Next elections 'Pakistan's Battle of Badr:' Imran Khan

Says PTI is the good in this battle, hopes PTI to sweep elections

Delawar Jan

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday described the upcoming general elections as ‘Pakistan’s Battle of Badr’ that would be fought between his party and all other ‘traditional’ and ‘corrupt’ politicians.

He said PTI would win this battle with the strength of the youth even if all traditional politicians and their parties made an alliance. “The next elections are Pakistan’s Battle of Badr. On one side, there will be people who have wealth and power and on the other side there will be PTI which will only be equipped with an unbreakable passion to make a new Pakistan,” he said as an audience of young people roared in enthusiasm.

Imran Khan was addressing a gathering of Insaf Students Federation (ISF), which it had named as “tsunami convention,” at Shah Tehmash Football Stadium.

“PTI is a revolution. It is a tsunami that will sweep away the system based on injustice and corruption,” he told the students, most of whom were dressed in white shalwar-kamees and a black coat uniform. The students wore caps made of party flag and flaunted the green-red PTI flags. “I challenge if all the traditional politicians and their parties join forces in the next elections, PTI will defeat them with the force of the youth,” he added.

Imran Khan said the PTI would challenge the tested and corrupt politicians with its ideology. He added that the people would not allow the current rulers to come into power again. “Now it’s time to make a new Pakistan,” he said.

He termed Mian Nawaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari as fake leaders. He said Nawaz Sharif was launched by General Ghulam Jilani and Zardari declared himself a leader in a doubtful will of Benazir Bhutto. “Several times, I challenged Nawaz Sharif for a debate on television but he is afraid to face me,” he said to the cheers of the audience. Both the leaders, he alleged, had looted a lot of money and shifted it to foreign accounts.

He said they were now imposing their children on the nation. “If you want to become a leader [in PML-N] you need to have Sharif as a suffix. In PPP, Bilawal was made Bhutto to introduce him as a leader,” he sneered. “Now, he is being taught Urdu language. My [young] son Sulaiman Khan whose mother is a British speaks better Urdu than him,” he taunted.   

He also criticised Asfandyar Wali Khan, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Altaf Hussain for shifting wealth to foreign countries. “I have heard that Asfandyar Wali had shifted wealth to Malaysia and Dubai. PTI will ask him how he transferred his assets to these countries,” he said. Asfandyar Wali’s Awami National Party leads the government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and is a coalition partner with PPP in the federal government.

He alleged that Fazlur Rehman had also bank balance and property in foreign countries. He said some of the leaders even did not have Pakistani passport. “In my Pakistan, all such things will not happen,” he said.

He asked Altaf Hussain to stop ruling the country from abroad and come to Pakistan. “For God sake, come to Pakistan I have forgiven you,” the cricker-turned-politician asked MQM chief who has been summoned by the Supreme Court in a contempt of court case on January 7.   

“Go door-to-door and tell people not vote the politicians whose money and property is in foreign countries. You have to awaken the masses,” he asked the youth, who waved party flags after being energised by music.  

He said that Zardari and Nawaz Sharif were breaking members of his party. “I request them to please take such opportunists. It will cleanse the party of unscrupulous politicians. I need only those who agree with the PTI ideology,” he added.

The PTI chief said his party would bring real democracy in the country after democratising itself. He encouraged the youth to contest party positions in the intra-party elections. “This is the only party that gives you opportunity to become leader on merit. PTI will award 25 per cent of the tickets to people under the age of 35 years,” he promised.

After coming into power, he said the PTI would solve the problem of terrorism. Imran Khan said he would withdraw from the US war on terror, hold talks with tribal people and ask militants to lay down arms as the country was no more ally with the US and there remains no justification for jihad. “I bow only before God and don’t accept to be a US slave,” he declared.  

He said his government would also put a full stop to drone attacks and replace the political agent system with local bodies.

He said the PTI government would create two million jobs every year and claimed that his party had done home work on it. He said that Tehreek-e-Insaf would promote games at union council level. “I can’t say of other games, but no country will be able to win cricket from us during the PTI government,” he boasted.

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With bittersweet feelings, refugee families return to Afghanistan after decades

Delawar Jan

PESHAWAR: Haji Khan is worried about his brother who ended his refugee status in Pakistan just to begin another journey as a homeless person in Afghanistan. His brother’s native Gardez being in grip of insurgency, the choice is to settle in Khost in tents.

“This is an unwise and irrational decision. He failed to tell us what led him to leave Pakistan,” Haji Khan said while fidgeting in anger beside trucks being loaded with returning families and their belongings at voluntary repatriation centre in Chamkani near here. “I am not going to leave Pakistan until I am thrown out,” he declared as he explained how happy he had been in this country for the last 33 years.

As his brother was busy in the process of his de-registration, Haji Khan who lives in Khaki area in Mansehra district said he was concerned for his brother’s life. “Gardez which is our native province is still a troubled region. He can’t go there. He has no house in Khost where he is going,” he said.

Pressure mounted on Afghan refugees to return by December 31, 2012 as an agreement among United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Pakistan and Afghanistan expires in 2012. According to UNHCR, 1.64 million Afghan refugees are still living in Pakistan while 3.8 million have been repatriated since 2002.

