All Pens are Out to Save Peshawar

Rahimullah Yusufzai

Publishing Date: Thursday, March 3 2005

The Peshawar Bachao Tehrik, or 'Save Peshawar Movement' (SPM) as it is translated in English, is a unique initiative. Journalists concerned about Peshawar's plight launched the organisation to raise awareness about its problems and highlight its needs. The SPM courted controversy soon after its birth. The NWFP Chief Minister Akram Durrani questioned the need for its formation when his government was doing so much for Peshawar. Shabbir Ahmad Khan, the ruling MMA MNA from the city, was also critical. He and other MMA leaders felt their political opponents were behind the formation of the SPM to malign the government.

None of this is true. Not only MMA's opponents, but also most Peshawarites feel the Akram Durrani-led government has neglected the capital of the NWFP and allowed its dilapidated infrastructure to deteriorate. There have been allegations of funds being diverted to the Chief Minister's home district of Bannu and Senior Minister Sirajul Haq's native Dir. Opposition MPAs from Peshawar, including PPPP's Syed Zahir Shah and ANP's Bashir Bilour, have also complained of the MMA government's lack of interest in solving the city's problems or sanctioning the required funds for its uplift.

The allegation that the SPM was formed at the behest of the anti-MMA forces and had a political agenda was also baseless. It is a strictly non-political organisation of working journalists and newspapers' owners dedicated to the cause of Peshawar. It is true that the SPM President Syed Ayaz Badshah, proprietor and chief editor of local Urdu daily Mashriq and English newspaper The Statesman, belongs to a PPPP family. But he was chosen to head the body in his capacity as an editor and newspaper owner. Besides, the SPM needed a resourceful person to run the organisation.

The reason the Chief Minister and his men were angered by SPM's formation was the launching of platforms with similar names in Maulana Fazlur Rahman's native Dera Ismail Khan district as well as in neighbouring Lakki Marwat, where the MMA and its PML-N allies had swept the October 2002 general elections against the PML-Q's Saifullah brothers led by Salim Saifullah Khan. In both cases, politicians opposed to Maulana Fazlur Rahman and the MMA had formed the 'Dera Bachao Tehrik' and the 'Lakki Marwat Bachao Tehrik' to blame the MMA-led provincial government for neglecting their respective districts. Unlike the apolitical 'Peshawar Bachao Tehrik', the 'bachao' movements in Dera Ismail Khan and Lakki Marwat had a clear political agenda. Lumping them all together was a mistake as these organisations were very different in their approach and goals.

The SPM's slogan is to make Peshawar clean and green. It has refrained from criticizing the government, whether district, provincial or federal, even though they are largely responsible for Peshawar's plight. Instead, the SPM has offered to join hands with any government to check Peshawar's decline and revive its past glory. While asking the provincial government to complete ongoing uplift projects such as the Suray Pul flyover and resume work on stalled projects, it has also been reminding President General Pervez Musharraf to fulfill promises made by him while speaking at a rally in Peshawar during his 2002 presidential referendum campaign. The President had accepted all demands put up to him on that euphoric occasion, promising a Rs 3 billion development package that included sinking 200 tubewells for drinking water in Peshawar city and district, installing 200 transformers of 200 kv each and replacing all old electricity wires, setting up four degree colleges for boys, and supplying gas to each town and village of Peshawar district.

Apart from its awareness-creating role, the SPM has also made plans to contribute practically to Peshawar's uplift. It is now involved in the spring tree plantation in and around the city. Donors have been found and school and college students are being motivated to join the campaign to make Peshawar green. A cleanliness initiative is also on the cards. Once again students and volunteers would be asked to join mass campaigns to clean up Peshawar's landmarks such as Chowk Yadgar, Ghantaghar, Qissa Khwani Bazaar, Chowk Fawwara, etc. The Corps Commander Peshawar Lt Gen Safdar Hussain has been requested to energise his troops to undertake massive tree plantation and growing of flowers in the Peshawar cantonment area. The Corps Commander also promised to initiate similar campaigns in the remaining 12 cantonment towns in the NWFP. The Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah and Chief Minister Akram Durrani are also being lobbied to contribute to the 'make Peshawar clean and green campaign.'

