Pakistan - Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

I recently visited Pakistan to document the work of human rights activists who oppose the Taliban. In the city of Peshawar, I met with a journalist called Abdullah Malik who was threatened for highlighting issues such as the persecution of Christians and Hindus.

Abdullah is from Mohmand Agency in FATA but had to relocate after receiving death threats. He said: "Two of my best friends were killed, they were members of a peace network. Three more journalist friends were killed, and I am under serious threat."

After I returned to the UK, Abdullah emailed and asked that I publish the following piece that he wrote in English. His article is called The Land of Honest Fighters.

The Land of Honest Fighters.

When you hear about honest fighters  you will be confused as to what will be honest fighters . I am introducing you all to a strange part of the world, FATA Pakistan, an area located on the border of Afghanistan. It is a part of Pakistan and in the constitution but the people are treated like animals and beasts and they are denied basic human rights in 21 century. USA and other superpowers always give them responsibility as fighters. These people always fight for the black interests of these powers, due to poverty and lack of education. But when their interests are fulfilled, these powers flyaway and leave these honest fighters alone in a conflicted land and destructed environment.

When USSR was busy in Afghanistan, strong powers used these fighters and their homes as basecamps and shelters. In the land of honest fighters, more than 70,000 people have died since 9/11. More than 1000 schools have been destroyed in the land of fighters. Their infrastructure has been destroyed. Peace activists have been killed here. In the history of the world, more numbers of journalists have been killed or disabled to silence their voices.

Which crushes which were not happened here? In 21th century these people don’t go to courts because the LAW does not give the permission to contact courts. They are passing their life under the black law of British 1901 Act which is totally violating the basic human rights.

This area has faced war for 40 years but there is no psychologist for the population of some 8 million people. Here, half a generation of women and youths have serious mental illnesses due to war and conflicts.  While their masters are enjoying their own worlds in facilitated areas, their holy and honest fighters are in great troubles, left alone.

When I study the hypocritcal promises of  different faces, I weep and I am upset over how we were used by these powers, then thrown away like tissue papers. Today we have nothing but destructive schools, broken communications and big graveyards. There is no development here other than the one development that we see, which is extended areas of graveyards. Nothing extended without grave yards here, which shows our history of all we have done in last decades.  

Abdullah Malik, FATA Pakistan