The Malala effect

By Syed Irfan Ashraf | 12/30/2012

MILITANCY may have been overcome to a large extent in Swat, but the disruption it caused in the lives of so many families, individuals and institutions has yet to be replaced by normalcy. For this, both the militants and the security forces must be blamed.

Take the example of schools in the area, so many of which were destroyed by the Taliban to demonstrate their idea of social change in the valley. The security forces, too, occupied them, making them into their camps. This was tantamount to the state using what belonged to civilians for implementing its own strategy.

Once again, the move to rename schools in Swat after Malala was apparently meant to honour the sacrifices of young Malala Yousafzai who was attacked by the Taliban in October. But cashing in on the Malala story in this way will only make these institutions of learning more of a Taliban target. Hundreds of girls expressed this concern as they tore down the nameplate bearing Malala`s name in one school.

Ever since the start of militancy a decade ago, the authorities in Pakistan have lacked the will to take on the Taliban directly and decisively. Instead, civilians in the troubled areas of the northwest were put in the line of fire.

Tribesmen were goaded into forming lashkars and peace committees as a buffer for Taliban attacks. In other less threatened areas, policies were adopted that put civilian life on the ventilator, while helping militancy to stay there in one form or another.

This regrettable official approach has only invited militants to attack civilians with impunity. Count the official number of security forces dead in fighting militancy (according to some estimates over 3,000 and compare it with the number of civilians killed (some 40,000) to understand the severity of the situation.

Returning to Swat, the public by and large blames the Taliban for destroying schools.

Few comprehend the consequences of the military`s taking over of schools and colleges to assist their deployment of troops in conflict-hit areas.

One can argue that poor logistics led the forces to put up temporarily in schools.

However, this move set off a similar trend in other militant-controlled areas.

Once the schools had been turned into trenches, the militants honed their strategy to blow up every sign of liberal learning. Hundreds of schools in the northwest have been destroyed in a fight in which both the security forces and the Taliban are responsible for causing one of the worst dropout ratios in the region.

Another example is that of Darra Adamkhel, a semi-tribal area about one hour away from Peshawar. This area too had turned into a hotbed of militancy inviting a military operation in 2006. After 2010, Darra was officially declared cleared of militants. However, the only degree college and high school in one area still await reconstruction because the security forces continue to occupy them.

Similarly, half of the more than 150 damaged schools remain in their condition because sporadic militant attacks provide security forces a justification to disrupt normal life routines.

Therefore, militancy in such areas has continued to rule despite the physical absence of the militants.

After the successful 2009 security operation in Swat, the catchphrase `clear, hold and transfer` echoed everywhere in the valley. Civilians waited for the military to transfer to it the valley`s administration. But isolated incidents of violence gave the security forces an excuse to dominate, and thus disrupt, what should have once more been normal life.

Perhaps, on the ground, the situation in Swat is better than it is in Darra Adam khel because of international funding. But the recent announcement by President Asif Ali Zardari that his government and the Unesco were establishing a Malala Fund for Girls` Education is also an attempt at milking the issue.

It would seem that the ruling elite is facilitating the militants in the trap they have set for the younger generation.

Concrete work is needed, not sops, if it is to avoid a scenario where militants are in a position to recruit youngsters, whether from IDP camps or functioning towns.

If schools are affected by both terror and counter terrorism strategies, what future should we suggest for youngsters in Pakhtun lands? Asking such questions is important to hold accountable the centre of power, which fights the so-called `war on terror` at the expense of civilians` blood and money.

Circumstances are created without caring for the social consequences, which give impetus to militancy in the country. On top of that, the ruling elite justify all their wrongs in the name of a rightful cause and that is enough for them to go scot-free mainly because nobody questions them.

Shouldn`t we give credit to the girl students in Swat who objected to the officials` approach of patting civilians on the head to show their disdain of militancy, without having a holistic strategy to take on the extremists them-selves? If the government is serious about the progress of girls` education, it should initiate new projects instead of renaming schools. Apart from schools bombed by the Swat Taliban, few people know that schools destroyed in the 2005 earthquake still await reconstruction in the Swat valley which was also hit.

What has prevented the ruling elite from reconstructing those schools? Under the circumstances, we need to vehemently resist any potential official move which could directly or indirectly drag the youth into the vortex of militancy. Therefore, challenging the less than proactive counter terrorism strategy of the state has become inevitable.

The state must revise its strategy of dealing with the Pakistani Taliban inside towns. Similarly, civilian attention should focus more on the social consequences of any operation, which the state plans to eliminate militancy.

In the Malala case, our policymakers should stop looking for `success` stories mainly because this mindset has stopped them from becoming a success story themselves.
The writer is pursuing a doctorate in mass communications at the South Illinois University at Carbondale, US.

syedirfanashraf@gmail.com