JOURNEY BACK TO SWAT BEGINS

PESHAWAR, July 13: People displaced by fighting in Swat began returning to their homes on Monday under a government repatriation programme.

About 195 families left the Jalozai camp by buses escorted by police. NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti went to Charsadda where he saw off 26 displaced families.

The Emergency Response Unit (REU) had made arrangements for over 2,000 families to leave the camp on Monday, but a large number of them did not leave. They cited security concerns and complained about non-payment of Rs25,000 grant promised by the government for each family. About 10,000 displaced families from Swat have been living in the Jalozai camp for about two months.

ERU spokesman Adnan Khan said that the government would not force anyone to leave camps.

The conflict in Swat, Lower Dir and Buner districts forced more than two million people to flee their homes and move to relief camps.

The government has announced that the IDPs would be going back in phases. “It is definitely a joyful day for us. But we are worried about reports of continued presence and movement of the Taliban in our area,” said Hassan Khan of Barikot.

Several other people also said that security continued to be their main concern and it was difficult to believe that militancy had been eliminated from their areas.

Omar Zareen, who belongs to Tahna, said the number of returning IDPs would have been much higher had their representatives and influential people of their areas accompanied them. “The ab sence of elders gives an impression that the situation is still not under control,” he said.

Razia Bibi said: “My family waited for this day when we would be able to leave this dusty camp. I need nothing, I just want to go back to Swat.” Each returning family was given a food package – 80kgs of flour, 8kgs of pulses, 5 litres of cooking oil, 1kg of salt, 1kg of high-energy biscuits, 4kgs of sugar and 300 grams of tea – by the World Food Programme.

Agencies add: “Everybody is so happy. They are crying tears of joy,” Sakhawat Shah, a 25-year-old English student, told a reporter by telephone after reaching Landakai.

“My room was destroyed in the shelling. My computer and books were also damaged but I’m not worried because if I’m alive I can buy more books.” The government says it has worked hard to restore electricity and running water in main towns since the fighting but analysts warn that much needs to be done to sustain the returnees.

“They will start living a normal life if the environment is secure and their fundamental needs are addressed. Secure environment means army, police and civil administration,” said independent analyst Imtiaz Gul.

Shamsher Ali, a 55-year-old shopkeeper, said he was worried because previous military operations had failed to crush the Taliban.

“The army promised us twice before that they cleared the area but then Taliban came again and again to Swat. Perhaps this time the Taliban will come again to Swat,” he said.

“Thank God we’re going back,” said farmer Qaiser Khan.

Pak dancers terrified to return to Swat

Peshawar: Clad in a low-cut dress and heavily made-up, 16-year-old dancing girl Shabnam used to spend her nights twirling gracefully for locals and tourists in Pakistan’s Swat valley.
Famous for its beautiful, paleskinned women, bejewelled dancers of Swat would beguile at house parties, stag nights and hotels, and Shabnam was just 12 when she followed her mother and sisters into the sometimes steamy profession.
But then Taliban fighters infiltrated the valley and her hometown Mingora. Terror forced Shabnam to flee and although some displaced civilians are returning to areas around Swat, she says she is too scared to go home.
“I don’t think the situation will return to normality. The Taliban have terrified not only us dancing girls but the entire population in Swat. I think the Taliban can return any time,” she said.
Pakistan’s northwest has seen creeping religious conservatism over the years and in July 2007 Taliban extremists launched a bloody insurgency to impose a harsh brand of Islamic law across Swat. “About two years ago, the Taliban sent a letter threatening us to stop dancing and singing,” Shabnam said.
Such entertainment forms were branded un-Islamic and retribution was harsh, particularly as they are frequently associated with prostitution. “If I dance at aparty for whole night, then do you think they will let me go without sex?” said Shabnam. She left Swat after her cousin was killed.
Fearing she was next, Shabnam fled to the northwest metropolis Peshawar, and says dozens of other Swat dancing girls also escaped. For two months, Pakistani security forces bombarded fighters in Swat and surrounding districts in a USbacked offensive—the latest of multiple assaults against the militants, but Shabnam says her career is over.
Where video and music shops used to stock the latest Indian and Western releases, now they have been cowed into filling shelves with pious Islamic music or more extreme Taliban propaganda.
“The Taliban will bomb my shop if I do not keep the jihadi and religious stocks,” said Ahmad Shah, a young shopkeeper. AFP

FAZED OUT: The Taliban has forced music and video shop owners in the Swat Valley to fill shelves with pious Islamic music or anti-US chants