further on the road to Wana. While this happens all passengers, including women, children, the sick, and the elderly, stand waiting under the blazing sun with no arrangements for cold drinking water or shade.
Such checking is repeated at no less than five different places within a distance of twenty kilometres. It is not the inconvenience that overly bothers one but the humiliating behaviour of the security personnel that upsets people, particularly those travelling with their families. Isn’t it time they realised that civilians are not the scum of the earth and should be treated with due respect? They should realise that times have changed and such attitudes are no longer tolerated any where.
I had mentioned these difficulties in my article “S Waziristan as I saw it” which was published by May 3, 2010. After that, despite having received assurances from a senior military official that speedy corrective measures would be implemented, I saw no improvement upon my recent visit.
The chief of army staff is busy visiting one area after another in Fata. He takes keen interest in the development of Fata and has inaugurated various projects including the establishment of a Cadet College at Wana, widening of roads, and the construction of dams in that region. The frequency of his visits bears testimony to his interest in the development of Waziristan. This has won him the respect and admiration of the local people. While he is trying to win the hearts and minds of the tribesmen, his soldiers in that area are doing just the opposite.
They extend severe punishment on flimsy charges. The incident of a bus burning at Kaur post a year ago is still fresh in the minds of the people. The poor owner of the bus has approached every one who matters including the corps commander and the governor, but to no avail. To mitigate the injustice wreaked by his soldiers, the least the COAS can do is compensate the poor fellow forthwith.
The security personnel there also create unnecessary hurdles on the roads in the countryside, particularly between villages and the local markets. Movement of just a single soldier on the road brings traffic to a grinding halt. There is no exception made even for those who are critically ill and in urgent need of medical attention. And when there is movement of an army convoy, all hell breaks loose. Traffic is required to get off the road immediately, even at the risk of throwing the vehicle into a ravine if no other safe exit is possible. That way there may be some chances of survival but keeping the vehicle on the road may prove more dangerous. Of late, a new element has been noticed in the security personnel’s behaviour towards local people particularly those unable to speak Pashto. They treat the tribesmen with utter contempt, as potential enemies and citizens of a newly conquered territory.
The civil administration also needs to change its behaviour towards the public. Its personnel need to treat the tribesmen as respectable citizens, like elsewhere in the country. They need to make themselves accessible with minimal security restrictions rather than the ones in place these days under which the people are made to walk more than a mile through several check points before being allowed to enter official premises.
Now that the entire gamut of relations in the region is taking a new turn we should also prepare ourselves for coping with the changing situation. We should reassess our policy on the War on Terror and make a paradigm shift in finding a political solution to the problem. If the US can change its stance and work overtime to find the right kind of Taliban to talk to then why should we stick to the old ‘order’ of eliminating the militants altogether.
If the US can go from seeking a military solution to a political one for its problem in Afghanistan, then what stops us from doing the same? Why are we bent upon continuing with the use of force against our own people? Why shouldn’t we look at the problem from a fresh angle?
Again if the US can start a drawdown (retreat) of its troops from Afghanistan and hand over responsibility to the Afghans then what stops us from withdrawing our army from Fata and handing over responsibility to the tribesmen to manage their affairs with the help of the Frontier Scouts who had looked after security of that area earlier and still
enjoy a good rapport with the local people?
The government has to wake up to the new realities that are upon us. It has to take the right political decisions if it really wants to solve the problems that we face in the tribal areas. This is the only way out.
The writer is a former ambassador hailing from Fata. Email: wazirukhotmail.com