Of facts and hyprocrisy: What happens in Swat stays in Swat?
Fri, 24th April 2009 - 07:24 PM   |   1522 views   |  comments

Its quite worth-while to see and observe how this nation is being steered by what is fed to them through the media. Its like a shepherd herding a flock. Whatever happened to an individual's sense of intellectual analysis, rational and unbiased thinking is beyond comprehension!

Some Facts that one should analyze before taking a look at what's happening in Pakistan today

Lets analyze some core facts and figures. This growing phenomenon of the T's has two sides:

1. External factors
2. Internal factors

External factors are very well debated over various mediums. I willnot touch them. However, internal factors play an equally important role. It is undeniable that no matter what there is "something" which is attracting and supporting the growing influence of Tees. This notion is not given an ear anywhere.

• 72% of the population in Pakistan live under $2/day income [UNDP].
• 15% live under $1/day [UNDP]
• Infant mortality rate is 8.8% depicting the poor health sector [UN]
  
• 44% of rural land is controlled by 2% of households [WB]
  
• 83% of rural areas are under the influence of some sort of authoritarian / dictator (read: Feudal lords) [UN]
• Pakistan is listed next to Rwanda, Bangladesh, Sub-saharan Africa and Ethiopia on various factors [UN HDI report 1996]
• In rural areas: 51% of poor tenants owe money to the landlords. The landlords' position of power allows them to exploit the only resource the poor can possibly provide: their own labor. [Wiki]
  

Population in Rural Areas is without any "hope"

It is very clear if we dig up the statistics of various factors that the situation is worse then one can imagine in the rural areas. They have the menace of Feudalism / dictatorship and the population serves them as slaves. Quite frankly, we the modern-moderate-enlightened folks dont give a damn. Consider the recent series of strikes, one in which a poor villager died of hunger-strike and the other from school teachers who have vowed for a collective suicide if they are not paid their wages for the past 8 months.

But we dont really care, do we? Where are those sponsored (read: sold-out) NGOs, who only pop up when its time to safeguard "foreign" interests.

Most of the tribal areas are ruled by feudal lords, sardars, etc. who are equally violent and brutal in ruling their "serfs" or villagers. There is no access to education, civil rights, justice or any sort of freedom for that matter. To these "serfs" and "villagers" it doesn't matter who rules them. Government and political leaders despite various promises, totally ignore this big population. They are busy in their own personal life and interests. And so are us, the so called enlightened moderates. Consequently, these "serfs" or poor villagers don't ever get their voices heard and are living in a life where literally there is no hope. They are murdered, raped, beheaded, and even fed to the dogs.

We don't give a damn. But when all this is put to an end in Swat in the form of a deal - everybody gets panicked and starts criticizing.

Signs of an erupting volcano: For good or for worse.

Obviously, this miserable state can not continue for long. It's not natural. There is a volcanic spirit waiting to erupt in the form of a bloody revolution if we don't get our house in order. The signs of which are already apparent in the northern front. It just needs a push, a spark - and it will start its free-fall journey on a "deliberately unexpecting" nation. The french revolution is a suitable example that such things do happen; when people march down the streets and axe every person who can afford a car, a house and 3 meals a day out of mere frustration. Instead in our case, it might be justice, feudalism, and ofcourse the wild-card "religion".

Considering the numbers (72%) is not something you can ignore. These T's put their hand over the exact nerve by giving this ignored segment of our population the deadliest thing - "Hope"! False or otherwise, it doesn't matter. A dying person will do anything to survive and it wouldn't matter to him if people are beheaded for not having a beard.

It's high time we stop our ignorant state of denial. Either we put our house in order ASAP by imposing an emergency and eliminating all these various factions -- or somebody will make us do it the hard way. Sadly, nobody from our political front will do that as our political elites are themselves (well, majority) feudal lords.

What happens in Swat, stays in Swat!?

Look at what happened in Swat - bloodshed, bloody revolution (right or wrong is another thing, yet another debate) - but it happened. Its still happening and its spreading. The brutal and violent forces (namely, T's) used our weaknesses as a bait. People got fed up and gave up for the sake of peace.

Our nation is simply not ready for a military conflict with these T's. Its not because we don't have the military will or the capability (by God I don't believe that) but simply because we are not ready to face the bitter and horrible face of an armed conflict, we are not just ready to give 20-30 thousand civilian casualties / collateral damage. This was quite apparent when military was actually putting up a resistance but on the other hand also facing a severe criticism from the NGOs, politcal parties and us - i.e. the so-called moderates and enlightened souls.

The blame was "Army is killing our own people." Well duh, Swat is a developed area, what else were you expecting? It's collateral damage with a capital C - not how you are putting it, ofcourse Army is not enjoying killing the civilians. Sadly our nation (somehow) doesn't / didn't support our military to eliminate the threat by force, naturally, they had to stop or risk further deteriorating their image in public. Not to mention the external forces trying to achieve the same goal of defaming our military and isolate them from the public.

Our hypocrisy?

The dilemma for us, the so-called enlightened moderates, is that we are not willing to accept the demands of these 72% people who live under the $2/day belt. Regardless of our claims of "democracy" we give a blind's eye and a deaf ear to this significant portion of our society. The reason is simple: we are happy to be the ruling elites. Yes, ruling because we can easily pay - and buy cheap slaves - as our drivers, cooks, house-maids, gardeners, butlers and servants and we don't want things otherwise.

This is exactly our hypocrisy.