Use of brute force to quell dissent creates hatred, hardens up attitudes and may even create fissures, while public diplomacy can have a positive effect on the society. It can pacify dissidents, put an end to hostility and promote social cohesion. For that very reason, enlightened leaders, whether heading public or private sector entities, consider public diplomacy essential and rewarding for achieving their policy goals and objectives.

However, as far as results are concerned much depends upon an entity’s vision and the knowledge, skill and expertise of persons engaged by it to launch and execute its PR campaigns.

In Pakistan, Pakistan Narcotics Control Board (PNCB) demonstrated this vision in 1975 by successfully converting a crisis situation into a ‘conducive’ one by convincing the people that the first-ever socio-economic survey planned for Buner was in the best interests of its residents as it would pave the way for the development of the hitherto neglected and under-developed region.

Till-mid 1970s, majority of population in Buner (Lower Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) was engaged in agriculture. But, due to primitive agricultural practices, small land-holdings, lack of proper irrigation system, the people in this water deficit area were generally poor. Most of them depended on the cultivation of opium poppy for their subsistence.

The Geneva Agreement, 1961 bound all opium poppy-growing countries to phase out and ultimately eliminate poppy cultivation, except for medicinal and scientific purposes, by 1979. The government of Pakistan, therefore, wanted to substitute opium poppy with other cash crops in this region where, during those days, about one-third of the total opium poppy production in Pakistan took place. However, the local residents were hostile to the idea of abandoning poppy cultivation, arguing that this would stifle the sole economic activity in the region and thus deprive them of their only source of income and livelihood.

The government had established PNCB in 1973 to join the global community’s efforts to rid the world of drug abuse. Besides other activities, PNCB was tasked to plan and execute a dollar five million poppy substitution project in Buner in collaboration with UNDP, primarily for improving the agricultural techniques and providing better irrigation facilities.

However, like other former princely states in Pakistan, no statistical data was available about Buner and the socio‑economic conditions of its inhabitants, i.e. the number of people inhabiting the region, their ages, gender, literacy rate, total number of households, major economic activities, crops and cropping pattern, irrigation system, number of livestock/poultry, income level of the people etc. In the absence of authentic data, no programme for substituting poppy with other cash crops or for the general development of the area could be launched.

Hence, PNCB decided to make a beginning by conducting a socio-economic survey in Buner in March 1975. It was a difficult task as the region, spanning over 155,400 hectares, was highly under-developed — it lacked communication, carpeted roads and transport. Since the area residents were hostile to the idea of abandoning poppy cultivation, those familiar with the history, traditions and topography of the area were apprehensive that the residents may not furnish the requisite information to the enumerators – rather they may maltreat them, if they visited it without proper security arrangements. Above all, they said that the Pathans do not like questioning or even unsolicited advice from strangers.

They pointed out that never in the entire history, not even in the time of Alexander the Great or during the Moghul and British rule in the subcontinent the people of Buner were subjects of any of these empires. Alexander’s armies entered Buner through Karaker, but the Greeks did not disturb its people or conquer the region, rather Alexander remained content with getting a safe passage through it.

In 1587, while attempting to extend Moghul sovereignty over Buner, Emperor Akbar’s armies were badly defeated at Malandrai (Buner) where one of his beloved generals Raja Birbal and his 8,000 men lost their lives. In 1863, the British armies invaded Buner through Ambela. Though it was an unequal war between the flesh and blood on one side and the mettle and technology on the other, the British failed in winning the target. As per British record, they lost the largest number of British officers in a single military expedition in India (238 officers killed and 670 injured) during the Ambela War. The British retreat from Buner resembles the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan about two decades ago. The British kept licking their wounds to the last day of their rule in India because they could not establish their rule in Buner till their withdrawal from the South Asia subcontinent in August, 1947.

The people of Swat and Buner united to form a State in 1849 with Syed Akbar Shah of Sitana as their ruler. After Akbar Shah’s death in 1857, there was no ruler till 1915 and the period from 1857 to 1915 is known as ‘Era of Pukhto’ where every tribe was ruled by its own elders. In 1915, Syed Abdul Jabbar Shah of Sitana became Badshah (king) of Swat, but Mian Gul Abdul Wadood manipulated his expulsion from Swat and became a ruler himself. In keeping with the popular demand, Swat (along with other princely states) was incorporated into Pakistan in 1969.

The author had joined PNCB only a few months before this task was entrusted to it. PNCB launched the socio-economic survey for gathering information and accurate data that was essential for planning and launching of development projects in the region. It was, indeed, a challenging task. After preparation of the plan and approval of its objectives by the PNCB’s high command, the PNCB’s media cell launched the proposed campaign.

When the enumerators went to Buner on the specified dates, the people not only supplied them all the required information readily, a few persons even extended hospitality to them. The survey staff did not face any resistance and completed their job without much difficulty because before their visit to the area the people had become convinced because of communication campaign and public diplomacy that the survey data would be used for preparing and launching development projects in the region. The people readily subscribed to this view when they also heard about it from their peers — in particular khatibs of mosques and heads of educational institutions during sermons and speeches respectively.

This was a planned and deliberate effort aimed at identifying the job of a department with the public interest. It goes without saying that use of force hardens the attitude of the affected people, while by synchronising an organisation’s objectives and goals with the subjects (concerned peoples) dispositions, aspirations or acute needs one can easily change their hostile opinions/attitudes. The impression also helped later in the launching of the crop substitution programme in Buner. A few months after the launch of crop substitution programme in Buner, the people of Malakand region also approached PNCB with the request to launch a similar programme in their area.

Public diplomacy (PR techniques) was also successfully deployed by PNCB in its maiden operation against poppy cultivation in the Swabi-Gadoon area. Miscreants tried to incite the local people, saying the government was stifling their livelihood. However, the board countered their propaganda through public diplomacy and controlled the situation.