'Right from the Swat valley' by Haseeb A.

A friend of mine, senior from FAST, Haseeb Ahmed recently came back from Swat valley and shared his thoughts on a Yahoo Group (GOF). Situation is really bad out there; people are in worst condition, no food – no shelter!

Right from the Valley….

Tragedy… One of the biggest displacement in the history… not of Pakistan, not of Muslims… but of the whole Human history!
I write this with utmost pain and discomfort, and I’m sure anyone who has a comprehending heart and mind will feel the same, provided he/she analyzes the situation with open eyes. I would urge all those who are blessed with Allah’s graces, and have the resources, to visit here if possible and see for themselves the most tragic and ironic reality, with their own eyes. What a mess we have created, with our own hands… and there’s nobody to blame, no one to point fingers at, as to who is responsible for this calamity… coz it’s only ourselves! … 3 million… these are not cattle and sheep, or cats and dogs… we are here talking about 3 million humans! … 3 million Muslims! … 3 million Pakistanis!
… and the count is rising!

I just came back from the inflicted areas. And will share what we saw and what we analyzed. I went  there with a team of 10-12 from Karachi, including people from the business community, a well known welfare trust, based in khi ( also prominent for its extra ordinary relief efforts in the Earthquake), and renowned religious scholar, Syed Adnan Kakakhel ( Student Conference Islamabad, Musharraf Speech fame).

We went on an extensive study and enlightening circuit, from Islamabad to Mardan, to Takhtbhai, to Shergarh ( some 10-15kms away from where the curfew starts), back to mardan, then to Swaabi, to Tarakai, then to Nowshehra and Peshawar.

We visited many a camps, some run by welfare trusts, some run by religious institutions/ organizations, some run by NGOs, and a few by some generous local individuals who are indeed doing a great job, without any sort of funding from government or any other source, and only on their own resources. These people must be saluted for their efforts.

To give a clearer picture, these camps are scattered over a huge area, including various small cities and villages, and not concentrated in just one, two or three areas. This directly implies the humongous movement that is across the whole area below the SWAT and Malakand division, and people are continuously coming down the hills from North, towards South. There are rare means of transport available, since there is curfew enforced, majority travels this rocky, mountainous distance on bare foot.  And trust me, they have moved out of their houses, many many of which are quite well off and of good financial stature, in no more than just plain clothes!! …
… to move into camps or to take refuge in mosques, schools, madrasaas,… on roadsides, along footpaths, in grounds… wherever they’d find a shade! Or precisely, wherever they’d find a corner!

I went to quite a few camps along with the team, and the situation cannot be explained be in words. This is a massive displacement! These camps, they are no more than a very temporary resort for the people moving in.  I’m sure nobody amongst us can stand the scorching heat, in which these camps are like ovens! No human being can live in these camps, where it seems like not only the sun is fiery, the earth is also inflamed! There are no proper sanitation facilities, no utensils, no fans, no coolers, meager electricity and surely not enough medical facilities or medicines.
Women and children are the worst affected. Women have nowhere to go, they cant stand the pain and hunger of their children! Let alone, they don’t have anything for themselves! Just plain clothes, and that too been wearing for weeks now!

Children… literally cannot forget their questioning eyes! They have no idea what happened to them, why they have been moved out their houses, and when are they going to go back home!  Home is what they miss… they don’t know who the talibans are, what they are doing, or who the government is, what they are doing… they have been punished and forsaken, for sins they haven’t done!
Even then… in their adolescence … they are rhyming the national anthem in those temporary sun baked schools, still chanting “Pakistan Zindabad” with all their enthusiasm! …
Sorrow…

We talked to a number of people… just common people, and asked them who they think is responsible for this. Most of them, if not all, blame the government and the army. Talibans, they deject and hate, but they don’t hold them responsible for moving them out of their houses!

A trust we went to, told us during the earthquake, they called up this person in swat, and on one phone call he donated 14 ton rice to this trust for the earthquake stricken.  Today, that same person, is standing in their queue for 1 kg of rice for his family! He has come with nothing, but his wife and children! Has cheque books, but accounts frozen!

We went along with this trust to a number of houses, where the locals are sharing their houses, with limited resources, with the incoming refugees, and distributed packages of various rations, clothes, utensils and some cash by hand. Also disbursed donations collected from my own sources in a very short period, given to me by my friends and colleagues.

