Taal Matol
Holiday!
By Shoaib Hashmi
I have spent the last week in the last place I expected to be -- I have been in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. No, no I have nothing against the Malaysians; they are a cool and relaxed people, and were very nice to be with and I enjoyed myself, but ever since I can remember one's idea of a foreign trip has been towards the West, and now I know why. It started the moment we landed and I read the first sign saying 'Runtuntan Bagassi', which meant 'Collect Baggage', and it hit me that the language and the place names were totally unfamiliar and alien.

violence
Jehad renewed
Despite a drop in the number of followers and the loss of important lieutenants, Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda are firmly committed to their mission
By Rahimullah Yusufzai
Despite the death of two of his Kenyan lieutenants, Usama al-Kini and Sheikh Ahmad Salim Swedan, in a US missile strike in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region on Jan 1, 2009, Osama bin Laden was defiant as ever when he issued his first audiotape since May 2008. In his tape posted on Jan 14 on Islamic militant websites used by al-Qaeda to publicize its messages, he urged Muslims worldwide to wage jehad against Israel and the US and condemned Arab governments as allies of the Jewish state.

RIPPLE EFFECT
Why are we silent on Swat?
By Omar R. Quraishi
If you ask this question from those who live in the once pristine valley, they will laugh (or perhaps cry) at you for being so ignorant about the goings-on in your own country. Indeed, in recent weeks the letters section of this newspaper has carried several pieces, many of them from residents of Swat or those who grew up there. The tone is bitter and frustrated and that is completely understandable given what is going in the district.

Last week, Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting added more fuel to the already burning India-Pakistan relations. In a meeting held in Islamabad on Jan 12, the Committee asked the government to restrict the cable operators from transmitting Indian television channels and films in Pakistan.

"If they (Indians) are willing to air our channels to their public then we should not have any objections to show their channels to our masses," proposed Committee member Senator Tariq Azeem of PML-Q in a tit for tat response to India.

Explaining the rationale behind the proposal, Senator Azeem said that after the Mumbai carnage Pakistani artistes and writers are the main victims. He added that books written by Pakistanis are being confiscated in India. On the contrary, he pointed out, in Pakistan we continue to show Indian programmes on television and films in local cinemas.

Corroborating with Azeem, Nilofar Bakhtiar, who also attended the meeting, told TNS that the proposal should not be seen as an immediate reaction to the attacks. "It is in fact a response to the irresponsible stance taken by the Indian government and the severe negative propaganda by the Indian media via numerous television channels being currently aired in Pakistan."

At the meeting held at the parliamentary house, Senator Azeem was joined by Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, Haji Adeel Ahmed, Nilofar Bakhtiar, Tahir Latif, Javed Leghari, Muhammad Ali Durrani, Naseer Mengal, Information Secretary Ashfaq Gondal and PTV Director Arshad Khan. Senator Liaquat Ali Bangulzai chaired the meeting.

The Committee members endorsed the proposal unanimously; however, Haji Adeel Ahmed of ANP slightly differed. He supported airing Indian news channels but not those that offer entertainment. "So that the people in the country could understand how their (Indian) media was projecting Pakistan to their masses," he said reportedly.

Similar sentiment was expressed by a section of the society. For instance, Umar Khan, an executive at a multinational company in Karachi believes there should be freedom of information but the media must be mature enough to only present facts. "The Indian media has been spreading disinformation and is doing it in an organised manner; such that people, especially the younger generation, have actually started believing them. All this is causing more harm to the peace efforts than any good. I think the Indian channels should be banned," he said.

On the other side, artistes, media experts and political activists denounce the Senate Standing Committee's proposal; they view it as an effort to muzzle the media and restrict peoples' access to free information --and to de-rail the little progress made on the people to people level through cultural exchanges and confidence building measures.

I A Rehman, Director Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said the proposal is "foolish," adding, "There is no logic. It attacks citizens' right to receive information and ideas from across the world -- a harking back to era of censorship. If India does wrong, why follow it?"

He views it as a hasty scheme that "shows weakness of the system. The proposal will affect peoples' capacity to observe and listen to the world -- and faith in government will decline."

