FIRST-PAKISTAN

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Many families in Swat district, in Pakistan's embattled north-west, are packing up and leaving after Islamist militants began attacking schools, reports the BBC's M Ilyas Khan, who is travelling in the region.

Can the security forces establish the government's rule in Swat and protect schools against attacks by Islamist militants?

Will the militants revoke the ban they recently announced on girls' education before the winter vacations are over?

For parents of schoolchildren who can afford to leave Swat and settle elsewhere, the answer is obvious. Leave.

For those who have to remain, there are no easy answers.

People are generally sceptical about the ability of the security forces to push the insurgents into a corner before 1 March, when school vacations end.

"Taleban are everywhere, but the army is only behind barricades," says one resident who, like most people in Swat these days, does not want to be named. "It can only make things worse."

Taleban's stranglehold brings fear to Swat

First, it was the appearance of beheaded bodies in various public places in Mingora, terrorising the local population.

According to reports, more than 30 bodies were found in the town during a two-week period in December and January.

Then came the Taleban's edict banning education for girls.

Although the edict came at a time when government schools had closed for the winter holidays, some privately-owned schools still holding classes closed down after that.

At the same time, suspected militants blew up several schools in Mingora, including some boys' ones, saying the buildings were being used as camps by the army.

The militants are "cleansing" individuals suspected of holding "liberal" views.

Swat has been a stronghold of two secular parties - the Pakistan People's Party and the Awami National Party. The militants are now bent upon weeding out their supporters.

As a result, many families have suffered attacks and beheadings by the militants.

The army, given its lack of local knowledge, has been rounding up people at random to blunt the effectiveness of the militants, often with adverse results.

Besides, it has mostly occupied public buildings in civilian areas, which have subsequently become targets for suicide bombers, with devastating repercussions for locals.

A year ago, an attack on a public library in the heart of Mingora, which the army had occupied, not only led to dozens of civilian casualties but also destroyed Swat Museum, which was located opposite the library.

The Japanese government had spent 46m yen ($500,000) in the late 1990s to renovate the museum, which contained relics from Swat's Buddhist past.

Today, it is closed to the public and most of the relics are said to have been irreparably damaged.

Diary of a Pakistani schoolgirl,(PAKISTAN MILITARY NOT ALLOWED TO COMBAT TERRORISTS IN SWAT....)

A Pakistani seventh grade schoolgirl is writing a diary after Taleban militants in the troubled north-western Swat district ordered schools to close as part of an edict banning girls' education. Militants seek to impose their austere interpretation of Sharia law and have destroyed about 150 schools in the past year. In the third extract of her diary written in part from the relative safety of Islamabad, she chronicles her first impressions of the city after arriving from Swat and events leading up to her family's departure. The diary first appeared on BBC Urdu online.

WEDNESDAY 28 JANUARY: TEARS IN THE EYES OF MY PARENTS

My father fulfilled his promise and we reached Islamabad yesterday. On our way from Swat I was very scared because we had heard that the Taleban conduct searches. But nothing of the sort happened to us. It was instead the army who conducted the search. The moment we left Swat our fears also subsided.

We are staying with our father's friend in Islamabad. It is my first visit to the city. It's beautiful with nice bungalows and wide roads. But as compared to my Swat city it lacks natural beauty. Father took us to Lok Virsa museum and I learnt a lot. We also have such a museum in Swat but I don't know if it will remain undamaged from the fighting.

My father bought popcorn from an old man outside Lok Virsa. When the vendor spoke to us in Pashtu my father asked him if he was from Islamabad. The old man replied: "Do you think Islamabad can ever belong to Pashtuns?"

He said that he hailed from Momand Agency, but because of an ongoing military operation was forced to leave his abode and head for the city. At that moment I saw tears in my parents' eyes.

ONDAY 26 JANUARY: HELICOPTER TOFFEES

I woke to the roar of heavy artillery fire early in the morning. Earlier we were afraid of the noise of helicopters and now the artillery. I remember the first time when helicopters flew over our house on the start of an operation. We got so scared that we hid.

All the children in my neighbourhood were also very scared.

One day toffees were thrown from the helicopters and this continued for some time. Now whenever we hear the choppers flying we run out and wait for the toffees but it does not happen anymore. A while back my father gave us the good news that he was taking all of us to Islamabad tomorrow. We are very happy.

SATURDAY 24 JANUARY: NO NAMES ON THE HONOURS BOARD

Our annual exams are due after the vacations but this will only be possible if the Taleban allow girls to go to school. We were told to prepare certain chapters for the exam but I do not feel like studying

As from yesterday the army has taken control of the educational institutions for protection. It seems that it is only when dozens of schools have been destroyed and hundreds others closed down that the army thinks about protecting them. Had they conducted their operations here properly, this situation would not have arisen.

Muslim Khan (a Swat Taleban spokesman) has said that those schools housing the army would be attacked. We will be more afraid of having the army in our schools than ever. There is a board in our school which is called the Honours Board. The name of the girl achieving the highest marks in annual exams is put on this board. It seems that no names will be put on it this year.

peace rally ,LAHORE

Pakistan remained unbeaten

Pakistan remained unbeaten in the first qualifying round of the 2010 Men's World Volleyball Championship when they thrashed minnows Maldives 3-0 at the Liaquat Gymnasium on Friday. A clean sweep against Macau, Bangladesh and Maldives helped hosts Pakistan enter the second round of the championship.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

HELP SWAT FROM TALIBANS AND THE POLITICAL GAMES OF PPP GOVERNMENT!!!!!

Once frequented by tourists for its snow-capped mountains, the Swat valley is now rocked by a violent campaign for Sharia law waged by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah, who has links to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. Fazlullah's followers have blown up at least 173 schools, 105 of them for girls, since security forces launched an operation in the region in 2007. Here's a look at some of the images that have come out of the Swat Valley in the last six months, presented in chronological order.

PPP GOVERNMENT NOT ACTING AGAINST TALIBANS IN SWAT INSTEAD THEY ARE KILLING INNOCENT LOCAL PEOPLE!!!!!