Washington: The wealthy landowners who turned the picturesque Swat Valley into a tourist paradise and who are considered to be economic pillars of the region are
still shunning away from their native place.
The wealthy are showing great reluctance to return back despite a strong persuasion pitch by the Pakistan military and influential NWFP politicians, even as hundreds and thousands of ordinary people have headed back, The New York Times reported today.
The wealthy who own resorts and hotel and are people with huge land and orchard holdings are staying away as they are still not confident that the army and authorities would provide them security and return to good old times.
Though the army is proclaiming that Swat is free of gun toting Taliban, the local wealthy say the Taliban militants have mingled with ordinary residents after stashing
away their weaponry.
"The reluctance of the landowners to return is a significant blow to the Pakistani military`s campaign to restore Swat as a stable, prosperous part of Pakistan, and it
presents a continuing opportunity for the Taliban to reshape the valley to their advantage," the newspaper reported.
The hesitancy shown by the wealthy is because about four dozen landlords were singled out over the past two years by Taliban and beheaded and their land and crops given to the
landless.
Bureau Report
