NY Times/ Rahimullah Yusufzai on Swat Failures

[BarakzaiAbdali]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/wo...t.html?src=twr

Key Quotes:

But a steady drumbeat of killings, by both militants and soldiers, has whipped up fear in Swat in recent years and blighted hopes for a return to normality in a place known for its beauty and tourist industry. Taliban fighters have slowly crept back to attack and kill pro-government community leaders. The army faces accusations of gross human rights abuses, including the execution of at least dozens of detainees whose bodies have recently been returned to their families.

“For a long time there was a narrative of the Swat operation as a total success,” said Rahimullah Yousafzai, a veteran journalist based in Peshawar. “Now that success is being questioned.”

Similarly triumphant claims followed the 2009 Swat offensive, but some successes proved to be temporary. Although hundreds of Taliban fighters were captured, many more slipped across the porous border into the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan, where they have successfully regrouped.

And showing their deviant human rights record:

Since April 2013, some Swat detainees have turned up dead, their bodies quietly returned to their families for burial. Many have reportedly been held in an army-run internment center in Kohat, 30 miles south of Peshawar. Relatives say the army often attributes the deaths to heart attacks — an explanation that human-rights activists say is consistent with similar violations elsewhere in northwestern Pakistan.

Some business owners have left the valley over security fears. And tourism numbers are way down, said Zahid Khan, head of the Swat hotel owners’ association.

and of course:

sif Nawaz, 21, said he was stuck in a traffic jam for two days as he fled North Waziristan. During that time, he saw two mothers take the bodies of their dead infants to the soldiers, shouting that they had died from hunger, he said with tears in his eyes.

[jankhan]

Very true, army is all around swat and check points are every where as they were in 2009.
Target killing and curfews are still forced there. Extra judicial killings are daily routines. They torture the detainees to death for years and then say it was heart attack.
see zamaswat.com
people are not in favor of army but they fear of humiliation because they have families. and this napak army don't care about the local culture and their mentality.

[Admin Khan]

[MENTION=10678]Da Bannu Mazdigar[/MENTION] what does the ISPR think about this?

[Da Bannu Mazdigar]

[MENTION=10678]Da Bannu Mazdigar[/MENTION] what does the ISPR think about this?

ISPR doesn't release any press related to this,infact even the last time when you mentioned me regarding the Adnan rashid arrest,I Re-Checked the source's again and no one of them mentioned or quoted ISPR but rather Internal Source's.

The People left in Razmak and Spinwam(?) does has army protection,the rest army doesn't even consider as collateral damage but rather part of terrorists.

In a Interview few days back i heard that only 400 People are confirmed left in Shawal valley and they will be shifted to Razmak before the Ground Operation in Shawal

[jankhan]

ISPR doesn't release any press related to this,infact even the last time when you mentioned me regarding the Adnan rashid arrest,I Re-Checked the source's again and no one of them mentioned or quoted ISPR but rather Internal Source's.

The People left in Razmak and Spinwam(?) does has army protection,the rest army doesn't even consider as collateral damage but rather part of terrorists.

In a Interview few days back i heard that only 400 People are confirmed left in Shawal valley and they will be shifted to Razmak before the Ground Operation in Shawal

The article is about swat and not razmak ///

[Badlun]

In some UN related work I visited Swat many times before , during and after the operation. I used to stroll in the streets of Mingora, Matta, Khwazakhela, Kabal, Barikot etc in plain Swati clothes and talking to them as a common Pashtun tourist and they told me many things in full confidence.

Some were of the opinion that Taliban were products of some agencies but during the operation and after the operation Army conducted a sincere and full fledged operation and wiped out the menace of terrorism successfully. I met head of the Swat Peace Jirga and he was also of the same opinion.

Others were of the opinion that Taliban were products of Madrassas of Ishaat Tawheed (Panjpeeris) which is an offshoot of Deobandis and are hard liners.They were inspired by the Wahabi Ahle hadith organization of Sufi Muhamamd called Tehreeke Nifaze Shariate Muhamamdai . They had training and brain washing centers in many places especially in Gat Fuechar. Taliban in Swat under Mullah Fazlullah is a pure ideological organization of extremist Deobandis and Wahabis.

Some were of the opinion that there are three tires in Taliban. Ideological, commercial and scoundrels/smugglers. Some Taliban are members of lower strata of society like Parachgan, nayan, daman, jolagan, chamyaran, mullan etc and they used the movement against the upper class Pashtuns.

However there was unanimity of opinion that that the operation was successful and still with useful consequences. Few events does not mean the operation was a failure. Swatians prefer army thousands times to the hooligans, the Taliban. At least army is a professional and responsible organization as compared to those marauding hordes with no ethics and professionalism.

[jankhan]

Badlun, you visited my town. Good.

[Badlun]

Badlun, you visited my town. Good.

I do not know which is your town but I love Swat and its people. They are great Yousafzai Pashtuns who love Pashto and Pashtunwali. Non Pashtuns like Gujars and Kohistanis are also excellent members of humanity.

I will share one personal thing here that I got my spiritual and aesthetical enlightenment and nirvana in the lake of Mahodand in Swat. There I found God, beauty and nature which along with teachings of Osho tranformed me completely. Any one who has a chance must visit Mahodand which is naked nature with confluence of all beauties one can imagine.

I have travelled a lot in Swat. I have crossed Swat Dir , Swat Shangla/Kohistan and Swat Buner borders on foot. I have seen death with my friends on the Swat Dir border when a snow atrom struck us in place called Salete Goda manrhai. We said our last words and embraced each other for life but thanks God we could come out from there.

Swatians are against Taliban but because of dominance of Deobandi Islam and Tableeghi Jumaat , Taliban got a better environment for their evil designs. However the operation was highly successful and we see Swat again in its true form.

One issue of Swat which disturb me a lot is the deforestation and pollution of River Swat. If this continues swat will lose its beauty very soon.