Sultan Muhammad’s last few hours of his 25 years’ stay in Pakistan were consumed in the process of de-registration. Though he was uncertain as to what he would do for living in Afghanistan, he said his economic condition in Pakistan was poor either. It was evident from his appearance. Wearing plastic slippers, he was in rags.

Came unmarried, Sultan Muhammad is now returning with a wife and nine children. He knows security, economic and weather conditions in Afghanistan were unfriendly. He knows he has no house in Afghanistan. He is clear that no-one is forcing him to leave Pakistan. “But we have to go back anyway, so it’s better now,” the stone-faced man said.

At a distance from him were sitting a couple of cousins on a bench. They were waiting for the completion of returning with a bittersweet feeling. “I was born and raised here. I have all my friends in Pakistan and am now going to leave them. I will miss them,” said 16-year-old Ayub Khan, who lived in Haripur. “I will even not recognise our neighbours in Afghanistan,” he added. The teenager, however, said he was happy to settle in “my own country.”  

His cousin Wali Khan said they wouldn't be able to go to his native Kunduz because of violence. His family will also settle in Jalalabad, Nangarhar’s city considered to be relatively peaceful.

“I will be missing cricket, but will try to resume it there,” said a 7th grader, Abidullah, who was going to Afghanistan for the first time.

Haji Aladad may be the only Afghan refugee who had spent 40 years in Pakistan. The man who now wears a small grey beard claimed his family came much before the refugees streamed into Pakistan. “Even I was born here,” he said.

Hundreds of thousands of Afghans spent decades in Pakistan in the hope that their country would finally return to peace. Even today, Afghans are unsure what will happen post-2014, the year of foreign forces’ withdrawal. Officials say hundreds of thousands of Afghans have come again to Pakistan, with no legal documents.  

Around one million illegal Afghan immigrants, according to Imran Zeb, joint secretary Safron ministry, have been living in Pakistan. The government, he said, was going to decide on December 7 about how to handle with the illegal immigrants.

The UNHCR which is facilitating voluntary repatriation at Chamkani, Timergara and Quetta says repatriation is picking up. Around 70,000 have returned home this year so far, the figure that suggests a surge.

“The repatriation has increased by 38 per cent if we compare it to the last year’s same period,” said Qaiser Afridi, UNHCR’s spokesperson in Pakistan. The number of families returning on weekly basis has witnessed a surge, he added.

Qaiser Afridi said returning refugees were offered $150 per head, limited transport and non-food items that include jerry cans, buckets, soap, mosquito nets, sleeping mats,
blanket, cooking set, plastic tarpaulins, quilt, sanitary cloths and
winter clothes. He added that this offer would be valid till December 31.

Raudi Gul revved up engine of his loaded truck just before leaving for a long journey. The driver said he was preparing to embark on a 7-8 hours journey from Peshawar to Nangarhar’s Jalalabad. “We charge Rs31,500 as fare,” he said, sitting behind the steering of the decorated truck. As the truck rumbled on the pebble-covered ground, the returning refugees waved to bid farewell to Pakistan.

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Afghanistan becoming unlikely destination for Pakistani job-seekers

Delawar Jan

KABUL: Afghanistan is emerging an unlikely new job market for Pakistanis as the number of the youth who are employed in the war-torn country crossed 100,000, officials here say.

“Around 100,000 Pakistanis are working in Afghanistan as chartered accountants, bankers, teachers, engineers, doctors and labourers,” said Muhammad Sadiq, Pakistan Ambassador to Afghanistan. He said the Pakistani workers were preferred for hiring because of their skills and experience. He revealed that $ 2.6 billion official export to the country, which makes it the biggest exporter to Afghanistan, had created 3.5 jobs in Pakistan.

The Pakistanis who work in Kabul suggested that the number of the workers in Afghanistan was well over 100,000. “The Ambassador might be talking of the workers they have official record of. I think a good number of unregistered Pakistanis have also been working in Afghanistan which is in addition to the 100,000 figure,” said Afzal Ahmad, manager at a food company.

The Pakistanis said they had taken up jobs in the war-struck country due to a saturated job market in Pakistan. Many of those interviewed said handsome salaries in Afghanistan had enticed them into seeking a job in the country that has been a theatre of an active war.

However, the number of Afghans who have been getting economic benefits from Pakistan dwarfs the total of Pakistani workers in Afghanistan. Muhammad Sadiq said 56,000 Afghans crossed into Pakistan every day for different needs including jobs. Around three million refugees who have jobs or businesses don’t count in it.

Daud Badshah, a resident of Shergarh, said he was underpaid in Pakistan. “A measly Rs4,000 salary was offered to me by NHA which was insufficient for me to cater to my family,” said Badshah, whose father is a watchman at a factory in Shergarh Town.  

The 26-year-old man, who could study only up to 9th class, works for 14 hours daily (7am-9pm) at a restaurant in Kabul, where he supervises a staff of 35 people but makes good money. “I am getting Rs16,380 (Af.9,000), plus the tip,” he said. “My family tried to stop me from taking up the job in Afghanistan but my poor economic conditions forced me to come here. Four years later, the pressure continues,” he added.  

