Four reasons why there should be no army cantt in Swat

Raheel Shareef has laid foundation stone of army cantonment in Swat. It is as bad a policy-step as bad it can get. Here I present the reasons why there should be no army cant in Swat.

1.      1.  Army beats the drums of successful army operation in Swat. If the operation is successful and if the area is free of any miscreants, why there is a need of permanent army presence in Swat? It nullifies the basic idea behind army operations. If army has to be needed for permanent stability then it means that there is no peace and all claims of peace and stability are just a whitewash. It has to be remembered that Swat is not a frontier region i.e. it shares no boundary with any other country, it is in the middle of mainstream Pakistan. So the argument that we have to stop Taliban from recapturing Swat defies any logic as there are no militias or organized militancy in the area. What the militancy was a brief chaos which was encouraged by the incompetence of both the provincial governments and intelligence agencies. If Swat has to be made secure, it will need strong civil institutions and trust of the locals instead of imposing a permanent martial law in the area.

2.     2.   If army is needed as an emergency response force then Chakdara fort and Malakand where there are army installations are just a 30 minutes drive from the main city of Mingora. The army should withdraw to those installations and act as an emergency force if there is any need (but there is no need till now for army to intervene as there are no militants now). Intelligence based operation can successfully intervene to stop any militant activity in future but then the state knows that intelligence agencies are there for creating chaos only. So the police should be strengthened and the law and order responsibility should be handed over to them.

3.      3.  Swat has very scarce plain land. Most of the terrain is hilly. The people there treasure whatever piece of land they have. With coming of cant, DHA, Bahria and all other elite land-grabbing schemes will be the next to follow. This land grabbing will put an indescribable strain on the already stressed demographics of the area. The army should make it clear that whether it wants the cant for stability in the area or just another summer vacation camp where it elite can spend leisure hours and enjoy the scenic beauty after retirement. This cant is no more than a fear couched pretense for land grabbing empire of the army.

4.      4.  The locals see the army presence as invading their own space. The chechposts and overbearing attitude of army is making the people aliens in their own land. We are being asked in front of our door “Shanakhti card dekhao”. Imagine a man speaking Urdu in Pastun accent asking a man at frnt gate of his home at Sahiwal, “Shanakhti card dekhao.” We are treated as suspects in our homes, we are stopped from everyday activities just because army high-ups are visiting the area. Till now the people are suffering while knowing that the army will leave one day, the cant is going to make them aliens in their homes with no land.