Swat-- My Paradise on Earth Lost
By Zubair Torwali
January 27, 2012
Home to ancient Darada,
Buddhist and Gandhara;
Where pilgrims from China,
And from central Asia,
Came for eternal solace;
As it was such a place.
Where cultures flourish,
It was everybody’s wish.
Blessed by nature with beauty abundantly,
Where the mighty river flows more arrogantly;
Surrounded by green mounds and hills
With azure lakes gleaming brightly,
And pastures filled with daffodils;
With peaks packed with snow;
Above every green meadow
An aspiration of the savage and sage;
And it saw many an age;
Alexander came and gone,
And did it ravage.
Many ancient despots
Here met their age.
Swat, the Garden, is home
Of Pukhtuns, the hospitable;
Of Kohistanis, the tolerant;
And Gujars, the silent.
Peace was law here,
Serenity was of awe here.
O, recall me not those moony nights,
When I used to be like a knight
Wander beneath the laden orchards
In the scent under the full moon;
And never rushed home soon!
Ah, recall me not the evenings
When I sat with my musings
Beside the river or streams
With many sweet dreams!
Then I knew not,
My dreams be shattered
And my future be tattered!
But they did, they did!
They came to loot and ravage;
In time they grew more savage;
They called themselves Taliban,
(The seekers of the truth)
But they had not the least truth
They came with daggers and swords drawn
And thus wanted to impose Koran!
Men and women did they slaughter
Neither spared son nor daughter.
On the trees and poles the slaughtered were strung
Yet holy hymns were sung!
Even the dead in graves were not spared.
Medieval history of Muslims was repeated
And a hell of Paradise was created.
Alas! Our ‘guards’, too, were reluctant
So was the world adamant
To our misery and plight;
To the kills day and night!
Our paradise thus fell
And we could not even yell.
A few muffled voices we did make
And that did few hearts shake;
Sigh with sigh did thus mingle;
And at last did tingle
The nerves of humanity;
And forced our guards
To restore some sanity
The guards thus rushed
And the Philistines were crushed.
A meager “peace” was thus brought
We never dreamed of nor thought.
As per “thy damnation slumbers not”;
Our affliction ends not.
The heavens got angry
And spewed its fury
Adding to our misery
The streams flashed, the rivers roared
The injuries in scores got soared.
Paths, homes, roads and field
To the floods they all did yield.
Many succumbed to famine
And life was not virtually seen.
We still live on rubble,
And bit by bit we assemble
And try to survive.
But how to revive
Our shattered dreams we cost
And bring anew our Paradise Lost!
The writer is based in Bahrain, Swat and belongs to Torwali tribe of Dardic origin. He writes for different national dailies of the country. He is a coordinator of an independent organization IBT, Center for Education and Development. He believes in liberal and secular values and studied English literature and Political Science from University of Peshawar.
Source: The Viewpoint
URL: https://newageislam.com/war-terror/swat-paradise-earth-lost/d/6534