Badshah’s job encouraged his brother Sardar Badshah, who also came to Afghanistan in search of a job. Now, he gets a salary of 500 US dollars as a cook.

“Afghan police harass us despite that we have visas. They demand bribe from us and misbehave with us. But people here are nice and respectful,” he said.

At the same restaurant, Muhammad Ayaz from Peshawar and Muhammad Ali from Skardu receive Rs23,660 (Af.13,000) and Rs30,940 (Af.17,000), respectively.

Waqar Ahmad came from Peshawar to Kabul in 2007 to find a job. Now, he holds an executive position in a company for the last almost six years and gets an undisclosed ‘handsome’ salary. “The road that winds through the troubled areas into Pakistan is very dangerous,” he said. “I have seen bombs exploding in front of me. I have seen Taliban blocking the road and checking. I have been caught up in crossfire. But thanks God, I have remained unscathed each time,” he said of the threats.

Some say the Afghans sometimes discriminate against them for being Pakistanis due to anti-Pakistan sentiments.

“Once, I was traveling in a taxi in Kabul. The driver demanded my nationality and I revealed. He pulled over the car and forced me to disembark,” said Jawad Anjum, a company employee. He said it was not an isolated incident. “But those Afghans who respect you outnumber the narrow-minded ones,” he added.

Uncertainty about security always plagues Pakistanis. They say any incident could ignite violence against them. “We stay indoors when anti-Pakistan sentiments go up,” Anjum said.

Construction sector is booming and Pakistani workers and materials are playing an important role in it. “Cement, iron bars, sanitary goods and most of the construction material are supplied by Pakistan. Also, Pakistani labourers are employed for being skilled and efficient,” said Muhamamd Rehan Khan, general manager at a construction company.

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Fazlullah's unmolested sanctuaries in Afghanistan to remain unopposed

Delawar Jan

KABUL: The Karzai administration and Nato here hardly give any sign of launching operation against Maulana Fazlullah as his group again came under focus after the recent attack on Malala Yousafzai.

In fact, Afghanistan is in a state of denial about the presence of Fazlullah, a Pakistani Taliban commander who was driven out of Swat Valley in a massive military operation in mid-2009. “We want to assure the Pakistani people that we will not allow any terrorist to use Afghan soil,” said Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry spokesman, Sediq Sediqi, indicating that no “terrorist” was attacking Pakistan from Afghanistan.

Maulana Fazlullah, Pakistani officials say, has been maintaining sanctuaries in Afghanistan’s Kunar province for the last few years. His group has organised deadly cross-border raids into Upper Dir, Chitral and Lower Dir districts and has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings and targetted attacks against opponents.

Malala Yousafzai, who spoke against his brutalities in Swat, is believed to have been targetted on his behalf and the alleged perpetrator, Attaullah, has reportedly moved to safe havens in Kunar.

When Sediqi was confronted that Fazlullah had been operating from Kunar for the last three years, he said: “Well, there are terrorists living on the Pakistani soil for many, many years.” His answer suggested the Afghanistan government had no intention to move against Fazlullah.

A similar answer came from Foreign Ministry spokesman, Janan Mosazai. “Any comparison between the vast system of sanctuaries, training camps, support system, financial support and the strategic advice that Taliban and other elements receive from Pakistan with a few anti-Pakistan Taliban that might be in Kunar or Nuristan is completely against the fact, unfair, unjust and a statement against the reality in this region,” he said.

Pakistan says governor of Kunar and elements of the Afghan intelligence agencies have been providing support to Maulana Fazlullah. “There are some people in the intelligence at the local level who are supporting them. I don’t think it’s the policy of the Afghan government but there are people in the Afghan government, in the Afghan set-up who do support him because without their total support it will not be possible for the TTP people to move so freely there,” said Muhammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan.

“The governor of Kunar has actually declared jihad against Pakistan Army. So that could be on their loose top. But the fact is when the governor of a province says something like this, we expect the Kabul government that there will be some action against that governor,” he told The News in an interview.

“It’s very clear that they are here. We have confirmed reports that people who raid Pakistan and who get wounded are brought back here and we know the places where they are treated,” he said.

He said the issue had been raised with Afghan government and Isaf headquarters here but both had taken the position that they did not have the capacity to go into Kunar and address this problem.

Dominic Medley, a Nato spokesman in Afghanistan, said they knew “insurgents and terrorists” were moving freely across the border but Afghanistan and Pakistan should fight this “shared fight” together.

“Between Afghanistan and Pakistan and Nato there are regular meetings, diplomacy continues, the tripartite commission, there is coordination at the border-all that must continue to ensure that the security between the two countries is tackled by both countries,” he said in an interview with The News.

He said the UN mandate to Nato to fight terrorists up to the border of Afghanistan was recently renewed. However, when asked why the alliance failed to take action against Fazlullah who has built sanctuaries within the border of Afghanistan, he failed to answer the question. “I don’t know about that particular group. I am sorry. I can’t give an answer on that group. It’s too specific for me to know about that group,” he said.

