By Adil Zareef

THE enterprising chief minister of the NWFP, Amir Haider Khan Hoti, recently proposed a $4bn peace package for social development sectors as well as fighting the intractable jihadis in the conflict-ridden province. He has rightly spoken of the need to address the socio-economic needs of the population in order to heal the deep scars that terrorism has inflicted on the people and the economy.

In fact, the province is trapped in a Catch-22 situation where extreme poverty breeds desperation, thus leading to extremism. To get rid of extremism, we need a long-term and a multi-pronged approach. Should the ‘war on terrorism’ proceed as usual or should peace be given a chance?

Peace and prosperity are interlinked — as are desperation and terrorism. Therefore, reversing this vicious cycle by generating economic opportunities and exploring meaningful livelihoods for society’s desperately deprived sections is a rational way out. It appears that sanity is dawning on the architects of the previous gung-ho policy.

Besides hydel power and tobacco, tourism is one of the NWFP’s major income-generating industries that has been seriously hit by terrorism. Incorporating 70 per cent of Pakistan’s renowned tourist spots, the province has seen a 90 per cent decline in foreign tourists since 2001.

The Sarhad Tourism Corporation (STC) has demanded a relief package worth $40m as compensation from the federal government for the loss of revenue from the billion-dollar industry that has suffered incalculable losses.

Mr Azam Khan, the STC’s dynamic managing director, who sincerely wants to improve matters, recently wrote a memorandum to the provincial government: “Our mountains, valleys, plains, green forests and lush meadows, our historical monuments and lofty traditions were known for their beauty and as recreation for visitors from all over. They never were meant to be day in and day out in the news for terrorism and militancy. We need your active participation to bring back and highlight the lost lustre of this land and its people. Would you make your contribution to changing the current perception of the world about the Frontier — from being a land of hostility to the original theme of a land of hospitality?”

To remedy this distorted image, the STC has already planned a year-long activity schedule throughout the province to boost domestic tourism, generate healthy activities and competition and to highlight the region in terms of its positive aspects rather than in terms of terrorism.

The Sarhad Conservation Network that has been lobbying for the conservation of the natural and built heritage and healthy lifestyles since 2002 was honoured to be taken on board on this initiative.

Many cultural, literary and tourist activities are under consideration in partnership with the STC in the current year. On May 10, the first cultural evening is being planned at the historic Sethi House.

Located deep inside the old walled city of Peshawar, Mohallah Sethian is a living monument to the provincial capital’s glorious past. More than 150 years old, its interconnected houses were built for the Sethi family, one of the great business dynasties of the subcontinent. Hidden inside these houses, covering their ceilings and walls like a mantle, is decorative woodwork of exquisite quality and chandeliers dating to the era of Tsarist Russia.

Peshawar’s rich and variegated cultural and architectural history can be traced through a galaxy of pre-Islamic, Mughal, Sikh and even British motifs. The proposed event will help to revive cultural tourism in the walled city, bring about general awareness and also help in the conservation of old heritage sites as envisioned under the plan of the provincial cultural department.

This historic house was acquired by the NWFP government’s directorate of archaeology and museums in 2006 after hectic lobbying by civil society against its sale to a big proprietor who wanted to demolish it in order to erect a skyscraper. This pilot project is meant to identify important cultural/heritage landmarks and traditions of the city and to turn them into regular tourist spots.

There is a plan to arrange for a kehwa khana inside to serve Kashmiri tea along with traditional snacks and traditional music in the backdrop. Story-telling by heritage experts to narrate the history of the Sethian houses, expert information to throw light on its architectural beauty and the printing of souvenir pictures/brochures to illustrate its history are planned.

Azam Khan argues, “I would venture to say that one of the ways to defeat terrorism/militancy is through the ‘dry the swamps’ approach, and the swamp in our case is poverty and unemployment. Tourism has a multiplier effect in the target area.

It leads to multi-sectoral employment and generates multi-dimensional economic activity. Thus while terrorism/militancy is definitely a damper on tourism, struggling to develop tourism against all odds could well cut at the very roots of terrorism/militancy by diverting the manpower feeding it towards more productive gains. In any case it is better than doing nothing and waiting for Godot. Don’t you think?”

The SCN concurs with this perception as we desperately need robust institutions as well as individuals of magnanimity and acumen to take further the great cause of peace, happiness, celebration and laughter which as a nation we seem to have lost in the tangle of national tragedies and adversities. We need to mobilise our collective psyche for service and the collective good. So let’s begin now.

The writer is general secretary of the Sarhad Conservation Network

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