South Asia Partnership-Pakistan is as vociferous in its criticism to the proposed banning of Indian media in Pakistan. In a press report, it argues that the move is "not only unjust but also against the various sections of the international human rights instruments which guarantee the right of freedom of expression."

Tit for tat response

Bakhtiar accepts that the proposal can be perceived as a tit for tat response, "It is important to consider the Indian reactions," she states. But personally she does not think that the ban will make any difference in our society because the sentiments of Pakistani citizens cannot be affected by Indian propaganda, "Pakistanis cannot be brainwashed by watching Indian channels."

Agha Nasir, who has been in the field of broadcasting for decades and has condemned ban on exchange of media person or media products with the world including India, agrees such a decision will carry insignificant repercussions. "We've lived without cultural exchange with India for more than half a century. We will be able to do so in future too. But it'll be very unfortunate. We'll reverse the progress made in the peace process in recent years."

Further, Nasir asserted that barring the cable operators from transmitting Indian channels on TV or screening Indian films in cinemas is hardly a tit for tat. "India rejects Pakistani media products not for political reasons but for the substandard quality of programmes that we produce -- with the exception of Khuda Ki Liye or Ramchand Pakistani or pop singer Atif of late. Otherwise Indian import policy does not have a list of banned items. It's quite obviously a one-way traffic. We wholeheartedly entertain everything that comes our way mostly through illegal channels from across the border but hardly anything crosses over from our side."

Aiding fundamentalism

Director-actor Madeeha Gauhar said by restricting Indian media in Pakistan we will aid and abet the fundamentalist agenda. "This is exactly what they want: all bars on interaction across the border. This is true for Islamist as well as Hindu fundamentalists. The modus operandi of both is the same."

Gauhar and her theatre team left for New Delhi on Jan 14 to stage Hotel Moenjodaro at the international festival organised by the National School of Drama (NSD) -- brushing aside all rumours of tour cancellation. On Jan 11, Madeeha Gauhar received a call from NSD director Anuradha Kapoor, asking her to cancel the group's trip to New Delhi as the festival had received threats against putting up Pakistani plays.

However, Gauhar appealed to Kapoor to not cancel the programme, stressing, "We have never given in to the fundamentalists and never will. Ajoka has struggled for the last 20 years to shun such barriers and now when we have made some inroads we will not submit."

While talking to TNS on phone, Gauhar said that the theatre group visited Kerala last month to perform Bullah and received roaring applause. She admitted that commercial programmes scheduled to be held in Mumbai soon after the November carnage may have been disrupted due to threats from fundamentalists but non-commercial activities away from Mumbai are continuing and are well received by the neighbours.

Admittedly, India has not maintained a good apolitical record since the Mumbai attack. They have blatantly exploited the emotions and sensibilities of people on both sides of the border. To react to a bad act in a likewise manner would be a dangerous step backwards. So, why do it if India does it.

The PPP-led government's decision to honour a commitment, made in the charter of democracy in 2006 for replacing 'politically motivated NAB with an independent Accountability Commission' has neither excited politicians nor attracted any criticism (or controversy) from the opposition parties.

In the second week of January, Federal Law Minister Farooq A Naek informed the media of the official decision to set up an Independent Accountability Commission with a limited mandate for the holders of public office that is the ruling politicians.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, after getting a go-ahead from President Asif Ali Zardari, has already formed a five-member cabinet committee to finalise the draft for the substitution of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance with the Holders of Public Office Accountability (HPOA) 2009.

The Committee is headed by the prime minister and comprises Federal Law Minister Farooq A Naek, Inter-Provincial Coordination Minister Raza Rabbani, Labour Minister Syed Khurshid Shah and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Babar Awan.

When contacted by TNS, PML-N central leader Khawaja Asif, who was also part of the team that had negotiated different terms of the Charter of Democracy with the PPP, expressed his ignorance over such a proposed law by the PPP- led government.

Opposition Senator, Tariq Azeem, who was minister of state for information in the last (PML-Q) government, was also not aware of the move. However, talking to TNS, he would welcome such a move. He also said that accountability should be across-the-board.

