Pakistanis have come out of that ominous state of baffled, bamboozled and befuddled apathy and now showing the same signs of unity and sacrifice that we had witnessed after the 8th October, 2005 earthquake.
Especially the people of Swabi, Mardan and the suburbia villages have set an example of extreme human sacrifice and the generosity. More than 3.5 million people have become internally displaced from the war-torn Swat and FATA and only six percent of these IDPs are living in the camps setup by the government, while rest of them have become guests of the common people in various cities of North West Frontier Province.
That is why we decided to reach out to the IDPs, people who are in the homes of others. We reached Shahbaz Garhi, a remote village near Mardan with our small truck load of relief goods, and started knocking from door to door to distribute dry edibles, mediciens, some fans, and other things.
It was during this effort that I came across, Palwasha – a beautiful sad looking teenage girl. She shyly asked me to give her some clothes, which I didn’t have but I promised her to send it through parcel, the very next day.
In talking to young Palwasha I learnt much I did not know. What the media had never told me, Palwasha revealed between her tears and anger.
Palwasha was living in a small village near Charbagh area with her three sisters and parents, and all of them remained oblivious to the skirmish between government and Taliban, and perhaps that became their sin of which they paid dearly. They didn’t see any thing differnet when Taliban promised them Shariah, she said, because they were Muslims already and certainly liked to have a Muslim law. They wanted speedy justice and equal opportunities, besides they didn’t want to look like opposing the Shariah law. And so, they welcomed the Taliban.
Palwasha’s family was just yet another family from the Charbagh area of Swat, which is rich in beauty but lacks most development amenities. Her father was a miner in an Emerald mine, and when Taliban came and forced them to take their way and occupied the rich mines, the earnings of Khanzada, father of Palwasha, were slashed to less than half. As usual, the first cut the family made was to terminate the education of all the sisters, and then upon food. Things were tough, and Palwasha’s family was unable to comprehend this Talibanic Shariah.
Palwasha told me that early one morning, five Taliban came smiling to their home and one of them told her father to marry his four daughters to the four Taliban accompanying him right now. He father showed some presence of mind and instead of refusing asked one day for preparations. When Taliban came next day, the whole village opened fire at them from the rooftops, and after killing all three dozens of them, they fled the area.
According to Palwasha, that became common occurrance in the villages and even in the cities of the Mingora, where Taliban asked for forced marriages. At some places Taliban gave three choices to the family: marry the girl, furnish boy for fighting, or pay Rs. 50,000.
Palwasha got quite gloomy and said, “I have no idea when I will be able to go back to my home in Swat. Such is life there these days.”
Note: Ghazala Khan runs the blog The Pakistani Spectator, and had visited these IDPs along with her colleagues to distribute relief goods.
Its a real eye opening story! I think now the masses in our cities should kick their supporters out. In order to save their own lives US and Afghanistan govt has diverted these monsters to our peaceful land in order to ruins our lives. Now next is Baluchistan where India is openly supporting/funding rein of terror.
Although I think they should write more about this, the press has written about this. I remember reading here at ATP about the marriage bureaus that the Taliban were running in Swat. Merely a way to ‘reward’ the Taliban killers by forcing girls to marry them. Nothing else.
ALL TALIBAN ARE NOT THE SAME.
Afghani Taliban has said there is no connection between them and the Pakistani Taliban and Taliban from swat are not the same as Taliban of south Waziristian.
During my recent trip to Pakistan (*) I met displaced people from many villages and towns of mostly swat, some buner and deer. I met them living just outside Islamabad (Bara Koh, Satra Meel), in Attock, Swabi, Mardan (Haathia, Jallah), Tarbela, Ghazi and Hasan Abdal. I met them living in empty buildings (hospital, schools, colleges), private homes and tented camps. One thing was repeated over and over: Taliban in swat are foreigners. About two years earlier outsiders with long hairs and beards started to come into town and take over police stations. They promised nizame adle and quick justice. They also offered large sums of money and arms. Locals – poor, unemployed and some criminally minded – joined them. People in general supported them. Women donated money and even their jewelry for the cause. They also told us the Swatis are religious people, they dress modestly, observe pardah and believe in education for all. We met several female high school and college students, in various camps.
When the so called Taliban started burning girls schools, forcing their way into the villagers
Ghazala Khan,
Can you (and others like you) put together a systematic account of how the Taliban act? For example, how they recruit men (children)? How they tax people and businesses? What their business interests are? How they interact with broader criminal elements in the society? With government? I am talking about one story at a time (like the one you mention here), with eye-witness accounts.
There is a lot of journalistic research that is needed here.
We desperately need a deeper understanding of how militancy permeates in the society. This work also has the great benefit of opening the eyes of the population to the true face of these so-called “jihadis”. (just imagine the shift in public opinion after the cell-video of a girl being flogged by the taliban … as they say, seeing (and reading) is believing.)
Some comments on this from the ATP Facebook page:
– “There is still time to follow the Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s “Unity, faith & Discipline”.”
– “i have heard other such stories but it seems that nobody cares unfortunately”
– “first b “UNITED” thn to step 4wd…..”
– “we r PAKISTANIES and we have to follow the the sayings of QUID-E-AZAM because he is the founder of PAKISTAN
we r muslims but we r not following the sayings of our LORD AND PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PBUH)
just sit by your self and think that where we r going we r fighting with our brothers and sisters what is this is this the in which our PROPHET MUHAMMAD (PBUH) taught us to live………………..!!!
THINK ABOUT THIS……………..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
– “u r absolutely rite, untill we follow our religion completely we can not get any success”
– “What RELIGION r we talking about the Islam of Talibaan, The Islam of the Damned Maulvi or the Islam our politicians, what brand should we follow, come on lets become Human first and them you will understand Islam as ISLAM is the religion for HUMANITY not barbarians”