Hope, disbelief surround Swat deal

[LahoreEstate]

* Locals believe lasting peace is not likely until Taliban disarm, writ of state is established

By Iqbal Khattak

MINGORA: Mixed feelings of hope and disbelief surround the prospects of lasting peace in Swat after the government tasked the outlawed Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariah Muhammadi last month to ensure law and order.

Daily Times interviewed various stakeholders in a visit to Mingora on Thursday, 17 days after the provincial government and TNSM chief Sufi Muhammad reached an understanding in Peshawar to help bring peace to Swat and enforce Islamic laws in Malakand region.

Local residents, state representatives and the TNSM were very hopeful that Swat would now live in peace, but feared the dream would not materialise until the Taliban lay down arms.

“Yes, Sufi sahib’s influence is immense. Those who are fighting the state are sympathisers of the TNSM and they cannot resist his march for peace,” a Swat resident said. “But the real problem is that thinking of peace without establishing the writ of the government first is hoping against hope.” “Militancy and peace are two different things and they cannot co-exist,” another local said.

The Taliban have left little doubt about the abolition of the state’s writ in the restive valley in the last 16 months, and our taxi driver had to hide his audiocassettes and played jihadi tapes as we entered Mingora.

“They treat you very harshly if they find you listening to music in your car,” the taxi driver said while playing jihadi songs. As he drove through Qambar, young masked and armed Taliban patrolled the highway.

And that raises serious doubts about Sufi Muhammad’s efforts for lasting peace in the district where more than 1,000 civilians and security forces were killed during a military operation.

The government-TNSM understanding helped the most wanted Taliban commanders move freely in Mingora but curtailed the military’s free movement. It will be moving with prior arrangements to avoid attacks, according to the new rules of engagement.

“What does this peace brings for me?” asked a barber, referring to the ban on shaving that the Taliban had imposed last year.

A cable TV operator hoped the Taliban ban on satellite-based TV channels would be lifted, to allow Swat residents to watch news and entertainment after months of gunfire and destruction.

Commercial centres and shops were open and crowded, and there was a lot of traffic. Most striking were the scenes of girls going to schools and colleges months after the Taliban banned their education. In other towns, they have destroyed more than 200 schools, mostly girls’.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg7_36