As has been the tradition with the past elected and non-elected regimes that they only went after the previous regimes' public office holders, Tariq was not much concerned about his government's witch hunting. Tariq insisted that, "the past experience tells us that the accountability mechanisms with doubtful credentials and credibility have in fact helped the corrupted to get away with their corrupt practices.

It is noteworthy that the charter of democracy although has stipulated a whole parliamentary process for the formation of an independent commission but does not outline its mandate, The charter says, "To replace politically motivated NAB with an independent Accountability Commission, whose Chairman shall be nominated by the Prime Minister in consultation with the Leader of Opposition and confirmed by a Joint Parliamentary Committee with 50 percent members from treasury benches and remaining 50 percent from opposition parties in same manner as appointment of judges through transparent public hearing. The confirmed nominee shall meet the standard of political impartiality, judicial propriety, moderate views expressed through his judgments and would have not dealt with matters relating to a former or present member of the Federal cabinet or their families."

According to the proposed law, the chairman of the commission will be appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the opposition leader in the National Assembly. After this all pending litigations before the NAB courts would be referred to the four chief justices of the high courts.

The new law will empower the chief justice to appoint a special bench or a tribunal to try the holders of the public office accused of corruption. Cases of all government officials would be shifted to the relevant anti-corruption courts.

The HPOA would only be applicable to parliamentarians (previous and present) and not to the men in service of Pakistan (bureaucrats) and private persons.

While the interpretation of the holders of public offices, under the new law, will include the president, prime minister, governors of provinces, chairman Senate, speaker and deputy speaker National Assembly, provincial assemblies, chief ministers of provinces, federal and provincial ministers, ministers of state, members of parliament, members of provincial assemblies, attorney general and other law officers including provincial advocate generals, advisers and special assistants to the prime minister and chief ministers, federal and provincial parliamentary secretaries, auditor general, political secretaries and consultants to the prime minister and chief ministers. It will also apply to those who hold or have held a post or office with the rank or status of a federal minister or minister of state.

As for the term of the office of the chairman, it will be of four years and a sitting or retired judge is qualified to be the chairman.

Farooq A Naek, however, did not rule out circumventing the parliamentary process and instead, establishing the commission through a presidential ordinance.

In comparison, the NAB was originally designed to have a serving or retired Lt. General as its chairman. Later, an amendment provision was made to make way for the appointment of a civilian bureaucrat to head it. But by this time damage to the credibility of the NAB was already done as the idea of an army officer doing the accountability of others but not that of army did not go well with the popular public perception.

Similarly, during Nawaz Sharif's second stint as prime minister in 1997 a two tier ehtisaab system was evolved which included the then ruling party's Senator Saifur Rehman heading the accountability bureau to investigate the cases of corruption and forward them to the then Ehtisaab commission, headed by a retired judge, to file them in the courts. But the set up soon lost its credibility when it started hounding the opposition politicians.

It seems the new proposed commission will work on the same pattern and will only file reference in the regular courts after investigation. In the presence of National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), however, which provided immunity to former politicians, it does not seem that the new commission would open the Pandora box of the alleged past corrupt practices. Besides, in the presence of other anti corruption laws on the statute book, it would be very difficult to give a clear cut mandate to the proposed commission.

Naek seems convincing in saying that trying politicians for any bank loan default will not be in the ambit of the new commission, because after the mushroom growth and privatization of major state owned bank, it is the responsibility of the banks to manage health of their own accounts. Similarly, it is the mandate of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate the charges of corruption against bureaucrats and private citizens.

In the past, the nature of most charges against politicians was covered by the FIA. But to create a political justification for his rule, Musharraf created NAB and gave it powers that other wise belonged to FIA.

Therefore, at a time when the media growth has motivated the journalists to act as a watchdog and the lawyers' movement for an independent judiciary is still in its full swing, it is needed that instead of having any other adventure, the already existing institutions like the FIA should be strengthened and armed with better trained staff and politically empowered to go after any big wig without any fear.

