Peace in Swat?

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The recent debate on the enforcement of Nizam-e-Adl in Swat reminds me of an old folktale. A man and his son are going on a journey with their donkey. The man makes his son sit on the donkey while he walks. On the way they come across a few people who rebuke the son for being inconsiderate and making his old father walk. So the son switches places with the father -- who gets on the donkey. The two again run into another group of people and they now chide the father for being mean to his son. So they both get on the animal. And then they encounter yet another group of travellers who scolds them for being cruel to the donkey! I believe the government is in the same situation that the father finds himself in this fable.

As for those who think the peace deal is a waste of time please go to Swat and spend a week

there just to get a feel of the life they were are living.

Tehmina Afridi

Bahawalpur

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Every reasonable and decent citizen yearns for peace and security, not only in Swat, but in the whole country. Having said that, I cannot fathom what type of 'peace' can be made with the likes of the Taliban, especially when Mr Zardari himself has said that it is 'only a temporary arrangement'. This statement itself should indicate the 'value' of any such accord. More importantly, the whole Swat episode underlines the failure of the security forces to make any meaningful headway in driving the Taliban out of Swat.

This is bound to have very dire and far reaching effects for the future of Pakistan. If a band of 4,000 militants cannot be routed by a modern army then what are the chances of it fighting against a strong army from across the border?

If nothing else, at least the Taliban have proved that the whole of Pakistan may be held

hostage to such perverse elements in the not-so-distant future.

Tariq Nazir Syed

Rawalpindi

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After the recent truce between the Taliban and the government, the former stopped the DCO Swat while he was on his way to Mingora along with his guards and kept him with them for some time.

They served them with a cup of tea as a token of friendship and then allowed them to continue their journey. I suggest that the head of the ruling party in NWFP, Asfandyar Wali, should also visit the Taliban in Swat and stay with them for some time, as a gesture of friendship and tradition of Pashtuns.

Mahabat Khan Bangash

Peshawar

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This is with respect to the recent peace deal in Swat. Historically no deal with the Taliban has worked out. They always go back on their word. Also, the Taliban usually talk of peace when they are badly hit by security forces and are short of men, money and weapons. They do this so that the agreement can allow them to re-group and re-arm.

As soon as they do this, the peace deal breaks and terrorism resumes. Also, the religion of the Taliban is rejected by all Pakistanis since Islam does not spread by use of terrorism and force. Islam is not the religion of illiterates and in fact it emphasises the importance of education to men as well as women.

How can the government justify making a deal with the Taliban, who are in the few thousands, against the wishes of over a million Swatis? In any case, the Taliban are here to fight not to have peace. I predict that the deal will fall apart sooner or later and an even more dangerous battle will begin then. Under the Taliban, Afghanistan became an international pariah -- do we want the same to happen to us? I am afraid the deal may be the stepping stone to just that.

Amin Sheerazi

Pakistan Military Academy

Kakul