It was learnt that the US and Nato would have to shift 40 percent of their military assets to eastern Afghanistan to fight Fazlullah and other militants. Therefore, they are not willing to take action against him. The unwillingness and inability of Afghanistan and US and Nato to act against Fazlullah gives him freedom to organise attacks on the border and inside the country, posting serious security threat to Pakistan.

Faheem Dashti, a senior Afghan journalist, said the US had failed in defeating Taliban but succeeded in building security forces for Afghanistan. He said the Afghanistan government and the security forces were too weak to take action against Fazlullah.

Sediqi said Afghanistan considered Fazlullah a terrorist but any action that would be taken against him would be “based on the international rules and regulations.”

The Afghans are complaining about cross-border shelling. “So far more than ten people have been killed and many, many houses destroyed and animals killed and thousands of people displaced because of these rockets,” Sediqi said. He said the reason Pakistan was providing was a weak one. “That means that the Afghan Army should also fire rockets on the other side because all the terrorists are stationed on the other side of the border,” he said.

Janan Mosazai demanded a complete halt to shelling. “The solution is that they (Pakistan) stop it immediately and completely,” he said.

Ambassador Sadiq admitted shells had landed in Afghanistan but no or little casualties had been caused.

Security and economy main concerns for Afghans after 2014

Delawar Jan

KABUL: Afghanistan’s capital Kabul calmly sits among barren mountains, with unexpected but delightful peace in its streets. Tranquility of the Yaftali Street in Share-Naw would allow one to hear warbles of birds, droning of passenger planes and sounds of hammers from an under-construction building. Fear of violence scarcely exists.

Kabul hardly appears to be the capital of a country where around 50 countries led by the US have been fighting the battle-hardened Taliban for the last 12 years. Life seems to be is in full swing in the city as bazaars are abuzz with business activities and roads occupied by vehicles that are crazily driven to the surprise of many. Traffic jams give an idea of rush on the roads.

Construction of multistory commercial buildings on almost every street and elegant townships on the outskirts of the city indicates boom in construction sector. People attend offices and businesses without fear of violence. Even people of other countries, including Pakistan, are finding Kabul as destination for job.

Another event that substantiates the impression that life has returned to normalcy in Kabul is a football match. Under the surveillance balloon that oversees movements in the city, a football stadium erupts in cheers as spectators support their respective teams in the much-hyped and televised Afghanistan Premier League, launched recently.

However, military helicopters clattering over the city and presence of heavy military assets at the airport provide the signs of war in Kabul. Police check-posts at almost every square, blocked roads and embarrassing body search at all important sites reinforce the feeling of being in a war-struck country.

Despite some of the positive signs, Afghans predict a bleak future of the country. The US and its allies have failed to quell Taliban resistance in Afghanistan which unsettles people in Kabul. They fear Taliban could menace the hard-won but fragile peace in the city as foreign combat forces are preparing to leave the country in 2014. The people have no, or little, confidence in the Afghan National Army and police to withstand ferocious Taliban attacks.

“Security situation in the country is poor even the US is in charge of it. Kabul is not Afghanistan. Other provinces have been in grip of violence,” said Abdul Karim Sadiqi, who hails from Kabul. “In my understanding, the situation in Afghanistan will further deteriorate after the US withdrawal,” he added.

Omar Gul, who hails from Maidan Wardag, is also worried about the post-2014 Afghanistan. “I am afraid Afghanistan will see scenes from the past after the foreign forces pull out. Afghan National Army is not capable to hold control over the country which worries me that civil war could again start. And of course peace in Kabul will also be menaced by violence,” he said.

A report of the International Crisis Group last week said the country is plagued by factionalism and is not ready to assume responsibility for security. “There is a real risk that the regime in Kabul could collapse upon NATO’s withdrawal in 2014,” Candace Rondeaux, the ICG’s senior Afghanistan analyst was quoted as saying.

Analysts in Afghanistan predict that 2014 will cause uncertainty in the country as Afghan leaders lack vision for the future. Mujib Mashal, a leading Afghan journalist, said Afghanistan had over 300,000 police and army combined which was enough but the quality was lacking. “About our security forces, the big question is that whether they can sustain, whether they can fight on the ground without the air support from the Americans and coalition forces and whether they can do [operations] on their own,” he said.

He said the Afghan leadership had no clear vision about the country and felt Kabul would not be prepared to take over charge in 2014. “One day we are telling the security forces to kill the Taliban, they are the enemy. The next day we are saying they are our friends, our brothers,” he said. “So soldiers on the ground are confused. You don’t know how clear my mission is. Is this guy my enemy or my brother, my friend,” he added.

Muahammad Sarwar Ahmadzai, who works on Afghanistan and Pakistan at the Regional Study Centre of Afghanistan, agrees that security situation would deteriorate but shrugged off concern of civil war as misplaced.  “We had [security] problems before and will continue to have them in future, though we understand they will increase after the US withdrawal. But concerns about a civil war are groundless,” he argued.

