Screams of a Valley: Taliban, Women and the State of Pakistan, with Special Reference to the Chand Bibi Incident in 2009

Abstract

wat is a scenic valley in northern Pakistan which has been attracting a large number of tourists to enjoy its legendary beauty. Since the last four years, it has become a hotspot of a conflict between the extremist groups known as ‘Taliban’ and the security forces. As elsewhere in the world, women have been among the worst sufferers of this rising militancy and conflict which has now crossed international boundaries. Earlier, only the tribal areas of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) were affected but now settled districts and remote areas of Sindh and Punjab are getting the fallout of this process. A high point in violence against women in Swat was felt when a video was telecasted on 2 April 2009 in which a girl wearing a red dress and burqa, held by two men, was being beaten by a third man. Two men visible in the video were apparently Taliban, carrying guns as well. About two dozen people were also watching the event on the road. This event of flogging a girl in public was a test case for the tolerance, reaction, and morality of the state, society, community and the individuals related to the victims. The event unfolded those viewpoints which clearly corresponded to the respective positions of the actors, from the government to the individual level. The story was eventually hushed up, but, along with a range of other incidents of violence against women, living under militancy in Swat and FATA/PATA, it raised many questions. This paper tries to formulate such questions and also provide answers to some of them.