Here come mountains!

Now it is mama’s time to make videos

Old Indian songs and mountains of Malakand

Now forget that she would talk to anyone

We laughed at these comments of my son as we climbed the mountains of Palai. Because what he was saying was true. This was our routine. After climbing the Swat Express hills, I can’t recall anything except the view. Since my in-laws are from Malakand so I have to go home on Eid.

Whether it is a Swat Express trip or wandering around in different areas of Malakand, the lush green valleys, the cool river flowing on the banks and the beautiful weather leave you mesmerised. The journey from the tunnel to Chakdara Interchange and the villages on both sides of the road and their lush fields prompts you to make videos. And when you visit your relatives in many areas across the river including Dadahara in Swat and Chakdara in Lower Dir, each village and its environment gives you a pleasant feeling. The strange scent in the air, the greenery that soothes the eyes, and the cool water of the waterfalls and springs allure you to themselves. Then you ask yourself and your loved ones: ‘What will heaven be like if it is not like this’?

Perhaps I have a strange love for Pakhtunkhwa. Its beauty is my breath, so I feel pain in the wounds inflicted on it in the name of terrorism. The scars hurt everyone, including me, but when I go to these areas, the natural landscapes give me life. This was the reason that after returning from Eid, I shared very beautiful footage of the Swat Express in Malakand on my Twitter account. People were surprised to see the beauty there.

Many people watched this video. This was the moment when I thought why not show the picture of every part of Pakhtunkhwa to the people? I shared a post in this regard in which people from KP were urged to share the footage of their respective areas to show the world that “Aesa Des Hai Mera” and then what. Footage and photos from every part of Pakhtunkhwa – including Malakand, Waziristan, Bajaur, Kazai, Bunir, Shangla, Mansehra, Dir, Swat, and so on were flooded in the reply. Everyone enjoyed watching them. I shared footage not only of Malakand but also of the Gomalzam Dam in Shawal and Tank of South Waziristan.

The mesmerizing footage of Shawal left users in awe. The beautiful scene of the clouds rolling over the lush green mountain impressed the viewers in the recent Eidul Azha footage shot in the Shawal area. People have been wondering if this is really Shawal and which one as the area is between South and North Waziristan. But one comment pierced my soul. “We only knew Shawwal in relation to TTP, but it is a piece of heaven,” wrote Rana Osman Ali Khan from Sargodha.

He further added: “A teacher of my university, Dr Nawaz Khan Mehsud late, used to tell us about these areas that there are very beautiful areas, but whatever I read about Shawwal seemed completely different. You people should tell the rest of Pakistan about the normal life there.”

These are a few sentences but actually, this is a question for those forces who have always made these areas as “no go areas” and used the youth here as a “fuel” for a superpower… sometimes in the name of religion and sometimes for politics. Those superpowers make lofty claims of human rights and try to kill the people of these paradise-like areas by throwing bombs and drones. For their own interests, they make Mujahid, Talib and terrorists on their way out. This made our beautiful heaven hell.

But now we have to play our role in ending terrorism and change ‘terrorism’ into ‘tourism’. If a picture can change a mindset, then get up and show a positive side to the world by taking a beautiful picture of your soil.

More than 400,000 tourists travelled to KP during the three days of Eid, according to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Department of Tourism. As many as 168 foreign tourists also came to the province, showed the data.