What we had feared and constantly warning against has happened. Troops have been deployed in Swat. The government claims that Maulana Fazlullah has set up a `parallel government” , has a 4500 strong private army named the Shaheen Force and is also protecting foreign militants. Maulana Fazlullah interestingly still has his illegal FM station through which he continues his morning broadcasts . In his most recent one he has declared that the government is planning this operation to “ kill innocents”
In this fluid situation , we can only reiterate what we have been saying all along : who is to blame? Just as we asked at the time of the Lal Masjid operation, where were the intelligence agencies , government etc when allegedly Maulana Fazalullah was organizing his 4500 strong Shaheen Force? Why was Maulana Falullah allowed to operate an illegal FM station when every other day the government curbs the freedom of the registered FM stations when they try to broadcast current affairs programs? Where was the government when an individual was setting up “ parallel governments” in allegedly fifty nine villages of Swat ?
True, it is a failure of the writ of the government, as the government spokesperson said. But the writ of the government is not established through force. It is established by good and active governance .
No one , at this stage, knows how many will loose their lives in this operation. Perhaps no one cares.