THERE is much on the Internet and in emails in support of octogenarian politician, and by all accounts a very good man, Mohammad Afzal Khan Lala. `Support Afzal Khan Lala` is the slogan, and the subject of these emails, in which many people have written praising the courage and the fortitude of this brave man in defying the barbaric Taliban in Swat.
Lala has refused to bow to the Taliban`s orders to leave Swat, and as a consequence his home has been attacked several times. His predicament was so written about that at long last people who matter in Swat and what goes on there, such as the chief of army staff, have visited Swat and assured him of their support. Well, thank God for small mercies.
However, while extending Lala any kind of support is better than people not being bothered at all at what this courageous man is experiencing in his own home, is it not time for us Pakistanis at large to wake up and do something about what is going on in Swat? We have seen the government and its agencies fail all ends up at keeping the peace there, even in the major towns where executions and beheadings are nightly happenings and where last night`s gore is displayed every morning in the local town square. It is time that you and I took matters into our own hands for the sake of this country in which we live, for if Swat goes so does Pakistan, slowly but steadily down the tube.
Perhaps, a relief caravan of several hundred vehicles — cars and buses and trucks — could carry thousands of us to Swat, and along the length and breadth of it, defying the handful of murderous thugs who hold that part of our country in their deathly grip and before whom even the great Pakistan Army seems to have given up the fight. And, in our travels, one could distribute food and clothing and other items so badly needed by the poor.
Let our political leaders lead the caravan, protected by us the ordinary people of Pakistan. Let President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Mr Nawaz Sharif travel in one vehicle; Qazi Hussain Ahmed (who has, credit to him, severely criticised the hooligans for destroying girls` schools in Swat) and Imran Khan and Dr Farooq Sattar in one; and Asfandyar Wali and Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Chaudhry Pervez Elahi in another, and so on.
Let us just march into Swat, unarmed, and say to the barbarians “Do your worst, you despicable Yahoos who slice off old men`s ears; who murder defenceless women and children! We the common people of Pakistan will simply not let you take over our country by force of arms!!”
Let the media be part of the caravan to Swat in vast numbers too with newspaper editors leading their reporters and writers, and the independent TV broadcasters with their best comperes and current affairs` hosts broadcasting live the progress of this journey of peace.
I am sure that we will be welcomed by the poor, ordinary people of Swat who are suffering under the mediaeval and archaic and cruel “laws” being “administered” by the illiterate and backward Taliban in full sight and hearing of the “law-enforcement agencies”. I am sure the ordinary people of Swat will come out in their hundreds of thousands when they hear that a caravan such as the one proposed is coming to relieve them of the cruel burden they have had to bear just because of a thoughtless, marauding and so far clueless security establishment.
This intervention might well embolden the common people of Swat to stand up to their oppressors. It will also, hopefully, force some reflection within our security establishment which seems so very lackadaisical, almost blasé, about what is happening in Swat.
It is not difficult either, with all of the political parties on board to arrange a caravan of the size suggested. After all political parties collect upwards of 100,000 supporters for political rallies at short notice. Nor is Swat a small matter it is a matter of life or death for the country, the way in which the Taliban have been allowed to have their way. I use the term “allowed to” advisedly and purposely.The question to ask, however, is who will hold the security agencies to account for what has been wrought by the Taliban in Swat? Who will hold the intelligence establishment to account for its shameful and massive failure in Swat and also in Fata?
Who, indeed, will take stock of the present standards of training of the army which seems helpless against the motley and ragtag Taliban. (A passing thought if the much-touted and very expensively maintained Pakistan Army cannot handle the Taliban whom they outnumber 1,000 to one how the devil will they face a greater, numerically superior enemy? From all accounts it is not even picketing and patrolling, the two most important military operations that are absolutely essential for Frontier/tribal warfare.
Meanwhile, the heartrending exodus of displaced persons goes on daily. The freshest reports from Swat suggest that 40,000 people left their homes on Sunday, two days ago, in response to pamphlets dropped from the air telling them to leave their homes for safety`s sake. Where, people ask, should they go in this cold weather they have no money; there is no transport available; there is nothing.
We should, however, give thanks that the Pakistan Army has at long last indented for equipment that will pinpoint Mullah Radio`s FM station from which he has been broadcasting his poison! The Lord be praised that the army has finally seen the light, after the many years of mayhem spread by this FM station, and has decided to obtain the wherewithal to locate it. Even though the technology to pinpoint a radio station that is broadcasting on a certain frequency is as old as the Swat hills themselves, thank God for little mercies again.
For, if the Pakistan Army had decided, in its own wisdom, not to locate and take action against Mullah Radio`s FM station what could anyone have done?
P.S. The DG ISPR is reported in this newspaper of yesterday as saying that MNAs and MPAs of Swat had returned to Swat and had started interaction with the local people. The truth of the matter is that before the COAS`s visit to Swat last week, three MPAs out of a total of seven elected from Swat were taken by military helicopter in the morning and were flown back to Peshawar in the afternoon after holding a press conference in Mingora! Being so very economical with the truth will help no one, sirs.