Nato and Afghanistan government reject such predictions and assert the Afghan army and police are being trained well and would better fight Taliban than the international troops as they were familiar with the terrain and people.

“Fundamentally, Nato is confident that the army and police in Afghanistan will be capable of doing the job [of undertaking the security responsibilities] after 2014 because we see them growing everyday now in their skills and experience,” said Dominic Medley, a spokesman for the Nato in Afghanistan.

He said the Afghan army had demonstrated skills in major attacks in Kabul where they led the operation to finish the attackers. He added that it was leading major operations around the country which gave alliance members the confidence that they were capable of fighting the Taliban.

He said the international community had invested billions of dollars and so much effort for a shared goal which was a peaceful, secure, prosperous [and] stable Afghanistan. “Why would we make all our effort to be in vain just to let Afghanistan collapse,” he wondered. The Nato spokesman said the alliance would continue the training, advising and assistance of the Afghan security forces.  

“Afghanistan has come a long way  over the past 10 years in terms of establishing democracy, in terms of strengthening economic institutions, police and army, in terms of the vast gains we have made in education, in healthcare, in infrastructure development [and] building our economy,” said Janan Mosazai, Afghanistan Foreign Ministry spokesman. “Afghanistan is never going to go back to 1990s,” he added.   

Concern about economy is also widespread. “Our economy is right now totally dependent on donor money and international aid. There has been no vision laid out for the economic sustainability after 2014,” Mujib Mashal said.

“If we compare this year with last year, I would say that the business has dropped by 60 per cent,” said Omar Gul, who has invested 30,000 dollars in garment business.  

Nato spokesman, however, said the international community had pledged up to 16 billion dollars for Afghanistan and the country could also tap its resources. “So you wouldn’t expect some kind of massive economic collapse,” he hoped.

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For Afghans, a perceived enemy turns fascinating

Delawar Jan

PESHAWAR: When Malik Faisal Moonzajer set out on a visit to Islamabad mid-June this year from Afghanistan, one thing whirled in his mind: Pakistan is an enemy. So deep-seated was this abhorrence that for decades he had taken everything anyone said positive about this country with a pinch of salt. Unbearable for him was anyone admiring Pakistan.

Just a couple of days before he flew to Islamabad, a Pakistani professor in a pre-departure orientation said “Pakistan is not a bad country.” On this, he confronted him: “You must be an [ISI] agent.” Moonzajer believed the professor had lied.

However, just after nine days stay in Pakistan, he realised his hate was misplaced. He reproduced the professor’s words, “Pakistan is a good country.” His (mis)perceptions were smashed to pieces after he travelled in the country and interacted with the people. “I was born to hate Pakistanis,” he said of his ingrained hatred for this country. “One thing was clearly known to me that Pakistan was an enemy. I had nothing more [in my mind] than that.”

Another man who was won over was Rafiullah, a Pashto-speaking journalist from northern Kunduz province. “I thought upon our arrival that the Pakistanis will find excuses to fight us, or at least will meet us with sullen faces. But I found them that open-hearted, friendly, hospitable and respectful” he said. “It shames me when I think that I had thought so negatively about Pakistanis,” he regretted.

What contributed to changing their opinion about Pakistan? “Interaction with Pakistanis,” says Moonzajer, who comes from northern Afghanistan’s Sar-e Pul province where non-Pashtuns constitute the majority and anti-Pakistan sentiments run high. The first interaction he had was with Pakistan’s ambassador to Kabul. “The answers he offered to our questions were reasonable. [That was the point from where] I started thinking that Pakistan might not be an enemy,” he added.

Moonzajer was one of a group of journalists that visited Pakistan as part of an exchange programme initiated by a German organisation, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

“[Then] I met some Pakistani counterparts and [discovered] they were not against Afghans,” he added. On the streets, he was amazed by people’s cooperation. He went to markets alone to learn more about Pakistan without being accompanied by anyone. “I met a taxi driver, who helped me show places without asking for anything,” he added.

Moonzajer noted that a taxi driver in Afghanistan would have grimaced in disgust if you had to tell him that you were a Pakistani. “Some people held my camera and patiently followed me for an hour to take my pictures at Faisal Mosque,” he tells of his experiences.

The programme, titled “Understanding the neighbour,” appeared to have lived up to its expectations and helped almost all the visiting Afghan journalists understand the neighbouring Pakistan. Bravo!

The Afghan journalists travelled in Murree hills to go to University of Peshawar summer campus at Bara Gali. They loved seeing the forested mountains and scenic sights. They also stayed in Islamabad for some days and worked with Pakistani counterparts on stories. Pakistani journalists are visiting Kabul in October.

So fascinated is 23-year-old Moonzajer that now he plans to pursue a master’s degree in an Islamabad university. “What I have learnt [here] is quite opposite to what I had in my mind,” said Moonzajer, wearing glasses and a light stubble, just before leaving hotel for the airport on his return journey to Kabul.

The interaction with people and media made a positive impression on Farkhunda, a radio reporter from Mazar-i-Sharif, capital of Balkh province. “My perception of Pakistan has changed by 180 degree,” she said.

