonging to religious-minded, right-wing groups, while concurrently annoyed liberal groups of the country which saw the agreement a dangerous mistake.
PM Gilani had defended the agreement by terming it a part of the government`s `three D` strategy of dialogue, development and deterrence. The Taliban however does not indulge itself in any dialogue, but punishment; any development but destruction; any deterrence but death. In the light of recent incidents, the government’s ‘three D’ strategy can be rephrased as dangerous, disaster, debacle.
The rules employed within Swat are not only upsetting its 1.5 million inhabitants, but also much larger population beyond that territory, and in fact the country. Growing condemnation from the international community, including activists, could compel Pakistan’s leadership to take some action against such barbaric act, or probably write off the deal.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has slammed the public flogging of Chand Bibi, calling it "unacceptable". Meanwhile, the Christian Science Monitor has quoted the principal of a local private school as saying, “There are no words strong enough to condemn the incident. Where was the outcry when hundreds of people were being executed before the peace deal? The government lacks the ability to arrest Taliban, even if it wished to.”
Taliban members held Chand Bibi and hit her with a strap as she cried out in pain, while people just stood by. Likewise, gun fires and lashes are wounding ‘Pakistan`s Switzerland’ so hard that it is crying and howling. But is there any one to listen?
