Sometimes, no amount of claims and assurances soothe you. Even if they sound sincere ....you just continue to worry.

That inevitably happens in the case of statements made by authorities for example when they say that military operations have helped establish what they call "writ of the state" in areas where extremisim had destroyed the normal way of life in Pakistan.

It will take a long time before the life that once was ,would resume....thats how analysts describe the situation.

But the fact that Daewoo Express , a multinational bus system linking major cities across Pakistan is to begin re-running its buses from the 26 of February to Swat, is quite a corroborative evidence into what authorities have been saying about the situation in the picturesque valley. This bus service has been abiding by the laws of the land. Before the ANP government had come into power in NWFP, the bus hostess would switch off the sound system as the Mutahida Majlis e Amal didnot fancy music in public places. There was also an arson attack on its terminal in Peshawar but it continued to run its buses.

In the wake of bad law and order situation in Swat these buses had been stopped . Then Operation Rah e Rast started and all extremists ran away. The softer ones surrendered and since the army remained there after breaking their strenght to oversee the civilian administartion take over their job, those extremists who had fled to the hills have started surrendering to the army themselves.

Schools have reopened, hospitals are functioning, music can be bought there....all of this happening because the Internally Displaced People ( IDPs) have returned home!! Army in full control now and is helping in the rehabilitation now.

I have fond memories of the one month I spent in the area years ago....Fiza Ghat, Madyan, the irrigation system that the industrious locals had really stolen my heart , when I went there as an auditor. Things were different when I went to Buner as a journalist.......but now around two weeks back when Mingora turned all white and pretty with snow, I guess Daewoo has a point!