Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah’s writ runs large over the picturesque Swat valley, reported all major papers. On January 26, Dawn reported: “troops were authorised to shoot at sight curfew violators in the wake of reports that Maulana Fazlullah had ‘summoned’ 50 influential people to ‘appear’ before a Taliban ‘court’ within a week.” Daily Times quoted the New York Times as saying: “Taliban — who control ‘virtually all of’ Swat — continue to use radio transmitters to terrorise residents and even reveal the names of people they kill or plan to kill”. On January 29, Dawn carried perhaps the first reactions of President Asif Ali Zardari on the state of lawlessness: ‘We will not allow them to set up their parallel judiciary system and threaten the local people to either appear before them or face death.” Mahmud Sipra, in his column in Daily Times on January 29, likened Swat to the Kashmir Valley. He observed: “Swat was our Kashmir, in tourist attraction terms that is. That comparison must end here though. I heard Omar Abdullah say that their Kashmir was ‘peaceful enough for Aamir Khan to come and film there’. I am not aware if Mr Khan took him up on his offer”.

Change of guard

The Punjab government’s takeover of the Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) headquarters at Muridke, has been lauded not only by Indian spectators but also by certain observers in Pakistan. Dawn, in its January 27 editorial stated: “If the provincial and federal governments don’t work together to ensure the group is shut down for good, in all likelihood it will re-emerge later in a new form, and perhaps with an even more virulent ideology. Second, a winning counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism strategy has to focus on the welfare of local populations.” The editorial in The News underscored the authenticity of the hints provided by India to Pakistan on the possible involvement of such outfits in the Mumbai carnage. Issuing a caveat towards the end, it observed: “The decisive action would seem to imply Pakistan does have some evidence of the LeT’s involvement in the Mumbai attacks. Over the past eight years, JuD has been able to paint itself in the minds of people as a group engaged in ‘good’ work.....But all this cannot disguise the fact that the group also promotes extremist ideas. ..Until this is revealed, groups such as the JuD will continue to paint themselves as martyrs, blaming Indian and Western pressure for the action against them.”

... contd.