The SPM also wants to hold cultural activities. One such activity would be the Pushpapura Mela. Pushpapura, or city of flowers, is Peshawar's old name. It would revive the city's past and remind Peshawarites that Peshawar used to be a city of flowers. This would hopefully inspire them to grow flowers again and, by the same yardstick, make it clean and green. The Pushpapure festival would coincide with the arrival of spring and the sprouting of orange (citrus) blossoms. Orange, or narangi as it is known in English, is peculiar to the Peshawar valley and has an aromatic smell. Its flowers and orange fruit is also a soothing sight for the eyes. The tree is also a repellant for flies and mosquitoes. The SPM wants to promote the growing of orange tree and the planned festival would have poetry recitals under the Pashto name 'Da naranj gul', or the 'flower of the narangi (orange)'. Concerts, folk games and other activities associated with spring are also planned.

Another idea is to develop a food street from Ghantaghar to Ganj in old Peshawar. An informal food street already exists in the locality, that comes alive in the evenings when traffic on the road becomes thin. A donor has already been tapped to clean and renovate the locality, paint the fronts of the old buildings on the street, put up lights and do some face-lifting. If the plan materialises, Peshawarites and their guests would be able to eat in the open in a pleasant atmosphere away in the heart of ancient Peshawar.

Peshawar is arguably Pakistan's oldest city. According to some accounts, the city is more than 2,000 years old. The Kushan kings of the Gandhara civilisation reportedly founded the city. Peshawar derives its name from a Sanskrit language word, Pushpapura, the city of flowers as mentioned earlier. The Mughal Emperor Babur in his memoirs (1508), Baburnama, mentioned old Peshawar in these words: "There are flowers on all the sides... as far as the eye reached, flowers were in bloom."

Peshawar flourished as an important destination on the fabled Silk Route. Its location at the crossroads of civilisations and near the famous Khyber Pass made it an entry point for invaders, adventurers and traders coming from Central Asia and travelling toward ancient India. The Grand Trunk Road built by the Pashtun King, Sher Shah Suri, to link Delhi with his native Peshawar and Kabul made the city the centre of trade and commerce.

However, Peshawar has suffered due to the neglect of successive governments. Its meagre civic services were burdened by an influx of Afghan refugees who flocked to it after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Almost a million Afghan refugees, including many who are unregistered, have been living in and around the city and sharing everything with the 2.242 million inhabitants of Peshawar. Spread over an area of 1,257 square kilometers, Peshawar is now an overcrowded and dusty city and its expansion has been largely unplanned. The damage to the city's infrastructure due to the presence of Afghan refugees and rural migration has been significant but neither the government nor international donors have cared to provide funds for its rehabilitation.

The idea to launch the SPM was primarily mooted to create awareness about Peshawar's mounting problems and motivate Peshawarites, particularly those who have done well in life, to do something for the city. Those born in Peshawar and now scattered all over the world, are expected to join the campaign to save the city of their birth. The government and donors are also being energised to contribute to the effort.

The SPM has also floated a unique idea to highlight Peshawar's sacrifice as a host to more than a million Afghan refugees for 27 long years. It has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for promoting peaceful coexistence between the displaced Afghans and their generous Pakistani hosts. The award would recognise Peshawar's inspiring contribution to the cause of friendship between the Afghans and Pakistanis. It would be a tribute to the citizens of Peshawar who opened their hearts to the uprooted Afghan people and shared everything they had with their suffering guests. Peshawar may not get the Nobel Peace Prize but the nomination would certainly help in bringing its sacrifices and problems to the attention of all those who have the means to save this historic city.