Muhammad Atif, who works in Kabul, said good discussions with Pakistanis caused them to stop thinking negatively about them.

Many Pakistanis also had some fixed ideas about the Afghans. Ayesha Hasan, a Pakistani journalist, wrote in her blog that the Afghan journalists broke several of the stereotypes one-by-one. She thought the Afghans were rigid, serious and the ones who rarely laughed. But she found some of them the funniest. She was also amazed to see no rebel in a generation that grew up in war, something opposite to the perception.

However, cross-border raids and Pakistani militants’ unmolested sanctuaries in Afghanistan and Haqqani network’s alleged safe havens in the tribal areas hobble efforts for normalisation of bilateral relations. But newfound friends like Moonzajer are determined to work for mutual understanding. Thousands others, he said, still held negative opinion about Pakistan and he had to change it.

“When I will go back I will tell people please, please listen to me...and at first they might not listen to me...that there are truths that we should know,” he said. “I have to tell people my stories. I have to write several articles. Maybe they will call me ISI agent, but I have to change it,” Moonzajer vowed.

In battered Malakand division, authority gradually transferred to civil administrations

Delawar Jan

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Army is working on gradual transfer of authority to civil administration in districts controlled and ravaged by Taliban militants in Malakand division but retaken in a major military offensive in 2009.

Pakistan’s efforts to stabilise Taliban’s previous bastions after their defeat and enable civil administration to take over charge are succeeding. Analysts believe clear, hold, build and transfer of authority to civil administration completes a successful counterinsurgency strategy. In most of the districts in Malakand division, according to officials, the government is working on the last phase: transfer of authority to local administration.

The military plans to hand over Malakand Agency, a district that was relatively less affected by militancy but held significance for being gateway to the highland Malakand division. “We may transfer authority to the civil administration in Malakand Agency by the end of this year,” said Col Arif Mehmood, spokesman for the military in the Malakand region.

It will become the third district where authority is transferred to the civil administration. Shangla and Buner districts, according to the official, had already been handed over to civil administration in April and May 2011.

Pakistan conducted massive military offensives in mid-2009 to quell Taliban insurgency in Swat, Buner, Shangla, Lower Dir, Malakand Agency. For two to three years, the army’s strategy focused on consolidating hold in the regained areas and preventing Taliban from staging a comeback, along with undertaking reconstruction of infrastructure and rehabilitation of affected people.

Nevertheless, many believe, the army’s victory would be determined by successful transfer of authority in Swat, the valley where militant commander Maulana Fazlullah was based and the area from where he directed Taliban franchises in surrounding districts. Three years after it conducted a massive offensive, the military still maintains a huge presence in the valley.

However, army is gradually reducing its footprints in Swat. On March 1 this year, it handed over responsibility of running affairs, including security, to the local administration in Bahrain and Kalam, two main towns and tourist destinations in the north of the valley.

Officials said the civil administration’s performance after reassuming charge in Bahrain-Kalam area was encouraging. “Civil machinery in Bahrain and Kalam is fully operating, looking after security and civic issues,” said Kamran Rehman, the district coordination officer of Swat.Gul Afzal, the district police chief in Swat, said affairs of the transferred areas were “totally” run by the civilians. He said the checkpoints on the road were administered by police.

Some think otherwise. Quwwat Khan in Kalam and Ihsanullah in Bahrain said army soldiers still manned checkpoints along with police officials, though other affairs were managed by the civil administration. This correspondent observed that at least 10 checkpoints operated from Mingora to Kalam just before Ramazan and the army was supervising all of them, including the one in the remote Matiltan area in Kalam.

However, military and civilian officials said the troops were there on request to assist local administration for the Kalam festival. “The security forces still conduct, with our permission, raids against terrorists. However, they don’t interfere in crimes related issues,” the DCO said of the army’s existing role.

Col Arif said the army soldiers in the area would act only on the call of the police as part of an effort to back up civil administration. The improvement in the situation has given the administration officials confidence and it showed willingness to take over charge of the entire Swat valley. “In consultation with the barmy, we are ready and capable of reassuming charge in Swat, including security, on a mutually-agreed future date,” said DCO Kamran Rehman. The district police chief also agrees but favours a gradual transfer of authority to the local setup.

According to the DCO, Swat has 3,200-plus police force, 17 police stations and a new Levies Force of 500 personnel which gives them confidence that they could better control the district. Swat largely remained peaceful since early 2010 but Maulana Fazlullah and his armed supporters are now increasingly menacing peace in the valley. Based in Afghanistan’s Kunar province, action against him men has become a catch-22 situation for Pakistan Army, making the threat this time more complicated.

On Friday, his group attacked hotelier Zahid Khan and severely injured him in the head. He is member of the anti-Taliban Swat Quami Jirga (SQJ) who fearlessly spoke against Maulana Fazlullah when he held sway in Swat. The incident troubled people, particularly other anti-militant voices.

“There is a gap between people and the army that could not be bridged during the last several years. Ideally we would want the authority transferred to the civil administration but the ground reality doesn’t suggest so,” said Ziauddin Yousafzai, who is spokesman for the SQJ.

