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PAKISTAN: Violence Stalks Polls in Frontier Areas

Ashfaq Yusufzai

PESHAWAR, Dec 28 2007 (IPS) - One day before she was killed in a gunfire attack-cum-suicide blast near the Pakistani capital city, Benazir Bhutto, was in this town in the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) addressing an election rally organised by her Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

Despite her mass appeal as two-time prime minister and leader of Pakistan’s most popular party, the rally, Dec. 26, was thinly attended. Memories of the bloody attack on a mosque in NWFP’s Charsadda district on the festival of Eid al Adha, the previous week, were fresh in the minds of people here, say observers.

At least 70 worshippers were killed and hundreds injured in the suicide attack, on Dec. 21, targetting Aftab Sherpao, who was Pakistan’s interior minister and who resigned last month.

Violence has shadowed the electioneering in lawless Federally Administered Tribal Areas and parts of the NWFP bordering Afghanistan. Few candidates have dared to hold public meetings for fear of reprisal from pro-Taliban groups who have boycotted the polls scheduled to be held on Jan. 8.

Campaigning has yet to take off in many parts including Buner, Chitral, Lower and Upper Dir, districts that were famous for colourful political activities in the past.

"In most of the districts, including Swat, Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu and Charsadda, the candidates are trying to canvas house-to-house, without any prior notice," said Amjad Khan, a teacher at the Government College in Charsadda town.

The most dangerous is conflict-wracked Swat Valley. No candidate has dared to do anything beyond corner meetings, and putting up banners and posters. "They (militants) are playing a decisive role in the polls," Dr Said Alma Mashed, a resident of South Waziristan agency told IPS. According to him, candidates from liberal parties are facing threats and unable to campaign in remote areas.

Authorities in FATA told IPS that they have expressed reservations about the volatile situation, and asked the government to postpone the polls due to security concerns. Heightened militancy, military operations and inter-tribal disputes were major obstacles to the smooth conducting of polls, they revealed.

Shakil Qadir, who is security secretary for FATA, admitted there were security related problems but the polls, he said, would be held as scheduled. According to him, trouble spots had been identified and the government planned to shift polling stations to safer places, and provide elaborate security to voters. Some 188 candidates are contesting elections for 12 National Assembly seats in FATA. But few voters are likely to dare to exercise their franchise, political parties fear. In the last general election, in 2002, the voter turn out was 41.74 percent

"The voter turn out would be less than 20 percent, because of growing militancy and boycott by the opposition parties," said Shabbir Ahmad Khan, a former lawmaker and leader of the Jamaat Islami Party, which is boycotting the polls along with the Justice Party and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami party. The three have formed an alliance for democracy.

In neighboring Swat, most of the hilly parts of the district are in the control of pro-Taliban groups. However, as a result of intensive military operations, the law-enforcers have re-established their writ in some thesis or village clusters of upper Swat, like Khwazakhela, Matta and Kabal, and are trying to weed out the militants.

Swat has two seats in Pakistan’s 272-member National Assembly – NA 29 and NA 30. While most parts of NA 29, Mingora city, Shamozi and Barikot, are to some extent peaceful, other areas like Manglawar, Ningwalai, Koza Bandai, Bara Bandai, Shah Derai, Dardyal, Dewlai, Manai, Langar and some adjoining hilly parts of NA 29 are considered to be unstable.

"Political parties are focusing on the urban areas. Majority of the contestants are keeping their electioneering confined to urban parts and they are not visiting the villages," Ashraf Ali, a political analyst at the University of Peshawar, told IPS.

Many cases of election-related violence have been reported.

Last week, unidentified assailants shot at Mohamad Sher Khan, PPP’s leader in Swat. The house of Pakistan Muslim League-Q leader, Ghafoor Khan, was blown up in Kabal early this week, apparently in reaction to the army operations against militants.

Amir Muqam, a former minister and close aide of president Pervez Musharraf, who is contesting from Peshawar, survived a suicide bombing at his house only two months ago. He was elected from Shangla, adjacent to Swat, in the 2002 elections.

The situation in the Kurram tribal region, which has two National Assembly seats, is very precarious. Clashes between rival factions, who have blocked all the major roads, forced the authorities to clamp curfew orders in several parts including the capital, Parachinar.

In Mohmand Agency, a candidate, Maulana Mohammad Sadiq, was kidnapped this week. The father of a candidate from Bajaur Agency was shot dead by masked men last week. In Darra Adamkhel, local Taliban ripped off the posters and banners of 22 candidates on Dec. 26.

"Bad law and order situation in especially violence-hit Swat and FATA will definitely affect the outcome of elections," predicted Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, secretary-general of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) in an interview with IPS.