Starvation stalks Swat valley
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Editorial, Dawn, Pakistan
By Faizullah Jan and Syed Irfan Ashraf
Saturday, 23 May, 2009
POLITICIANS and analysts are often heard discussing the measures being taken to minimise the collateral damage resulting from the Swat and Buner operations.
But their words come across as mere rhetoric to those who are actually experiencing a living hell. While the IDPs in camps have their own set of difficulties where the provision of necessities is involved, those who are still in the Swat valley are facing dire food shortages, a prolonged curfew and Taliban militancy. A phone call from the trapped people in the scenic town of Bahrain on the main Kalam-Mingora road indicates the measure of desperation. “We have been under curfew for the last three weeks. There is no wheat flour, no rice, no sugar, no medicine,” says Iqbal Khan. “Today we eat only peas and potatoes. Soon we will be foraging for leaves in the woods.”
Starvation also stalks the vales of Matta, Odegram, Hazara, Shill Hund, Shah Dheri and Kalam where, as in Bahrain, stocks of food and medicine are fast depleting. Thanks to the curfew, these areas have been cut off from the rest of the country ever since the military operation began. Worried about the looming starvation, a Kalam local, Noor Zada, says over the phone, “We are fighting on two fronts. The Taliban are about to take us to task for defying them while the absence of food and medicine can only kill us.”
While correct figures are not available, it is estimated that over 400,000 people are trapped in the northern belt of Swat stretching from Mingora, Miandam, Madyan and Bahrain to Kalam tehsil. At least 800,000 are believed to be stranded in Kabal, Aligrama, Hazara, Shah Dheri, Shill Hund etc. The plight of thousands living in the main town of Mingora and its outskirts is scarcely any different. While many are unwilling to leave because they are unsure of conditions in camps and the security of their families en route, some have chosen to stay back for other reasons.
In an essentially agrarian society like Swat, families cannot afford to abandon their hearths and homes. Their chattel, standing crops and orchards are their lifeline and looked upon as extensions of their body and soul. The poor farmers of upper Swat invest a whole season of their lives to plough fields and prune orchard trees.
When they lost tourism to the medieval mentality of the jihadists, potatoes and turnips were their only source of sustenance and revenue. They sold their yields down-country to make ends meet, also storing some of the produce for their own use in the harsh winters. But protracted hostilities in the valley have left them with no cash, and supplies in storage are virtually exhausted. Thus starvation awaits the population of Swat if the military operation does not rectify matters. The situation in lower Swat, including the outskirts of Mingora and Bari Kot, is equally alarming.
Operation Rah-i-Rast caught Swat residents unawares. They had little time to pack up and leave for a safer place. Only half the population of Swat managed to leave the valley of death. Even then, a majority left behind one or two family members to guard homes and keep an eye on standing crops and chattel. Others, including scores of families in upper Swat, could not flee due to non-availability of transport or simply because they could not afford the travel expenses. Children are missing in hundreds while families in Peshawar wait for male members to turn up, expecting them to have taken refuge with their relatives in upper Swat — although nothing is certain.
The stranded people face a bizarre situation: death is staring them in the face from three directions. If the military operation is a protracted one, they face starvation because of curfew and the consequent closure of supply routes; if the operation intensifies there is bound to be great collateral damage; and if the Taliban face defeat they may turn on the residents for not being on their side. Their fears are justified.
In November 2007, 60 militants with heavy weapons marched on Kalam tehsil in Swat. However, they left when a local jirga told them to implement Sharia in lower Swat first and then extend it to Kalam. Many Taliban took this as defiance. After two years, over 50 Taliban armed with sophisticated weapons reached Kalam to settle past scores. This led to a clash in which six Taliban were taken hostage. The issue was resolved on Thursday, when the elders of Kalam, fearing a Buner-like situation in which suicide bombings and brutal punishments were imposed on the people for defying the Taliban, offered to free the captured militants in return for the release of 150 of their own people in Taliban custody.
Meanwhile, hospitals in these areas are not functioning. There is no electricity, no medicine, no doctors. Collateral damage does not simply mean death by a stray mortar shell and carpet bombing — it can also include fatalities caused by starvation and disease. This is what analysts and strategists are not factoring into their discussion about civilian casualties in Swat.
With many Swat residents wanting to move out of the area, they need to be supported by the government. The first thing that the government can do is to provide them safe passage — in Kurram Agency people were airlifted although there could be technical difficulties in doing so where Swat’s larger population is concerned — before they end up as the Taliban’s human shields. But before that food and medicine must be airdropped, especially in areas where the militants have not reached.
Today the people of Swat loathe the Taliban and look towards the government to rescue them. They are ready to fight alongside the army against the extremists. But if the government’s apathy and the people’s agony persist — as exemplified at the time of writing by a procession from Bahrain marching towards Madyan chanting ‘atta do ya raasta do’ (‘give us bread or safe passage’) we can end up counting Swat residents among the Taliban.
