Recently, people have came to the streets of Swat to record their protest against militancy in Swat. The dignified people of Swat rallied against the militancy that seems to have been embedded into them. Their horrific past haunts them to this very day. Just tomorrow a school van was targeted and it came under heavy fire, martyring the driver & severely wounding two students.
The protests, rallies & momentum inside this beautiful valley aren't some things that happened within a couple of days. It's a result of events that happened over time. below are some highlights of the events that haunt the people of Swat to this very day.
Swat is one of the top tourist attractions of Pakistan. Swat has a cooler and wetter climate, lush forests, verdant alpine meadows, and snow-capped mountains.
Their Unfortunate Past:
However, in recent years, things have changed, Swat has seen extreme violence, that completely sabotaged Swat's peace & prosperity.
This all began when TTP annexed Swat and imposed Shariah Law, which forbade women from going to school, executed thieves, barbers, and owners of music stores, and promoted anti-polio vaccine campaigns. These draconian & so-called "Shariah Laws" are even prohibited from driving on the left-hand side of the road.
For control of Pakistan's Swat District, Pakistan and the Tehrik-i-Taliban engaged in Operation Rah-e-Haq in late 2007.
On October 25, 2007, the Pakistani Army and TTP-led fighters engaged in combat for control of Pakistan's Swat district.
Between October 25 and November 7, 2007, extremists swiftly took over the area.
On November 15th, 2007, Pakistan launched an offensive & Pakistani army took over almost all of Swat district, city after city, town after town.
After this defeat Militants of Swat abandoned fighting and went underground, but, not for long because over the following months, Taliban fighters gradually returned to Swat and began fighting with government troops in conflicts that lasted all through 2008.
The majority of Swat was once again under the Taliban's control by early February 2009, and they controlled at least 80% of the area.
To counter this 2nd wave of militancy Pakistani Army and militants from Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan engaged in combat as part of Operation Rah-e-Rast in May 2009 to seize control of the Swat district of Pakistan.
The army had enough of playing around with TTP and this time it was decided to give them a final blow and cut them from their roots altogether.
The world saw the 2nd largest airlift in the history of wars after WW2 by Pakistan's army, they seized Swat from all sides & soon Pakistan army liberated the entire Swat.
In this extensive fight for freedom, the people of Swat had seen enough militancy & now they couldn't believe, they were free of that curse.
Future of Swat:
Fast forward to 2022 & It's concerning, for the people of Swat, the recent increase in the militancy of the Valley. A couple of months back rumors spread over social media that TTP has infiltrated back into Swat. After videos of armed men went viral in the valley of Swat. Only soon to be found out that they were just private security guards. The people of Swat took a breath of relief.
Unfortunately, for the people of Swat on the 10th of October of 2022, one school van was targeted, martyring the driver & severely wounding two students. This sent a wave of fear into the people of Swat, as in the past they've had a horrible experience with militancy. Thus, the people of Swat today rallied against militancy in Swat. According to them, "They've had enough & want an end to this" they want peace restored in the beautiful valley of Swat. The last thing the people of Swat want is history to repeat itself.