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For Pakistanis under Taliban, a reign of terror via radio
A long article that fleshes out the stories we've been reading. Every night around 8 o'clock, the terrified residents of Swat, a lush and picturesque valley a hundred miles from three of Pakistan's most important cities, crowd around their radios. They know that failure to listen and learn might lead to a lashing - or a beheading. Using a portable radio transmitter, a local Taliban leader, Shah Doran, on most nights outlines newly proscribed "un-Islamic" activities in Swat, like selling DVDs, watching cable television, singing and dancing, criticizing the Taliban, shaving beards and allowing girls to attend school. He also reveals names of people the Taliban have recently killed for violating their decrees - and those they plan to kill. "They control everything through the radio," said one Swat resident, who declined to give his name for fear the Taliban might kill him. "Everyone waits for the broadcast." Being named in one of the nightly radio broadcasts often leaves just two options: fleeing Swat, or turning up headless and dumped in a village square. International attention remains fixed on the Taliban's hold on Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal areas, from where they carry out attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan. But for Pakistan, the loss of the Swat Valley could prove just as devastating. Unlike the fringe tribal areas, Swat, which has 1.3 million residents, is part of Pakistan proper, within 160 kilometers of Peshawar, Rawalpindi and the capital, Islamabad. After more than a year of fighting, virtually all of it is now under Taliban control, marking the militants' farthest advance eastward into Pakistan's so-called settled areas. With the increasing consolidation of their power, the Taliban have taken a sizable bite out of the nation. And they are enforcing a strict interpretation of Islam with cruelty, bringing public beheadings, assassinations, social and cultural repression and persecution of women to what was once an independent, relatively secular region, dotted with ski resorts and fruit orchards and known for its dancing girls. From 2,000 to 4,000 Taliban fighters now roam the Swat Valley, according to interviews with a half-dozen senior Pakistani government, military and political officials. By contrast, the Pakistani military has four brigades with 12,000 to 15,000 men in Swat, officials say. But the soldiers largely stay inside their camps, unwilling to patrol or exert any large presence that might provoke - or discourage - the militants. When the army does act, its near-total lack of preparedness to fight a counterinsurgency reveals itself. Its usual tactic is to lob artillery shells into a general area, and the results have seemed to hurt civilians more than the militants, residents say. In some parts of Pakistan, civilian militias have risen to fight the Taliban. But in Swat, the Taliban's sweeping takeover amid such a large army presence has convinced many people that the military must be conspiring with the Taliban. "It's very mysterious how they get so much weapons and support," while nearby districts are comparatively calm, said Muzaffar ul-Mulk Khan, a member of Parliament from Swat, who said his home outside Mingora had recently been destroyed by the Taliban. "We are bewildered by the military. They patrol only in Mingora. In the rest of Swat they sit in their bases. And the militants can kill at will anywhere in Mingora," he said. Posted by: trailing wife 2009-01-26 |
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