Swat Valley Ceasefire Consequences

Swat Valley is a district in Northern Pakistan, close to the Indian border on the south eastern front and Afghanistan in the North-East. It, however, is not a border district of Pakistan. Swat valley is a beautiful place with amazing natural scenic beauty. It is used to be called the “Switzerland of Pakistan” until it was occupied by the Taliban, a militant group. The Swat Valley was a major tourist attraction and had a ski resort at Malam Jabba. This ski resort was closed down in 2007 because of the failure of Pakistan Government’s provision of security. It was eventually burnt down by the militants in 2008. Taliban infiltrated into the Swat Valley in the year 2007 as recorded. Maulana Fazlullah is the leader of the Taliban insurgency in the Swat Valley. Maulana Fazlullah leads a group called Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi. The Tehree-e-nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi includes militants from Chechnya, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. This group started its violent activities from the year 2007 and by the end of 2008 they had already captured the whole of the Swat Valley and destroyed most of the government’s buildings and schools. They have introduced the “Sharia” law in the valley. Sharia law is an Islamic law which does not allow education for women and is said to be the Allah’s Law. The group imposed a parallel government in Swat Valley and by December 2008 they had driven out around 20000 Pakistani security forces from Swat Valley. The killing of innocent people and the atrocities on civilians forced the Pakistani Government to enter into a ceasefire and truce with Fazlullah, February 2009.

There were various reactions to the ceasefire and the allowance of Sharia Law in the Swat Valley by the Pakistan Government. International community is afraid that the agreement with the militant outfit would encourage them to more militant activities in the Indian subcontinent. Instead of fighting, the terrorists of Pakistan have succumbed to their demands and pressure. It is important to note that the ceasefire took place when Pakistan was going through major political turmoil internally.

Occupancy of the Swat Valley by militant outfits is politically critical. The most important reason for this is Islamabad’s short distance from Swat. And it is not very far from the Indian international border as well. The militants will get a new hideout at Swat Valley. The terrain of Swat makes it difficult for any inland access activity, making it hard for any kind of military operations against the militants hiding in Swat.

The ceasefire will also legitimize the violation of human rights in the valley. But on the other hand, the local civilians of the valley are happy with the ceasefire because there is peace for the time being. However, the ceasefire has not convinced the militants to put down their arms. International community feels that this denial of the militants will affect the stability of Pakistan’s politics. Moreover, it will give the militants a base to create disturbance in Afghanistan and will provide a safe haven to the militants for cross border terrorism in Afghanistan.

Linus Orakles
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