Swat was once called the Switzerland of Asia, a beautiful tourist spot, a lush green valley with flowing rivers, hospitable people, the milk like river Swat, a place where people went for their honeymoon, to spend vacations; easily accessible and profoundly satisfying. Like so many other things, we have lost that haven of peace. I sometimes wonder how mad the world is getting....violence, lack of patience, intolerance, fanatism everywhere. But the irony with Swat is, that the people have done nothing to deserve this. Yes, they want Shariah but not the suffocating kind of Islam that the Taliban brandishes. They want easy and swift justice, equality, no compulsion and a choice to live their life as they want to, as they lived under the wali of Swat. There is nothing wrong with that demand. In fact, it would be nice if we all were under such a lenient Shariah rule, where justice would be for all and where there is no compulsion. Not that there is any in the big cities, but the whole of pakistan should be under the same homogenous rule....This is the problem;the tribal areas are directly under federal rule and semi-autonomous;the northern areas are linked to the Kashmir problem and thus again under federal rule;an imbalance between the provincial powers and in between all of them, Islamabad lies as another part of Pakistan.
But to come back to the problem of Swat....I find it extremely impossible to believe that the
army cannot eliminate these Taliban with all their resources, intelligence, jet planes, etc....Granted that our army is not trained for guerilla war, but every guerilla war requires some support for the insurgents among the local people. In Swat, the local people are fed up of the Taliban and want them out. So what is stopping the army? We all hear reports that there are foreign fighters there....many BBC reporters say that when they visited Swat, there were Uzbeks running about....but for God's sake, in all this fighting, where do the people of Swat go? What a waste......Really, it's very sad. So many of the schools blown up, those hangings and beheadings, such strict edicts.... reading them, one feels the medieval age of Europe has come back (because, Muslims were far more liberal in that period).I feel for the people.....We all do. This is not Islam in any way. Islam is a very liberal religion. I know some western people will be amazed at my choice of the word 'liberal', but it's true. Islam is a religion that is easy on its followers, provided they dont start making it difficult. Like God says in The Holy Quran, "There is no compulsion in religion".So why do these extremists try to compel people? They are doing a great disservice to Islam.
I can only hope that now that Swat is once again in the limelight and a major operation begun, there would also be soem dialogue and whatever the outcome, I hope and pray that the sufferings of the people may come to an end!May Allah return that heaven to us once again
The army should crash such elements and the government must act to restore law and order.The politican are doing nothing and army is in sort of a bother, fighting in the country.
ReplyDeleteDear Foroha,
ReplyDeleteplease answer the following question raised by Benjamin in his blog.Thanks.
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?Rsrcid=40209
@ johann
ReplyDeleteYes, I read that extremely infuriating article even when I wanted to read it no more. The article in question, is a typical example of American arrogance and explains why the USA today,is the most hated country of the world (Israel is close to it).
As the author contradicts the reasons Muslims give of hating the US (Israel, Kashmir, US interference), he must be blind to the ground realities. The Muslims not only hate such policies which have disrupted their affairs in so many Muslim-dominated countries, they are also annoyed by the US double-standards and its defense of these infuriating policies.Oh Come on! If it were the Muslim countries bombing the Gaza strip full of Jews and putting it under a blockade, there would have been all sorts of flames, and allegations of terrorism, intolerance, etc. BUT since it is Israel doing all this,all is fair.These are the things that makes our blood boil.
This kind of attitude under the Neo-cons has landed USA, under Bush, that has landed the USA in such hot waters.THe fact remains;you can never convince someone by force only and many of these attacks are repurcussions of the violence perpetrated by the WEst. Look at Israel; I don't blame Hamas and dont consider them terrorists;THey are freedom fighters. I do believe suicide bombing is bad and not allowed in Islam, but I absolutely support their fight for their independence.
And it is wrong to say that militant Islam is not a tiny minority in the world. It is, but this kind of attitude is instantly going to produce many hardliners.First of all, Islam is not militant. Some followers may turn to extremism, but so is the case with all the world religions. Look at the Christian fanatism in the Crusades when they wanted to liberate the Tomb of Christ from the infidels. BIg irony, now a CHristian is blaming the Muslims for wanting to wipe out the infidels.The Jews also did the same for wanting a land of Zion and in this process, wiping out the inhabitant Muslims from their lands.
Yes, it is no use when you pretend that by giving the Quran to Guantanamo Bay inmates, you can eliminate all your brutalities conducted in that infamous prison. We are not likely to forget that it was in the same place that the Quran was flushed and daily abused by American soldiers. We are definitely not likely to forget that it is the American bought F-16s and tanks and ammunition that killed the Gazan population.
Blaming is not going to lead Mr.Shapiro anywhere.
it comes from heart and goes through heart,its not pain,its suffering of human beings in the hands of human beings,its not divine :(
ReplyDelete"I find it extremely impossible to believe that the army cannot eliminate these Taliban with all their resources, intelligence, jet planes, etc."
ReplyDeleteBut if the Army fights too hard, the militants may resort to employing civilians as human shields, so scores of women and children will be dead or hospitalized. Wouldn't that make the Pakistani Army who hurt them evil and wrong?