I have spent the last week in the last place I expected to be -- I have been in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. No, no I have nothing against the Malaysians; they are a cool and relaxed people, and were very nice to be with and I enjoyed myself, but ever since I can remember one's idea of a foreign trip has been towards the West, and now I know why. It started the moment we landed and I read the first sign saying 'Runtuntan Bagassi', which meant 'Collect Baggage', and it hit me that the language and the place names were totally unfamiliar and alien.

It was like way back in my youth in the sixties, it was well known that if you went to Paris, the French would refuse to speak English, even if they could, and you felt very isolated. That has always been my impression of the Far East. One knows barely anything about it, of its past or history, except the bits and pieces one has picked up along the way.

Like one knows of Thailand from Anna and the King of Siam, and one knows that the Sultan of Johore, travelling through the area of Singapore thought he espied a tiger somewhere in the wilderness and named the place 'Singapore' because 'Singh' or 'Singha' is the word for tiger. Now we know there isn't a tiger within miles of the place and never has been, but the name has stuck.

0ne noticed other oddities also. For instance, we went round the town quite a bit and the whole town seemed to have been built recently. In all the town there wasn't any place one could point to as being 'old'. It was all high-rise buildings, highways, parks, and all of it spanking new. The place was colonized by the British because of its rubber plantations but there wasn't a place which one could see colonial.

We did manage to get to the old Central Market, which was a bit of a treat because here one could get traditional local crafts. It seems the main craft was pewter, and there were dozens of shops purveying pewter stuff. Moreover, there were dozens more selling baskets and purses and stuff made of reeds, bamboo, and wicker.

For the rest, their pride and joy is the Petronas Tower, familiar from the movie starring Sean Connery and that Welsh actress whose name I forget, and from countless pictures, which we walked around but did not go in as we'd already done our shopping at the Central Market. Besides within walking distance was the other landmark, the Aquarium. The aquarium too is brand new!

Despite the death of two of his Kenyan lieutenants, Usama al-Kini and Sheikh Ahmad Salim Swedan, in a US missile strike in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region on Jan 1, 2009, Osama bin Laden was defiant as ever when he issued his first audiotape since May 2008. In his tape posted on Jan 14 on Islamic militant websites used by al-Qaeda to publicize its messages, he urged Muslims worldwide to wage jehad against Israel and the US and condemned Arab governments as allies of the Jewish state.

The al-Qaeda and its founder have been steadily losing members since the Oct 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan but bin Laden and his deputy Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, have never allowed the losses to compromise their mission. In addition, the mission originally defined by the al-Qaeda founder, was to fight jehad against the US and Israel, or in his own words "the Crusaders and the Jews." The US-backed Israeli aggression against the occupied Palestinian territory of Gaza in which over 1,000 defenceless Gazans including 300 children have been killed to date, provided one more opportunity to bin Laden to band Israel and the US together and renew his call for jehad to enraged Muslim youth.

It remains to be seen if bin Laden's newest appeal would find many receptive ears among the Palestinians or the Arab communities elsewhere in the Middle East. His past calls for jehad did not inspire a large number of Muslim and Arab recruits to head for the battlefields in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan. However, the few who were inspired by him, proved to be a committed lot, willing to sacrifice everything for their cause. They came from different countries and backgrounds and flocked to al-Qaeda's banner despite having their own political agendas rooted to their native lands. The fact that al-Kini, meaning someone from Kenya, and Swedan were Kenyans and still part of al-Qaeda showed the translational character of the bin-Laden-led organization.

The two Kenyans were wanted by the US for their alleged role in terrorist attacks directed against American interests. Swedan's name was there in FBI's original list of 14 most wanted individuals, including bin Laden, al-Zawahiri and Taliban leader Mulla Mohammad Omar, and a reward of $ 5 million for his capture. He was charged with having a role in the bombing of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on Aug 7, 1998. The FBI list did not have al-Kini's name at the time but he seems to have attracted the attention of the US subsequently. In fact, the unnamed US security official who leaked the information about the death of the two al-Qaeda men to sections of the American media specifically mentioned that Swedan was a deputy to al-Kini. This meant that the US intelligence considered al-Kini more important than Swedan in the al-Qaeda hierarchy.