In Nathia Gali, tale of a church that is unique

Delawar Jan

NATHIA GALI: St. Mathew’s church witnesses several contradictions every day. It’s a place of worship, yet regular services don’t take place. It’s Christians’ holy place but thousands who visit it are Muslims. It’s sacred for the followers of Jesus but is looked after by a practicing Muslim.

Many find it surprising to see a Muslim devotedly taking care of the church, sited at Nathia Gali National Park in Banni locality. Further surprises come when they notice the caretaker with a beard, characteristic of religious Muslims. “I was amazed to see a bearded man taking so well care of the church,” said a female visitor from Karachi, who said she prayed there with wit eyes.

The 98-year-old church that sits on a hill is well-preserved and kept clean and neat. “I clean it every day,” said the caretaker Abdul Waheed, a thin man whose trimmed beard was streaked with grey hair. He makes visitors take off their shoes to protect the sanctity of the place. He doesn’t allow students to enter because they could violate the sacredness of it.

Waheed gets just a pittance for the job, Rs1,500 ($15.67). However, he said it was not the incentive he had been working for. “My father Shakur Khan looked after it for 45 years. It’s been seventh year that I work here and what drives me to serve this place is my belief that it is God’s house,” he said, standing inside the tiny church that is surrounded by forested mountains and dotted around by houses owned by Muslims.

Thousands of people visit it every year but they don’t worship in the building that is meant for religious services. The fact that Christians don’t reside in Nathia Gali makes it only a site of attraction for tourists.

Regular services don’t take place because the thousands of goers are Muslims. After the withdrawal by British Army stationed in Bara Gali and Nathia Gali in 1947, no services were held here till date.

Christian people who sometimes come to pray are sightseers. Waheed said foreigners, mostly Christians, would visit the church, but they had stopped coming after Iraq war.

Foundation stone of the St Mathew’s Church was laid on September 26, 1914 by M.J.S. Donald, the chief commissionerof NWFP (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), reads a plaque. It was constructed to facilitate the British troops who had been discharging duty in this mountainous region and who had also manned trenches in the World War-II. The British Army had military bases in Bara Gali and Nathia Gali, former being now summer campus of the University of Peshawar.

This building has several marked features. In just two years, it will become a century-old building but still in good condition. It’s purely made of wood and no other material has been used in it. Representing a demonstration of skills in building a wooden structure, not a single nail has been hammered for stabilising it. Yet it firmly stood for almost a century.

The 13-bench church that can accommodate around 75 people at a time is still under the Church of Pakistan.

The local Muslim population, residents said, had never harmed it, rather they own it. They see it as an icon of their locality, though it has no importance for them from the point of view of religious belief.

“We have nothing to do with it. For us, there is mosque,” said a resident Iftikhar Aziz. “Emotionally, we are detached from this structure. However, we understand that this church adds to the beauty of this area and thus we take its protection as our responsibility,” he added.

He said it had become an identity for Banni. People, he added, knew the locality more by the church than by its name.

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To keep world informed of Pakistan, journalists paying heavy price

Delawar Jan

When a reporter ran from city to city for two months, not many people knew that this senior Pakistani journalist was trying to stave off a looming threat to his life. Facing a constant threat from militants, he was advised by senior police officers in Peshawar, a main city in northwest Pakistan and a prime target of militants operating out of tribal areas along Afghanistan border, to leave the city during Moharram days in 2010. The law-enforcement agencies, according to him, had reports that the militants would attempt to kill him.

He agreed. But where could he seek refuge? For his security, he chose to change places. First, he took shelter in a government facility in Islamabad, the country’s capital and a relatively secured city, where he stayed for 11 days in December 2010. He found the next shelter in eastern Lahore city, and then he rushed to Buner, a district in northwest run over by Taliban militants in April 2009 but retaken by army the same year. In January 2011, he dashed to Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, to dodge eyes chasing him.

This is how journalists operate for years now in Pakistan—running for life after reporting on Taliban-led conflicts. Many have lost life in this battle. Others find themselves in a hell.

It’s this hostile environment that makes it the world’s most dangerous country for journalists, where threats come from a crowd of unseen enemies.

In 2010, according to Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), 11 journalists were murdered in Pakistan, though, Yousaf Ali, then general secretary of the Khyber Union of Journalists in Peshawar, puts it at 17, including media workers.

Violence against journalists was not something distinctive of 2010. In fact, the first decade of the 21st century proved bloody [upto 46 killed] for media men in that South Asian country, showing that the violence is not only consistent but also growing alarmingly.

If the journalists’ murders over the last two year ares put on Pakistan’s map, they would dot three provinces—Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Baluchistan and Sindh, besides Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

It shows a spread of violence against journalists, who were, previously, targeted mainly in Fata and KP. It’s an alarming development.

Besides families, these killings give nightmares to the community at large. Journalists see death lurking around them all the time. Hardly anyone knows when and who will come to kill him—enemies are faceless, armed and ruthless.

The tragic murder of Musa Khankhel, my colleague, still haunts me. His body remained unclaimed after he was ruthlessly killed in 2009 while covering a peace rally in Swat, a troubled district then.

