Swat Valley

Swat is a luxuriant and scenic valley within 160 kms from three of Pakistan's most important cities: Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the capital. Approximately 1.5 million people live in this culturally rich area, which is approximately 5,000 square km in size ( roughly the size of Delaware )

Once an independent, relatively secular region, dotted with brooks, waterfalls, ski resorts and known for its glaciers, fruit orchards and pure honey, Swat has become a battleground for militants of Pakistan's Taliban and the secular Pakistani government. Army troops, 12,000 strong, lost ground to a Taliban force of about 3,000 fighters, who have kept a stranglehold on the area, killing local police officers and officials and punishing residents who do not adhere to their interpretation of Islam. On Feb. 16, 2009, the government announced that it would accept a system of Islamic law in the region and agreed to a truce with the militants, effectively conceding Swat as a Taliban sanctuary and suspending its faltering effort to crush the insurgents.

Many Pakistanis greeted the terms of the truce with skepticism. One newspaper, Dawn, said the deal sent a "disastrous signal: fight the state militarily and it will give you what you want and get nothing in return." .Legal experts in Pakistan said the deal would set a precedent for militants to campaign for and win the imposition of Islamic courts elsewhere in Pakistan.

Far from establishing peace, the agreement appears to have given the Taliban a free rein with which to expand their harsh religious rule. Just days after the signing of the truce, a member of a prominent anti-Taliban family returned to his mountain village, having received assurances from the government that it was safe. He was promptly kidnapped by the Taliban, tortured and murdered. The militants then erected roadblocks to search cars for any relatives who dared travel there for his funeral. None did. In early March, two Pakistani soldiers who were part of a convoy escorting a water tanker were fatally shot because they failed to inform the Taliban in advance of their movements.

On March 4, the provincial government signed an accord with the local Taliban leader that imposes Islamic law, or Shariah, in the area, and institutes a host of new regulations, including a ban on music, a requirement that shops close during calls to prayer and the installation of complaint boxes for reports of anti-Islamic behavior. That accord has subsequently been ratified by the President Zardari after the lower chamber of Parliament, National Assembly, passed a resolution supporting the accord.

Local residents are skeptical that girls’ schools will be allowed to reopen. Taliban are still armed to the hilt and are now using Swat as a launching pad for incursions into other neighboring districts. They have occupied parts of the neighboring valleys of Dir, Shangla and Buner.

Inside Swat, the Taliban carry out regular patrols, and dispense 'justice' on the spot for not closing shops in prayer times, smoking a cigarette, shaving, and even playing Cricket.

(Based on the New York Times topic on Swat)

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