The same US official described al-Kini as the al-Qaeda commander for Pakistan. This was rather strange because al-Qaeda has not admitted the death of its head of Pakistan operations, Mustafa Abu Yazid, despite claims by civil and military officials that he was killed in the ongoing action in Bajaur Agency. Both al-Qaeda and Taliban sources have been insisting that he is alive. If he is indeed alive, then al-Kini cannot be the al-Qaeda commander for Pakistan. The US media quoting the American security official had described al-Kini as the mastermind of the bomb explosion and the assassination bid on Benazir Bhutto in Karachi during her homecoming procession in Oct 2007. He was also named as the main plotter of the deadly suicide bombing at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad last Sept. This was the first time that al-Kini's name was mentioned as the mastermind of these attacks. In fact, al-Kini was not a very familiar name in al-Qaeda ranks as far as the tribal militants in Waziristan were concerned. The militants also disputed the US claim that al-Kini was someone very important in the al-Qaeda hierarchy.

The two Kenyans, along with a couple of their Pakistani associates, were killed in missiles' strike from the CIA-operated US drones, which are perennially flying in the skies of South Waziristan and North Waziristan in search of targets despite protests by the Pakistan government functionaries. Tribal militants described the two Pakistanis as Punjabi Taliban, which meant they were jehadis from Punjab. The four men were about to leave Kirikot in a vehicle after having fired at the six pilot less US planes flying overhead when the drones unleashed their lethal missiles and obliterated all of them. The attack took place in Kirikot village located near Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan.

The government officials in Wana, Peshawar and Islamabad didn't verify reports about the death of the two al-Qaeda operatives in the Jan 1 missile strike but local Taliban in South Waziristan confirmed some days later that both their 'foreign guests' were dead. They conceded the deaths when sections of the US media reported it based on leaks provided by American security officials. Pakistani Taliban commanders in South Waziristan argued that they wanted to keep the news of the deaths secret to gain time to identify and seize the spies who may have passed on the information to the Americans to target the two Kenyans. Such 'spies' are often beheaded after every such incident and a note is left with their bodies announcing that they met this fate for spying for the US.

According to the militants, small chips provided to these spies are left at places where al-Qaeda and Taliban may be hiding to enable the drones to spot the targets and fire the deadly Hellfire missiles. In recent months, the drone attacks have been mostly on target even though a number of civilians too are killed in the missile strikes. In certain cases, the wrong targets are hit due to the faulty intelligence or because of other factors like tribesmen providing wrong information to settle scores with their rivals.

Apart from the two Kenyans, other high-profile al-Qaeda operatives killed in US missile attacks in the two Waziristans in recent years include Abu Laith al-Libbi and Hamza Rabia. The former was reportedly the most important al-Qaeda figure to have been killed in drone attacks. Some Pakistani Taliban commanders too have lost their lives in such attacks. However, both al-Qaeda and the Taliban are somehow able to quickly replace their fallen commanders and pretend that they have not suffered any major loss. Bin Laden and his deputy, al-Zawahiri, continue issuing video and audio tapes threatening further attacks against the US, Israel and their allies to remind all concerned that they were ready to fight until the end. For al-Qaeda and its likeminded groups, the death of every fighter is addition of one more martyr to their cause and renewal of their faith in the jehad.

"I have decided to leave Karachi, where I had come some 20 years ago to earn my livelihood. This cruel city has taken away 21 members of my family. Now I am left with my six-year-old daughter Hina to mourn for ever," says Lal Bux Mirbahar, 44, in a muffled voice at a school building being used as a makeshift hospital and relief camp.

Lal Bux is among the affectees of the most horrible fire in Karachi's history which claimed the lives of 42 people living in shanties in Sector-L of North Karachi on the dreadful night of Jan 8, incidentally also the night of Youm-e-Ashura .

The massive fire reduced more than two dozen shanties to ashes and burnt alive 42 people, including 20 children, within minutes in North Karachi area.

