Waziristan: the option not taken

Our media was taking great interest in the operation in South Waziristan before its launch on Oct 17. It was termed the “mother of all operations” by some. But when the facts emerged it dawned on everyone that it was just not that. The media was denied the opportunity of giving full and impartial coverage. Only journalists approved by the authorities could enter the area to cover the operation. The media was thus forced to apply the brakes in covering the territory, which pushed the operation to the public blind spot, where it remains now.

Almost all our armchair experts on FATA presented a rosy picture of the situation, saying that the operation would eliminate the militancy in Waziristan. Their argument may have been convincing for those not having visited the area, and those not being familiar with the terrain and the people of Waziristan. But it just does not cut any ice with those are familiar with the area and with people who were born and bred there.

Firstly, their conclusions were based solely on the fallacious reasoning that the militants, following classic battle tactics, would stand their ground and fight head-on in the open, and be overwhelmed by a superior force. They did not take into account the likelihood of the militants’ following hit-and-run guerrilla tactics, melting into the familiar terrain after a strike, and then trying to win over the relatives of the civilian casualties of this war. We forgot that the operation was not launched against the entire population of Waziristan, after all, but a limited number of militants.

Secondly, the best bulwark against militants and terrorism is the economic and social uplift of the area concerned and the weal of its inhabitants. Sadly, provision of health or education facilities or opportunities for employment has never figured on the list of any government. Sadder still, there is no indication that any lessons have been learned. It is unknown whether in the future too these issues will be accorded any priority.

The largest of all the seven tribal agencies, South Waziristan is the most under- developed area in FATA. The political and economic development schemes promised to its people from time to time have yet to be implemented. It has always been a victim of the policies and actions of the government.

I will mention only a few here to illustrate my point.

The political-agent system which took over charge of the agency from the colonial power failed to protect the natural wealth of Waziristan. It robbed the area of its forest by permitting export of timber from there. Officers supposed to be the custodian of this asset participated with great gusto in the plunder.

As if this were not enough, Wana’s local market, commonly known as Adda and consisting of more than five hundred shops, was razed to the ground long ago as punishment to the Wazir tribe for airing their grievances through a protest against the local administration. There was no mention in the media of this colossal loss to the Wazir tribe. Nor were the victims compensated for the losses.

The tribesmen had not yet recovered from this setback when another disaster befell them, in the shape of Afghan refugees fleeing from the Soviet invasion of 1979. The infrastructure was badly damaged by the heavy trucks bringing arms and ammunition to the Afghan Mujahedeen, as the Wazir area of South Waziristan was made an ammunition depot for the Afghan Jihad. And when the United States invaded Afghanistan, South Waziristan itself became a battleground.

Even the sacrifices the people of the area have rendered, right from the Kashmir war of 1948, have not persuaded the government to launch development schemes or set up educational institutions. One after another, all presidents and prime ministers of the country have been pledging that the area would be developed so as to bring its people at par with the rest of the country, but nothing has ever been done. As a result, the area slipped into abject poverty and became fertile ground for recruitment into militancy.

Had the Quaid-e-Azam’s vision for the area been acted upon, we would not have ended up in the quagmire that we are in today.

Addressing a tribal jirga in Peshawar in 1948, the Quaid had said: “We want to help you and make you self-reliant and self-sufficient and help in your educational, social and economic uplift; and not to be left as you are, dependent on annual doles, as has been the practice hitherto, which meant that at the end of the year you were not better off than beggars asking for allowances... We want to put you on your legs as self-respecting citizens who have the opportunities of fully developing and producing what is best in you and your land. Pakistan will not hesitate to go out of its way to give every possible help—-financial and otherwise—to build up the economic and social life of our tribal brethrens.”

When will any government honour the commitments of the Father of the Nation? When will it provide respectable sources of earning to the people of Waziristan? When will it provide them with good educational institutions where they can teach modern science to their children? When will health institutions be provided to save them from incurring heavy expenditures on transportation of patients, only those who are seriously ill, to hospitals in the NWFP and Punjab, the poorest of the poor thus being forced to spend their lifetimes’ savings on the treatment of their loved ones? They cannot afford the luxury of coming from that far-flung area for treatment of illnesses that are less than fatal, which they try to cure through self-medication.

Let us cast an eye on the eight years of war, as to whether it has done any good to the common people. Has it made life better or worse for them? A mention of the road journey from Wana to Tank via Gomal Dam will suffice to explain people’s sufferings.

The road which was generally used for travelling from Wana to Tank via Jandola is closed since long. Even the army does not use it any more for security reasons. It was first closed for the Wazir tribe, which forced the Waziris to use the Wana-Fort Sandeman-Dera Ismail Khan road, a very hazardous journey which took more than 24 hours and in addition to exposed the travellers to dangers in terms of security. Then the tribe was allowed to use the long-demanded road of Wana to Tank via Gomal Dam. This road is much shorter and faster than the Wana-Jandola-Tank road, but the security checks at different points and the frequent army movements have made it a nightmare. A journey of two hours takes 16 hours.

The people of the area complain, but nobody listens. They would not have uttered a single word of complaint if they were satisfied that the war had achieved the desired result. They would not have complained had militancy been eliminated from the area, and the country as a whole. They would not have complained had the war made Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and Lakki Marwat safer from the carnage that is being witnessed on a daily basis.

Waziristan has suffered long enough. We cannot afford to ignore it any more if we are concerned about the future of our younger generation. We have to replace the “dismantled training camps” with good schools and hospitals. We have to provide basic facilities and means of livelihood to the people. Only then can we hope to achieve a permanent end to militancy. Banking on the military operation alone as a cure for militancy is tantamount to following a tunnel-vision approach on a road leading nowhere.

The writer is a former ambassador. Email: waziruk@hotmail.com