The Federal and Provincial Governments have tried to put a brave face on this stinging reversal. Everybody from President Asif Ali Zardari downwards has protested that far from being a defeat, the imposition of the Nizam-i-Adl, or shari’ah, is somehow a great blessing for the people of Swat. And it is true that for now, the possibility of peace is what the valley needs after months of bloody conflict that has seen hundreds of civilians killed.
Although the 10-day truce generously announced by the local Taliban led in Swat by Maulana Fazlullah may provide some relief to a hard-pressed Government, the insurgency is not going to disappear any time soon. The reality is that Pakistan is at the beginning of a very slippery slope. To imagine that the thugs who have been rampaging at will in Swat will meekly lay down their arms when the Pakistani state has rolled over is to delude ourselves.
A couple of years ago, when writing about Swat, I had used one of Lenin’s revolutionary maxims: “Probe with a bayonet: If you meet steel, stop. If you meet mush, then push.” Time and again, extremists, terrorists and just plain criminals have been meeting mush, and they have been pushing. The result of this aggressive probing is that the state’s writ now barely extends beyond the boundaries of Mingora.
Categories : 
10:51 PM
Moderate Islamist here
0 comments:
Post a Comment