[Marxism] The scars of the Swat operation

[Ghulam Mustafa Lakho <gmlakho.advocate@xxxxxxxxx>]

The scars of the Swat
operation<http://www.dailynationalcourier.com/national_courier/may2009_daily/17-05-09/artical/artical2.htm>

By Natasha Mustafa

As soon as there is an interval in the curfew, hundreds of thousands of
inhabitants from the different parts of Swat Valley move out to join the
stream of vehicles, for the safe exit from the area and among them, many
begin their journey on foot. Many people are still trapped in their houses,
being terrorized by the Taliban and not being allowed to move out by the
Taliban. Thousands who are unable to reach to the camps have to spend the
nights in the fields. In the camps that are set up, there is lack of proper
food, medicines, and proper hygiene and sanitation facilities. And to top it
all, diseases like malaria and diarrhoea are on the rise in those camps.
This struggle and misery of the internally displaced people should not be
taken for granted by the government, since we do not want to inculcate
feelings of hatred amongst the internally displaced people. A little lack of
management and carelessness on the part of government might prove as a
trigger in rising elements of another form of Talibanization in the people
who now are internally displaced.

This is probably one of the worst times in the history of Pakistan and I
fear that if the government does not deal with the crises of the internally
displaced people of Swat beneficially, this defeat of the militants might
prove as their victory in the end.

First, we need to acknowledge the fact that the launch of a military
operation against the Taliban was the only way to wipe them out of Swat and
the adjoining areas. Since, dialogue with such a barbaric faction
(Frankenstein, created by the Pakistan army under General Zia and the US
itself) was an idea absolutely out of question. However, this war has
brought a major fear along with itself and that is, if the government fails
to deal with this humanitarian crisis in a just way we might end up
devastating our own people. We have been seeing reports on different news
channels, showing the conditions in those camps. It is not very surprising
to see that these homeless people are infuriated at the government and the
army, since they are not being provided with sufficient food and medicines.
For the displaced people, the militants and the Pakistan Army are equal
because while living in Swat they were being terrorized by the militants and
now when their houses are being damaged and they are homeless, they are not
even being provided with the basic necessities of life properly.

The government has organized all these camps in haste and a lot of poor
planning has been done. A lot of mistakes have been done on the part of the
government as far as the displaced are concerned and a lot is still going
wrong. At this crucial stage, we all need to remember one thing that the
people of Swat have abandoned that area and are now suffering only to erase
Taliban from this country. Therefore, since the army is doing its job very
efficiently, the government needs to strategically plan the issue of the
internally displaced people if we wish to see long-term results of this Swat
War.

The scars of the Swat
operation<http://www.dailynationalcourier.com/national_courier/may2009_daily/17-05-09/artical/artical2.htm>By
Natasha Mustafa <
http://www.dailynationalcourier.com/national_courier/may2009_daily/17-05-09/artical/artical2.htm
>
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