At the time when fire broke out, majority of the people especially women and children were fast asleep. Rescuers found that most of the minors were lying in the laps of their mothers.

For many, the fire smacked of 'foul play'. Was it 'accidental' as the police and city government authorities would have the people believe? Or was it a conspiracy to have these people vacated from a valuable plot on the behest of influential land mafia of Karachi.

There were about 20 families in all, comprising 150 odd people, who hailed from district Rahim Yar Khan of Punjab and district Shikarpur of Sindh. They had been residing in a 360-square yard open plot no. L/S-2, 3, 4. The males were labourers, while the females worked as maidservants in nearby bungalows and houses.

City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal was quoted in the media as saying that a 'bonfire,' lit by the residents to ward off the cold, was the cause of the fire. Other official statements termed the incident as the result of a gas cylinder's explosion.

Mukhtiar, whose eight family members were burnt alive and taxicab destroyed, rejects the authorities claim and says that there was neither a gas cylinder explosion nor had anybody lit a bonfire. "In fact, the people living in nearby bungalows had sent Langar on Ashura. We had enough Langar so there was no need to cook meals at home," he argued.

The people of the area observe that the fire was of great intensity and some chemical might have caused it. "It got worse, as water was sprayed to douse it. This raised doubts that it was pre-planned and not accident," said a resident.

A television reporter who happened to be there, says, "Within hardly ten minutes after the incident, I reached the spot. I saw many shanties were up in flames at an open plot, which had a narrow entrance from only one side." The reporter says that he rushed to the nearby government-run hospital, where he witnessed patients with burns injuries, helplessly lying on beds or in corridors, crying calling their loves ones who were dead. "I was giving a beeper to my channel about the absence of doctors and paramedics at the facility when a small group of unidentified men, armed with weapons, forcibly took me to a room. The men pointed their guns at me and in a taunting way asked me to report that everything at the hospital was fine and the elected representatives were present on the scene to help the victims," said the reporter. "After keeping me hostage for about two hours the armed men freed me and threatened of dire consequences if I attempted to disclose what they had done."

Most shockingly, the survivors of North Karachi fire were kept inside a school instead of admitting them to a hospital. The seven injured that the scribes met were in critical condition. No doctor was present at the time of visit and the victims were left at the mercy of the city government.

No journalist was allowed to meet the survivors. Every time media personnel visited the school, they were stopped by mysterious looking people.

According to an estimate, up to 80 percent of fire incidents that have taken place in Karachi were 'deliberately staged' to vacate homeless people living in shanties, whether it is government property or private, by the influential mafia of land grabbers.

A similar incident happened in Abdullah Shah Ghazi goth, where around 75 houses were allegedly bulldozed by land mafia with the assistance of the police. A resident, Ghulam Mustafa Solangi, says that the mafia set their homes ablaze in order to obtain court declaration in respect of government lands, where he had lived for the past 20 years, on the basis of fake claims.

Although demands for a probe into the Jan 8 fire have been initiated, a sincere effort on the part of the authorities to expose the perpetrators of 'foul play' and initiate an even-handed action against them is needed.

Former City Nazim of Karachi, Advocate Naimatullah Khan, says that the brutal act of setting the plot on fire was meant to vacate the poor people from the land. "Many such incidents have taken place in city. But, unfortunately, they have not been properly investigated by the government." He said many things were unclear and an impartial inquiry and a stern action against those responsible was required.

Head of the investigation committee, DIG Sardar Abdul Majeed Dasti, has submitted in his initial report that the unfortunate fire incidence was accidental and not planned or intentional. He said in his report that the residents of the shanties had burnt coal to warm themselves in the cold which later caught fire. Dasti added that further investigations are under way.

Town Nazim of the area, Akhter Hussain said that a few people with vested interest are trying to project the accident as a 'preplanned act.' Corroborating the police version, Hussain said that the mishap was solely accidental and that they were trying their best to help the victims. Rubbishing all the rumors about the actual cause of the fire, Hussain said that every 'Tom Dick and Harry' was asking as to how the incident occurred, but no one was interested how the affectees were being cared for. Responding to the question of why the victims were placed in a school and not in a hospital, Hussain said that the victims are not severely burnt nor do they want to be hospitalized. They want to stay in the school with their families, he said. Denying the reports about uneasy access of these victims by the media personnel, Hussain said that this was untrue and the affectees were being looked after.

