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.