As a matter of fact, camps accumulate only 15-20% of the displaced people. The rest, 80-85% of the people are sharing homes with others, or are in schools, mosques, or as guests in hujras of locals, and therefore, are invisible! Inaccessible! Unlike those in camps, they have the shelter and shade, but are not getting any kind of relief or support.  These people should be the focus, as they are in major concentration.

There’s a huge amount of work to be done, in all dimensions….

One thing, there is no substantial relief or cooperation from the government side. Even if it is there, its only in a few large camps, or those in cities like Peshawar and noshehra. So, that increases the disappointment and annoyance of people.
Yes, there are many trusts, individuals, religious parties and ngos working, and they are no doubt doing a great job, keeping in mind the limited resources they have.

There are operations and camps from UN, NGOs from Austria, and a few others, but these are limited and surely cannot accommodate a lot of people. Also visited a camp supported by Muslim Aid Foundation and UNHCR.

We also observed that there is sheer lack of communication and information. These people have no idea and no knowledge of what is happening around them, what is happening around in war affected areas, and in the rest of the country, when will it end, where is the government, where should they go for registration, who should they contact for only information!

Implicitly, this lack of information, absence of government officials, improper arrangements, and prolonged subjection to uncertainties prevailing around them is giving rise to frustration, anger and hatred! We literally foresee riots and chaotic uprising, which infact has already started there, in the form of road and traffic blocks, and demonstrations by the hunger stricken IDPs.
Karachi… we see due to childish acts and racial bias of one certain party, the people over there have very much disappointment regarding karachiites. We literally came across questions “Aap hamein Karachi mein kiyun nahi aanay detey ho??”  and “Aap ne imran khan ko nahi aanay tou hamein kya aanay do gay!!”

This is certainly not good. This insurgency and frustration has already reached major cities, and if the attitude remains this of aloofness and discriminations, things will get worse in all parts of the country.

Observing right from here in valley and considering the socio economic impact of this displacement, if this imbalance and operations prolongs, the generation and children developing here will grow up with harsh feelings, no emotions, of frustration, anger and hatred, of snatching and might is right, and will only add to a new breed of these so called talibans, who are really not talibans, but criminals and socially depressed class!
Already, there are culprits and wolves lurking around the camps! Human wolves.  Hidden in the form of volunteers or doctors or aides, they are trying to adapt children, or kidnap them, and women and girls… they need extreme concern! Criminals from all around the country are prowling around these areas to fulfill their own tasks. May Allah protect them all!

What needs to be done…
Huge relief measures, support programs, medical facilities, educational programs, food and rations, clothes and crockery, fans and shoes,… everything! Everything and anything that can contribute to the cause! Concrete programs to provide jobs/tasks/projects or work to the skilled and unskilled displaced, so that they can support themselves, even if its only partial. Measures to move them into rental houses, and proper buildings if the military activity prolongs. And then arrangements to make sure they can go back to their homes as soon as possible, and pressure on the government to complete this operation fast!

Ofcourse, this is on a larger scale. What we, as individuals can do is to donate as much as we can, with everything we possibly can, be it cash, clothes, utensils, or just moral support. Donate to who ever we trust and feel comfortable with. Support them with all available resources. But the call is to surely come forward and realize that this is a great human tragedy we are facing and must play our roles to minimize the sufferings.

We are also collecting donations, clothes and other stuff and making sure these reach the right people, mostly distributed by hand. You can make your contributions / donations / zakats, and we’ll make sure it reaches the deserving in the best manner, inshAllah.

Pakistan is in a state of war… and ironically, the rest of the country, including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Quetta, or any other part or city of Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan, is not able to comprehend the intensity or gravity of the situation! There’s literally a war going on, within our country! We need to rise above social, racial and provincial bias and do all that we possibly can, be it only by word of mouth, be it only by showing support, if not by financial or material means, but help them! They had to move out their houses in just one day, without anything that they owned! They have lost their families… mothers looking for their children! Children looking for their fathers! Brothers in search of sisters! … and we are here trying  how to make sure they don’t come here! Damn, they don’t want to come here! Or in Punjab! Or anywhere else! They just want to go back home! So why not make sure as long as they are out of their homes,
provide them with as much as we can!
If WE… All of US… don’t act now.. this land, these people, this country, this religion, … will never forgive us!

May Allah accept everyone’s  efforts and may He give our brothers the patience and strength to stay steadfast in these testing times.
Many prayers for lasting peace in our country. Ameen.

Haseeb Ahmed Polani
ha5eebahmed@yahoo.com