Swat peace deal with TNSM was met with mixed reactions. Some breathed a sigh of relief hoping for revival of peace in the valley, some reacted very strongly against it saying that it would do no good, and rest were clueless. The West and US had very strong reservations of the peace accord and they opposed it vocally. Still government of Pakistan went ahead and got it passed from the parliament. After a couple of months of signing the deal and a month after enforcing the new Nizam-e-Adl regulation, we can now judge it, more objectively.
First of all let's see what were the immediate outcomes of the deal, first the positives;
* Swat became relatively peaceful.
* Most of Pakistanis were finally happy that government listened to their wishes and gave peace a chance.
Now, the negatives;
* Militants started over estimating themselves.
* Rest of the world started accusing Pakistan of surrendering to the Taliban.
* Incidents like flogging girls in public started happening.
* Taliban started to move into other areas of Malakand, like Buner and Lower Dir.
* Finally, a military action in Dir.
Now the question that arises in my mind is that could the peace deal actually be a clever tactical
maneuver by Pakistani military establishment, namely General Kiyani, to expose Taliban's true face and intentions and go after them with full force? The government has killed 3 birds with one arrow by signing and exposing the evil militants; 1- got the much needed public opinion swayed in favor of military action, 2- isolated Taliban from any political support that they had like Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan and Qazi Hussain Ahmad, and, 3- revived army's lost support in general public.
So if it was actually a calculated, planned strategy, then well done Pakistan! I just hope that the military action this time is decisive and result oriented.
First of all let's see what were the immediate outcomes of the deal, first the positives;
* Swat became relatively peaceful.
* Most of Pakistanis were finally happy that government listened to their wishes and gave peace a chance.
Now, the negatives;
* Militants started over estimating themselves.
* Rest of the world started accusing Pakistan of surrendering to the Taliban.
* Incidents like flogging girls in public started happening.
* Taliban started to move into other areas of Malakand, like Buner and Lower Dir.
* Finally, a military action in Dir.
Now the question that arises in my mind is that could the peace deal actually be a clever tactical
maneuver by Pakistani military establishment, namely General Kiyani, to expose Taliban's true face and intentions and go after them with full force? The government has killed 3 birds with one arrow by signing and exposing the evil militants; 1- got the much needed public opinion swayed in favor of military action, 2- isolated Taliban from any political support that they had like Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan and Qazi Hussain Ahmad, and, 3- revived army's lost support in general public.So if it was actually a calculated, planned strategy, then well done Pakistan! I just hope that the military action this time is decisive and result oriented.
