Ten Years of Meltdown

Another bomb explosion in Peshawar yesterday claimed yet more lives. Like the explosion in the Khyber tribal district not long back, this happened whilst people waited for a bus. Sadly, this comes less than a week after sectarian violence in Parachinar and today gunmen stormed a police station, again in Peshawar, leading to yet more killing. I can't help but think that right now, it doesn't really matter any more what the faith denomination, ethnic background or political slant of an individual is, in Pakistan - something is seriously malfunctioning. Whilst ultimately violence is indiscriminate; Peshawar, Khyber, Swat, Parachinar, Waziristan, Bajaur and much more, is Pashtoon land and when we turn our violence upon each other, I feel hurt and confusion. At times it feels that we are going down like flies. And I continue to ask why.

Ahmed Rashid, writing for the BBC describes the past ten years perfectly when he says that Pakistan is in Meltdown.  He writes that ten years after becoming embroiled in the US "War on Terror", Pakistan, mired in scandal, may have to face some kind of unilateral US action. This has long been conjecture, but let's face it, when the US enters Pakistani airspace with its drones, this results in civilians being killed. The Raymond Davis shoot-out saw Pakistan bowing to US pressure - thus effectively creating an immunity for American intelligence to kill on Pakistani soil, seemingly without impunity and of course, most infamously Osama bin Laden was hunted down and killed in Abbotabad, whilst Pakistan was asleep. All of these represent US action against Pakistan, whether anyone cares to admit it or not.

But of Pakistan itself - why is it headed towards meltdown? I have a theory. Rather simplistically much of Pakistan's past, present and future woes stem from its schizophrenic relationship with India and how this is dealt with. And yes, there is mass poverty, economic ruin, natural disasters, ethnic unrest and wide-scale political corruption at home. Everything in Pakistan is negatively over politicised - the intelligence services, militant groups, the judiciary, redrawing of provincial boundaries, college campuses, religion, the media, municipality services, the ordinary man on the street and of course, the military. 

Notice there that even whilst discussing this, I didn't even get to politicians. They of course, knowingly sit there in Pakistan temporarily or in exile to escape criminal or corruption charges, watching as everything melts before them.

 

 Cartoon by Satish Acharya

As If Hell Fell On Me

The Taleban came here and settled here. Now they have a dispute with the government, and the government started taking actions against them. If we stand with the government the Taleban will hit us. If we stand with the Taleban the government will target us. If we don't stand with any of them, you can see how bad our situation is.

Four million people live under the grip of Taleban rule in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and the FATA regions of Pakistan, 1 million are displaced and ordinary people are caught right in the middle. The 130-page Amnesty report, As if Hell Fell on Me, was based on nearly 300 interviews with residents of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the surrounding area. It tells the narrative of the suffering of the people.The government tells a story of success in its combat with the militants. Five million people, and probably a good few more, tell a different story.

Consider this comment by Amnesty International. It sums it up for me:

Most discussions of the conflict ignore the fact that northwest Pakistan is heavily populated and that the majority of people who live in FATA and other areas of northwest Pakistan do not support or take part in violence and are going about the business of trying to farm, raise livestock, weave fabrics, transport goods, raise families, and build, repair, or teach. The well-being of these civilians is rarely mentioned in media reports or policy pronouncements by Taleban or US, Pakistani, or Afghan officials and there are few signs that leaders on either side of the conflict factor civilians into their policies or strategic analyses.

The photograph of the old lady from Waziristan reminds me of a great-aunt of mine who was displaced in the Swat exodus last year. That single tear just breaks the heart.

The Flowers of Bajaur (2)

Larsha Pekhawar ta kameez tor mala rawra
Taza taza guloona dre saloor mala rawra - da Bajaur guloona

Part 2 of Samar Minallah's Da Bajaur Guloona.

Tor_Khan تور خان

The Flowers of Bajaur (1)

Larsha Pekhawar ta kameez tor mala rawra
Taza taza guloona dre saloor mala rawra - da Bajaur guloona

Travel to Peshawar to bring me back a black shirt
Fetch me some flowers - flowers from Bajaur

Samar Minallah, an independent young film-maker beckons to a call of distress from her ancestral Pukhtunkhwa. To identify the horrors of war, she made a documentary on the wretched state of refugees, rendering them 'homeless in their homeland'. Da Bajaur Guloona is a 25 minute film, that opens with kaleidoscopic landscapes of the fabled land and a heartbreaking commentary by the people of Bajaur.

Tor_Khan تور خان