If you ask this question from those who live in the once pristine valley, they will laugh (or perhaps cry) at you for being so ignorant about the goings-on in your own country. Indeed, in recent weeks the letters section of this newspaper has carried several pieces, many of them from residents of Swat or those who grew up there. The tone is bitter and frustrated and that is completely understandable given what is going in the district.

The residents say that the rest of the country seems to have forgotten about this tragedy in their very own land and seem preoccupied with other things. They say that they have been caught between the veritable devil and the deep blue sea -- as in the Taliban extremists and government security forces. They say that they are not able to fight the Taliban and that anybody who even remotely tries to resist is branded an agent of the government or of America and marked for death. In fact, as the letters and other correspondence suggest the number of people killed in this manner is at least between five and ten every day just for some parts of the valley.

In this context, Zubair Torwali, a social activist and resident of the valley has already written in the editorial pages of this newspaper that the main thoroughfare of the valley's main town of Mingora, called 'Grain Chowk' has been rechristened 'Khooni Chowk' -- because every day at least a couple of dead bodies, of the alleged collaborators are hung from it. He also wrote that many people were terrified of the FM radio broadcasts of the Taliban because these contained the names of those deemed as 'agents' of the government and hence marked for the ultimate punishment. Also, in case readers missed Hamid Mir's gripping article which appeared in this newspaper's editorial pages on Jan 13, the story of the female teacher who only wanted to provide for her children -- her husband had died some years back -- is heart-rending. Fearing that she would lose her job because of the ban on female education, she continued working and even approached the local leader of a madrassah to speak to the militants on her behalf, through some of his former students. The mufti tried all he could but it turned out to be in vain because the woman, Mir wrote, was labelled a prostitute by the militants and killed! Where was the government in all of this and where is it now, caring for and looking after her children now that this brave woman is dead? If anyone needs to be called a martyr or a shaheed it is this woman -- and I keep calling her 'woman' because I don't even know her name. Those who live in the valley have also raised this other matter -- and quite rightly so -- that how come Pakistanis have been protesting against the mayhem and murder in Gaza but do not seem to be doing much when the same thing happens in their own country. As Mr Torwali said,

The situation is in fact worse in Swat because in Gaza the Palestinians at least know who the aggressors are and that they are not from among them -- whereas in Swat the people are caught between the Taliban and the government security forces and do not know who is their friend or their enemy. Besides, the level of brutalization and the violence wreaked on the population, especially by the militants is more, or at least the same, as that done by the Israelis on the Palestinians.

The residents say that the situation is so bad now that the writ of the government seems completely absent. One needs to ask the government why this is the case and whether any of the forces deployed in Swat have been withdrawn and/or redeployed to our eastern border. Also, just till a couple of months ago, officials were giving an encouraging assessment of the fight against the militants in Swat saying that the army was pushing the militants and enabling the government to re-establish its writ over the district. So one has to ask that what happened from that time and now, or where these official assessments of the situation given at that time rosier than the reality? And if that is the case, then why was the assessment so far off the mark?

Those who don't live in Swat need to then ask themselves that why do they not feel the same empathy and/or sympathy for the people of Swat that they feel for the people of Gaza. Why are they not doing anything to pressure the government to act and do something to improve the lives of the people of valley? How would we all like it if we were perennially living in curfew, if there was the military on the one side and fanatical extremists, not hesitant to cut our ears, hands or even behead us, just because we disagreed with what they were doing and wanted to stand up and live our life according to our own code and values? How many women reading this would ever want to live in a place where they could venture out of their homes on their own, go to work or attend school or college only under threat of death?

The woman mentioned by Hamid Mir surely cannot be alone in her predicament. There must be dozens, probably hundreds of such women, whose lives -- and those of their children as well -- have already been placed in jeopardy by the extremists? Would we allow this to happen if it were our children?