Everything seemed fine within the 5337 sq-km area of Swat valley and its 1.694701 million people despite upheavals in the rest of the Pashto speaking areas of the North West Frontier province of Pakistan, till the early nineties.
Culturally, the people of Swat valley have been more accommodating, more generous and more open to the process of change. The reason for this difference from the rest of the tribal areas is the fact that between 1917 – 1969 Swat was a sovereign state that was ruled by a benign and forward looking monarchy . During this period there was extensive development of infrastructure, especially when Swat State pushed ahead with much needed reform in the field of education.
The beautifully built and properly staffed institutions catered to the need of the neighboring areas, too. By establishing girl’s schools and colleges, the State encouraged female literacy, the first step on the way to progress. This went against the cultural history of keeping women away from development and the women of the valley of Swat had the highest female literacy rate compared to neighboring districts. Until the early nineties, no one among the common folk or the clergy had ever raised any objection to women education in the valley.
Swat has a rich past of Learning. During Buddhist period there were fourteen hundred monasteries on both side of the Swat river. Students from as far away as China came to Swat for learning. Buddhism penetrated China and Tibet from this valley. The rulers of Swat revived that old tradition of learning by establishing Schools and colleges in the whole of Swat.
After the merger of the State with Pakistan more schools and colleges for girls were opened in public sector. Private sector also established some good educational institutions for girls in the urban areas of Swat. Students from the neighboring districts continued coming to Swat for education. There are 10 high schools, 4 higher secondary schools and 4 degree colleges where education is imparted to females only, beside the post graduate college where male and female are co-educated at masters level.
After the fall of Taliban in Afghanistan, their activities started getting popular support among the Pashtun areas along the Pakistan border. Swat is one of the victims of Talibanization. The secular nature of the Swati society slowly changed into an extremist one. Two enlightened personalities, Dr.Abdul Wahab and Fazal Wahab, a writer, were killed in Swat. Some of the moderates were threatened of the same fate and they either succumbed to the pressure or left the country for good.
At first the clergy started to speak against female education through unauthorized FM radios and in public gatherings, this was the first phase and later brought a halt to female education and women leaving home for any reason through force, bomb blasts and ambushes. Many female teachers were killed in Mohmand and Bajawar areas. A higher secondary school for girls at Kabal, Swat was blown up in a bomb blast. That was the last nail in the coffin.
The government of the time (the MMA government) remained a silent spectator or to be exact gave tacit approval of this phenomenon of holding the community to ransom. Parents reluctant to send their daughters to school resulted in female educational institutions both in the public and private sectors to be closed for the last two months.
The offices of non governmental organizations were closed after a deadly bomb blast. A vehicle of Save the Children was blown up which caused the death of six victims.
EPS ( Environmental Protection Society) a leading NGO in the valley since 1991, in collaboration with the Government of NWFP has implemented projects for female empowerment through education, skills and income generating activities. Working together with women councilors in the devolution of power process. EPS helps by providing political education and encouraging women to take part in elections at all levels. Through their Social Organization Units, upper Swat at Madyen and at Saidu Sharif implemented their projects on Female Health, Gender awareness and health hygiene in Shangla.
The militants stormed the office in Madyan and carried away, vehicles, computer equipments and survey machines. All the activities for women development were stopped. The lives of the EPS employees are in severe danger.
Government Jahanzeb post graduate college is the only institution in the valley which provides post graduate studies in various disciplines. Admission to Post graduate classes of the female students were started in late 1990s.The number of students increased from year to year till 2007. The retrogressive forces working against female education brought all classes to halt by threatening those who worked hard to encourage and support the administration and the parents to make the program a success. The fear tactics were so hard and harsh that they were forced to toe the line or leave the country for good.
Talibanization was a major cause of disappointment for many when the college administration succumbed to the threats of militants to stop female education in the college. Director of Academics Professor Fazal Subhan Afghani, who is a religious scholar and a respected elder, announced with a broken heart that female candidates should not apply for admission this year, 2007. He said that it was their safety that was his major concern. Professor Afghani has time and again brought the issue to the District administration but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears and has had little impact,.
This is, indeed, a disheartening and sad scenario because as the rest of the world stands at the dawn of the 21th century, it has not heralded any hope for many who are willing to march forward and leave behind the afflictions of poverty, ignorance and lawlessness. It seems that the terrorizing forces have won instead, they have the upper hand and are pushing us further into the all engulfing dark. A virtual retrogression is in total effect.