Source
By Faizullah Jan and Syed Irfan Ashraf
Saturday, 23 May, 2009
POLITICIANS and analysts are often heard discussing the measures being taken to minimise the collateral damage resulting from the Swat and Buner operations.
But their words come across as mere rhetoric to those who are actually experiencing a living hell. While the IDPs in camps have their own set of difficulties where the provision of necessities is involved, those who are still in the Swat valley are facing dire food shortages, a prolonged curfew and Taliban militancy. A phone call from the trapped people in the scenic town of Bahrain on the main Kalam-Mingora road indicates the measure of desperation. “We have been under curfew for the last three weeks. There is no wheat flour, no rice, no sugar, no medicine,” says Iqbal Khan. “Today we eat only peas and potatoes. Soon we will be foraging for leaves in the woods.”
Starvation also stalks the vales of Matta, Odegram, Hazara, Shill Hund, Shah Dheri and Kalam where, as in Bahrain, stocks of food and medicine are fast depleting. Thanks to the curfew, these areas have been cut off from the rest of the country ever since the military operation began. Worried about the looming starvation, a Kalam local, Noor Zada, says over the phone, “We are fighting on two fronts. The Taliban are about to take us to task for defying them while the absence of food and medicine can only kill us.”
While correct figures are not available, it is estimated that over 400,000 people are trapped in the northern belt of Swat stretching from Mingora, Miandam, Madyan and Bahrain to Kalam tehsil. At least 800,000 are believed to be stranded in Kabal, Aligrama, Hazara, Shah Dheri, Shill Hund etc. The plight of thousands living in the main town of Mingora and its outskirts is scarcely any different. While many are unwilling to leave because they are unsure of conditions in camps and the security of their families en route, some have chosen to stay back for other reasons.
In an essentially agrarian society like Swat, families cannot afford to abandon their hearths and homes. Their chattel, standing crops and orchards are their lifeline and looked upon as extensions of their body and soul. The poor farmers of upper Swat invest a whole season of their lives to plough fields and prune orchard trees.
When they lost tourism to the medieval mentality of the jihadists, potatoes and turnips were their only source of sustenance and revenue. They sold their yields down-country to make ends meet, also storing some of the produce for their own use in the harsh winters. But protracted hostilities in the valley have left them with no cash, and supplies in storage are virtually exhausted. Thus starvation awaits the population of Swat if the military operation does not rectify matters. The situation in lower Swat, including the outskirts of Mingora and Bari Kot, is equally alarming.
Operation Rah-i-Rast caught Swat residents unawares. They had little time to pack up and leave for a safer place. Only half the population of Swat managed to leave the valley of death. Even then, a majority left behind one or two family members to guard homes and keep an eye on standing crops and chattel. Others, including scores of families in upper Swat, could not flee due to non-availability of transport or simply because they could not afford the travel expenses. Children are missing in hundreds while families in Peshawar wait for male members to turn up, expecting them to have taken refuge with their relatives in upper Swat — although nothing is certain.
The stranded people face a bizarre situation: death is staring them in the face from three directions. If the military operation is a protracted one, they face starvation because of curfew and the consequent closure of supply routes; if the operation intensifies there is bound to be great collateral damage; and if the Taliban face defeat they may turn on the residents for not being on their side. Their fears are justified.
In November 2007, 60 militants with heavy weapons marched on Kalam tehsil in Swat. However, they left when a local jirga told them to implement Sharia in lower Swat first and then extend it to Kalam. Many Taliban took this as defiance. After two years, over 50 Taliban armed with sophisticated weapons reached Kalam to settle past scores. This led to a clash in which six Taliban were taken hostage. The issue was resolved on Thursday, when the elders of Kalam, fearing a Buner-like situation in which suicide bombings and brutal punishments were imposed on the people for defying the Taliban, offered to free the captured militants in return for the release of 150 of their own people in Taliban custody.
Meanwhile, hospitals in these areas are not functioning. There is no electricity, no medicine, no doctors. Collateral damage does not simply mean death by a stray mortar shell and carpet bombing — it can also include fatalities caused by starvation and disease. This is what analysts and strategists are not factoring into their discussion about civilian casualties in Swat.
With many Swat residents wanting to move out of the area, they need to be supported by the government. The first thing that the government can do is to provide them safe passage — in Kurram Agency people were airlifted although there could be technical difficulties in doing so where Swat’s larger population is concerned — before they end up as the Taliban’s human shields. But before that food and medicine must be airdropped, especially in areas where the militants have not reached.
Today the people of Swat loathe the Taliban and look towards the government to rescue them. They are ready to fight alongside the army against the extremists. But if the government’s apathy and the people’s agony persist — as exemplified at the time of writing by a procession from Bahrain marching towards Madyan chanting ‘atta do ya raasta do’ (‘give us bread or safe passage’) we can end up counting Swat residents among the Taliban.
Source
Labels: Civilians, IDPs, Militants, Refugees, Swat Operation, Taliban, Terrorism
posted @ 10:42 AM,
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