It was in Dec 2008 that we Pakhtuns of Southern Ontario, (Canada) organized a protest demonstration about Military Operation in Swat, in Toronto. Our purpose was to highlight the atrocities of Taliban ( who were then in control of most of the Swat valley) as well as to urge Pakistan army to focus their operation and target only the militants and not the civilian population. We got permission from the provincial government, informed all the major media outlets for the coverage of the event, prepared press-release to be handed over to the media, and arranged /organized transportation to carry people to the venue of the demonstration. It was decided that the demo would be at 2:00 PM and that people would start arriving around 1:30 PM .Everything was finalized one day before the event day. The next morning, on the day of the event, I started preparing for departure, prepared my kids also to go with me to be part of the demo…and was about to depart for the meeting place from where people of my town ( I was living in Cambridge, Ontario those days-,100 Kms from Toronto where the demo had to take place) would depart collectively in a caravan…I got a call from a friend who had been told by another friend that the demonstration has been cancelled. I was utterly shocked. Being one the organizer, I had no clue. When I made a few calls here and there, I was told that a person and his two friends ( who also happen to be from my area in Swat) a few notable participants late at night to spread the word that the demonstration has been cancelled. It turned out they had also (mis)informed some of the media outlets about the cancellation. I and my friends started calling people to inform them that our program was still according to the plan, but most of them had changed their plans and very few agreed to go with us…so we had to cancel the program that day. We did it in January 2009 then Sorry for making you bored but Now the Important and must read part: When I investigated the reason for the sabotage of our program, it turned out that that person and some of his friends feared that the news and pictures of that demo would reach Swat, and Taliban ( and/or ISI) would harm their near and dear ones. Let me add that that a few weeks earlier, that very person had told me r to stop participating in political activities of this kind as it would bring bad name to us in Canada and we would be expelled –probably. I was able to counter his apparent arguments that time, having little understanding that he was actually scared of Pakistanis- Taliban and ISI. Now another scene: Actually two short scenes. Please bear with me. There was an anti-Taliban conference in London, probably in 2009 or 2010 (sorry forgot the exact year) and most of the participants of Swat origin were hiding their faces from cameras because they were worried that Taliban would target them or their families. If their faces were recognized by them. Then there was that anti Taliban and pro-targeted Military operation in London. It was in the summer of 2009 If I remember correctly. A friend from Swat, who was doing PhD in France at that particular moment, and was on HEC scholarship, was the organizer of that demo from France. I remember, despite his very busy schedule, he would stay awake till early morning to make banners, posters, post-cards etc for the demo, contact and convince people for participation, and arrange transportation from Paris to London. He was keeping me in the loop about all this. Then on the night of the demo-day ( It was night here in Canada, but early morning of the D-Day in Paris) that he called me. It was really unexpected of him to call at that untoward hour…When I picked the phone, he told me in a scary, worried voice that someone had called him to not participate in the London Demo , otherwise not only would his HEC scholarship be cancelled, but his old parents back home would also suffer…He wanted my advice and after some discussion, we agreed that the program would go ahead as planned-the brave man as he is. These three events( and many more that I know of) give a glimpse of how and how much were overseas Pakistanis of Swati origin scared of the Taliban ( both of the turbaned and non-turbaned varieties) in those scary days of 2008/09/10. Just imagine how much would be people living in under the controlling shadows of those monsters in Swat be scared and frightened. This is the context and the milieu in which Malala and her brave father Ziaudin Yousafzai stood up to Taliban , and spoke and wrote about the plight of people who had to live through that bloody saga.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 07:32:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015