As luck would have it, his younger brother, Essa Khankhel, also a journalist, reported the news about that unclaimed body to his channel. Painfully for him, Essa discovered shortly afterwards that the unattended corpse he had reported about was of his journalist brother. It devastated him and his family and sent chills down spines of journalists covering events on that occasion. 

No body, until now, knows why and who murdered him, thanks to government’s criminal indifference.

Such a lurking death claimed the life of Wali Khan Babar, a young journalist from southern port city of Karachi. He became the first journalist murdered in Pakistan in 2011.

For the senior journalist in Peshawar, threat is not over, yet he is lucky not to have become one among the many journalists slain over years. “I have not only written against Taliban militants but also spoken against them and their internal and external sponsors and supporters,” he said about threats from terrorists.

He said his stories had made him a target for militants.

With the battle to save his life continuing, he resumed reporting for his newspaper from Peshawar. This senior journalist says the threats had tremendously hobbled his freedom as a journalist.

“Neither I am in a position to travel outside of Peshawar nor can I visit the troubled regions in connection with professional responsibilities,” he said. He finds it risky to introduce himself in public places, particularly in regions under militants’ influence. Many like him are faced with the same situation.

One still remembers the days when one did the same by hiding identity in troubled regions to avoid harm to life and didn’t give by-line on critical stories. In late 2009 and early 2010, threats increased to such a level that the management of our newspaper asked us not to attend office in Peshawar and instead file stories from homes.

Situation has grown so worse over the last couple of years that the militants, previously reluctant, are now brazenly taking responsibility for killing journalists. Take example of Misri Khan who was shot and killed in Hangu district in September 2010. Most recently in 2012, Mukarram Khan Atif was murdered by them. They threatened of more such actions against journalists.

Such threats and hostile environment have forced dozens of journalists, who are underpaid or even unpaid, from most of the troubled tribal agencies and six Frontier Regions to leave homes. Houses of several journalists have now turned into rubble.

They have taken shelter in Peshawar, Islamabad, Bannu, Dera Ismael Khan and Kohat. Because of their profession, they are living as displaced people. They have less or no freedom. Some, still living in their native areas, find themselves firmly shackled and threatened.

A journalist from the volatile Bajaur Agency, whose name is being held back for his security, has not visited his house for over three years and doesn’t see his return in near future. His counterpart was murdered in 2008 just he returned from an interview with a Taliban spokesman. Due to threats and harassment, he has undergone a hell of stress even living in Peshawar.

“Me and my children underwent extreme agony,” he said. “Often, I failed to write due to stress.” Majority of the journalists face the same situation.

While the reporter from Bajaur has taken refuge in Peshawar, it is insecure for the senior journalist of Peshawar. “Even some of them (senior police officers) suggested me to leave Peshawar,” he said.

All uprooted journalists have been unable to undertake reporting assignments in their native areas, where most of the significant developments occur. They take information for their reports by phone. On many occasions, besides the information being second-hand or even incorrect, they miss important stories for being away.

“If you report militants’ activities and their viewpoint, army gets angry and if you do coverage of military operations, you earn militants’ wrath,” the journalist from Bajaur said of the quandary they face. Majority of journalists share his opinion.

This situation leads them to self-censorship, something that even doesn’t ensure their safety and security.

If militants are ruthless, state agencies are no different. Ali says journalists have been sandwiched between militants and the military.

Umar Cheema, who works with an English-language newspaper of Pakistan, The News International, was kidnapped from Islamabad in early September 2010. He was beaten, tortured and humiliated. He later said ISI was behind his ordeal.

Ordered by prime minister, findings of an inquiry seem buried under tons of earth. Demand from parliamentarians and journalists to make it public went unmet. 

   

                                                                                                       

Other journalists, no matter how senior they are, are often “advised” not to write “unwanted” stories and to toe a certain line. Disagreement is hardly an option to be considered.

From all warring sides, threats are not confined to journalists, but their family members are also made to bear the brunt of their work. To give a couple of examples, house of Hayatullah Khan, killed in 2006 in North Waziristan, was attacked the next year, killing his widow.

A young son and daughter of Ibrahim Khan, killed in Bajaur in 2008, were injured when some masked gunmen made an abortive attempt to kidnap them in 2009.

Such threats to family members of journalists have not receded. This fact keeps the journalist from Peshawar more worried about his school-going daughter in Peshawar than his own security. He changes her security plan every day.

Pathetic is the role of State of Pakistan. Killing of journalists is a stigma it seems uninterested in removing. The government response to journalists’ murders is frustrating. It did not show interest in investigating cases properly and failed to bring perpetrators, except in Daniel Pearl’s case, to justice. Now the crime of killing a journalist has become something acceptable.

With a precipitous spike in journalists’ murder during the last few months and government’s indifference, journalists like the senior fellow in Peshawar who did not bow to threats for quite some time can hardly afford to ignore them anymore as the killings continue with impunity.

Almost every journalist, slain or alive, has his/her own tragic story but not many inside and outside Pakistan know that the information they are getting is being paid with blood and unending ordeal.

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