Pakistan in Media

Editorial, The News International, Pakistan
Saturday, May 16, 2009

The prime minister has told the National Assembly that both hearts and land will be won in Swat. The military is clearly aware of a similar need, with its offer to share its rations with local people obviously aimed to try and achieve this. The resolve to wage war till victory has been reiterated by the COAS while visiting frontline positions in Swat and we are now also hearing of plans to extend the operation to Waziristan, possibly coinciding with a similar operation launched by Afghanistan along the border. These are all important statements. But they are unfortunately not related to facts. So far the hearts of people are being lost – and this could have disastrous implications for the future given that eventually they hold the key to what happens in their home areas. There is after all a limit to how long troops can remain there and how long they can fight a battle that does not have the full support of people.Why is this happening? Why are hearts not being won? There is no big mystery involved. In Swat and other areas people are dying when bombs fall. We have no figures at all on the number of civilian casualties, but the anecdotal evidence coming in from those who have fled suggests it may be quite high. There is talk of hasty burials and the constant fear of death. Proposals for mass evacuations have been made. Perhaps, despite the obvious difficulties that would be involved, they need to be considered more earnestly. And as for those who have managed to make their way down, often after paying exorbitant sums of money to exploitative transporters, many who have turned to the state for help are paying the price. In Mardan and Swabi, where several camps have been set up, conditions are reported to be appalling. Inside tents the heat is oppressive and parents talk of children falling sick in huge numbers as diarrhoea and other sicknesses take rapid hold. Some who have been displaced speak of a refusal to register them because they have no NICs – a document that many in remote areas, especially women, have never possessed. A few angrily speak of being treated like criminals by officials. This is no way to win hearts.The government needs to do much more to ensure its words can be turned into action. Resources need to be found to help in a massive way the over 800,000 now said by the UN to be displaced. Maulana Abdul Sattar Edhi, collecting funds by the roadside in Lahore, has received tiny sums even from schoolchildren giving up lunch money. Those far more able to give have so far not come forward in a big way. A lack of trust for the government contributes to this. Reports of misuse of funds collected in this manner in the past still echo and leave behind their impact. There must also be more motivation. As the operation proceeds, there is a need to remember that taking people along is vital, as crucial as the actual strategy of fighting. We have still not heard of future plans. People must be given a picture of what lies beyond the bombs and the misery they have now been plunged into. Some light needs to be switched on so it can be glimpsed at the end of the tunnel. A failure to do so would be a disaster and may even mean a failure of the war we are now fighting. As the PM has said, this is a total war. It can be won only if we succeed on all fronts at the same time