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

Sat Feb 14 17:59:53 IST 2009

Dear Yasir

1. If the Terror Acts are in the name of Islam and Surah and Ayah are quoted from the Quran to justify the acts then it is "Islamic Terrorism".

I have referred only to the Quran and not any Hadeeth or Rivayaat. For such purposes I am a Parvaizi. It is best to judge the quality of the water at the source-spring rather than in the streamlets that the water thereafter flows into and might have picked up muck in it's journey. 

2. You continue to be in 'denial' about the rape of Kashmir and Kashmiris by Pakistan and Pakistanis as having been initiated from 1947 onwards.

Kshmendra

________________________________
From: yasir ~يا سر <yasir.media at gmail.com>
To: sarai list <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 4:53:40 AM
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Tourist heaven turns into valley of fear

I seriously doubt it is ''islamic''. it is simply political and a political
fringe, related to other events iin the region, primarily the 80's are
unthinkable in afghanistan pakistan and kashmir without the US and Soviet
games in afghanistan. it is not possible to separate them. does that make
any solution unfeasible and defeated from the beginning once again.

best

On Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 1:59 PM, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>wrote:

>
> 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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