PAKISTAN BLOG: From Baghdad to Islamabad
June 1st, 2009
in:
CPTnet
1 June 2009
PAKISTAN BLOG: From Baghdad to Islamabad
by Gene Stoltzfus
[Note: The following reflection by CPT Director Emeritus Gene Stoltzfus has been edited for length and clarity. People wishing to see the original piece will find it at http://peaceprobe.wordpress.com/]
May 29, 2009
This morning I travelled to Rawalpindi, the partner city to Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. Near the city center, we noted Liaquat National Bagh, the park where Benazir Bhutto, the leading candidate for Prime Minister, was gunned down in Dec. 2007. At the moment that I passed the Park with its history of blood, a massive explosion was occurring in Lahore several hours further south. Â
Twenty-six people were reported killed in the May 28 Lahore blast that destroyed a police station and a prominent office of the ISI Inter Services Intelligence, Pakistan’s intelligence arm. Bombings like this send a charge of fear through anyone in Pakistan. The questions of who carried out these bombings, why, and how the perpetrators were recruited will linger despite the immediate official appraisal that this is the result of the recent attack to retake the Swat Valley by Pakistani forces.
Usually the forces of violence and reprisals are much more complicated than immediate evidence might indicate. Now with more than three million internally displaced people from the Swat operation and other fighting, there is a press for emergency relief. Many seek refuge with relatives. Others occupy unused buildings. An impressive public response has been mounted. Yesterday a student we have learned to know told us of the work of his extended family to provide emergency help to more than 500 families. Other groups who collect food and other essentials are springing up.
A group from the Swat Valley came to visit our team. They were as full of questions as I am. Why did police, and officials fail to resist when the Taliban first arrived? Why did police protection melt? Why were assassinations permitted? Now millions of cattle are dead. The crops due for harvest shortly will be wasted. Property may be destroyed and the fabric of this once prosperous valley is in danger. Even if temporary security is restored, the cycle will continue next year and the next, a local leader told us.
My mind has trouble staying only in Islamabad. I keep thinking of Baghdad where two million grew to five million displaced people and more. Many had to seek refuge outside the country in Syria and Jordan. Many have still not returned. Â
1 June 2009
PAKISTAN BLOG: From Baghdad to Islamabad
by Gene Stoltzfus
[Note: The following reflection by CPT Director Emeritus Gene Stoltzfus has been edited for length and clarity. People wishing to see the original piece will find it at http://peaceprobe.wordpress.com/]
May 29, 2009
This morning I travelled to Rawalpindi, the partner city to Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. Near the city center, we noted Liaquat National Bagh, the park where Benazir Bhutto, the leading candidate for Prime Minister, was gunned down in Dec. 2007. At the moment that I passed the Park with its history of blood, a massive explosion was occurring in Lahore several hours further south. Â
Twenty-six people were reported killed in the May 28 Lahore blast that destroyed a police station and a prominent office of the ISI Inter Services Intelligence, Pakistan’s intelligence arm. Bombings like this send a charge of fear through anyone in Pakistan. The questions of who carried out these bombings, why, and how the perpetrators were recruited will linger despite the immediate official appraisal that this is the result of the recent attack to retake the Swat Valley by Pakistani forces.
Usually the forces of violence and reprisals are much more complicated than immediate evidence might indicate. Now with more than three million internally displaced people from the Swat operation and other fighting, there is a press for emergency relief. Many seek refuge with relatives. Others occupy unused buildings. An impressive public response has been mounted. Yesterday a student we have learned to know told us of the work of his extended family to provide emergency help to more than 500 families. Other groups who collect food and other essentials are springing up.
A group from the Swat Valley came to visit our team. They were as full of questions as I am. Why did police, and officials fail to resist when the Taliban first arrived? Why did police protection melt? Why were assassinations permitted? Now millions of cattle are dead. The crops due for harvest shortly will be wasted. Property may be destroyed and the fabric of this once prosperous valley is in danger. Even if temporary security is restored, the cycle will continue next year and the next, a local leader told us.
My mind has trouble staying only in Islamabad. I keep thinking of Baghdad where two million grew to five million displaced people and more. Many had to seek refuge outside the country in Syria and Jordan. Many have still not returned. Â
