[Reader-list] Tourist heaven turns into valley of fear

Thu Feb 12 18:29:31 IST 2009

Dear Yasir

Kashmir being a part of India, it should not be surprising that the Indian Army was/is present there. 

You speak though of the 'nature' of that presence. Till the Pakistan sponsored Islamic Terrorism showed up in Kashmir, the Indian Army's 'nature' of Peacetime presence was like that of any other Army in the border region of any other country which has an enemy nation across the border. The Indian Army was deployed in the 'border posts' and was confined to Cantonment Areas elsewhere.

It was only because of the 1965 Operation Gibraltar infiltration/invasion plan of Pakistan that the Indian Army had to first 'act' in the civilian areas. After the 1965 War and whatever possible mopping up of the Pakistani infiltrators, the Indian Army had no deployment in the civilian areas.

With the start of the Pakistan sponsored Islamic Terrorism in late 1980s, the Indian Army was again forced to 'act' in the civilian areas.  

Whatever  other 'excesses' the Indian Army may have committed against innocent Kashmiris, we did not have the kind of Artillery and Aerial Bombing attacks that the Pakistan Army has repeatedly resorted to against Pakistanis. I must say here that comparisons provide no justification and any 'excess' whatsoever by the Indian Army (or CRPF, or BSF, or RR) are totally unacceptable to me as an Indian.

As far as 'sandwiched' or 'bun kabaabed' Afghanistan, Pakistan and India are concerned, the only thing stringing them together is Islamic Terrorism.

Kshmendra

________________________________
From: yasir ~يا سر <yasir.media at gmail.com>
To: sarai list <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 5:42:26 PM
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Tourist heaven turns into valley of fear

thats a half callous statement if there is no mention of the nature of
the indian army's presence in kashmir, like the pk army's actions such
as aerial bombings in fata. and of course afghanistan pakistan and
india are strung together in a sandwich, a south asian a bun kebab.

On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 2:57 PM, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> What Pakistan and Pakistanis and their supporters in Kashmir did to Kashmir, is now being done in Swat, Pakistan by it's own Pakistanis.
>
> Kshmendra
>
>
> "Tourist heaven turns into valley of fear"
> By Sher Baz Khan
> Tuesday, 03 Feb, 2009
>
> (MINGORA: The road to Swat used to be a byword for breathtaking beauty. Although it remains the most picturesque in the country, it now conjures up fear and lurking danger.)
> The journey upwards from Mardan these days is forbidding. The entire route is a picture of utter desolation. Fear of the unknown has overtaken a place fabled for its fertile fields and majestic mountains.
> Even a flying visit is enough to fill one with a sense of foreboding that religious extremists would overrun the valley before long.
> Most people, especially those living in urban areas, seem to have lost the will to live.
> Things started taking an ugly turn in July 2007 after the then NWFP chief minister Shamsul Mulk called in paramilitary forces to take on militants fired by Maulana Fazlullah's inflammatory rhetoric.
> But the decision seems to have rebounded on the government, for now at least. The Maulana's followers hold sway over no less than 80 per cent of the Swat valley.
> The Army is into the third phase of an operation that has seen the state's writ shrinking by the day. Of late the Taliban have made inroads into even settled areas, such as, Mardan, Takhtbai, Shergarh, and almost the entire Malakand Agency.
> Taliban are spreading their message in the same way as they did, and still do, in Swat. The medium of the message is fear. In fact, fear is the message.
> The moment I entered the region, I was struck by unmistakable signs of a place steadily turning its back on the outside world. Institution after institution is falling to the Taliban.
> Non-combatants have a stark choice: seek refuge in other places or accept the diktat of Maulana Fazlullah.
> I managed to strike conversations with some Swatis, albeit after much persuasion.
> Abdullah Khan, a draper, narrated the ordeal of his brother, Rauf Khan, especially his treatment by a Rawalpindi-based psychiatrist.
> 'Rauf saw the beheading of a man in a butcher shop by militants. Since that day he either laughs loudly or sheds tears in silence,' Abdullah said.
> A stroll through Mingora's main marketplace brought us face to face with misery. A number of people poured their hearts out to us.
> 'The thunder of bombs, rockets, grenades and whatnot linger in our ears.'
> 'Go to the psychiatrists of Peshawar and Rawalpindi and ask them how many children, men and women from Swat they are treating these days. I bet the number will baffle you,' said Ajmal Khan, a college student.
> The locals alleged that the military operation had killed more non-combatants than militants.
> The economic fallout of the conflict is ominous. Most of the 1,000 hotels have gone out of business. The rent-a-car business is also dying out.
> Shops dealing in CDs and operators of cable television have folded up after Maulana Fazlullah's warnings.
> Barber shops have put up notices that they would not shave off beards as the Taliban have told them not to do so.
> A glitzy plaza caught my eye with its elegant shops, but sadly there were no shoppers.
> 'Women are not allowed to enter the premises unless they are accompanied by men,' read a banner fluttering over the entrance to the mall.
> A number of tailors said they had been told not to let women enter their shops.
> 'The upper and middle classes are leaving the valley and settling down elsewhere,' said Aleem Jan, a tailor making women's suits. He is among many who are planning to move to either Mardan or Peshawar.
> Advertisement hoardings carrying pictures of women are disallowed.
> Faces of women in ads are blackened or deformed.
> A building housing the court is empty of lawyers and litigants as Taliban have decreed that the existing judicial order is un-Islamic. They have set up 73 sharia courts to administer 'speedy justice'.
> These courts summon people on phone, threatening violators with death.
> And speedy justice it is indeed. They settle cases within a couple of days. Hence they are getting popular.
> 'A summon from the court of Fazlullah is like a death warrant. No one dare disobey it,' said Jamil Ahmed, a lawyer.
> Although he favoured the existing judicial system, he was all praise for the sharia courts as they decide cases in no time.
> Jamil cited the example of a woman whose plea for dissolution was decided the other day by a local court. The matter was lingering for the past 22 years.
> She had applied for dissolution of marriage at the age of 21 and now she is 43.
> The president of the Swat Bar Association, Aftab Alam, is against a parallel judiciary. But he too said judges should try to dispose of cases in 'reasonable time' to undercut the Taliban courts.
> Only two of the 14 policewomen who worked in the district court take the trouble to report for duty these days. But they wear veils and keep a low profile, mostly hiding themselves behind bushes.
> Almost all the legislators belonging to the ruling Awami National Party have fled from Swat. The exception is Afzal Khan Lala. All of them are on the Taliban's hit list.
>
>
> http://www.dawn.net/wps/wcm/connect/Dawn%20Content%20Library/dawn/news/pakistan/nwfp/tourist-heaven-turns-into-valley-of-fear-ha
>
>
>
>
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