WHILE the military operation has put militants on the back foot and seemingly reduced their capacity to launch attacks inside the country, it has led to a flood of displaced persons seeking shelter outside Malakand Division. The exodus from Dir, Swat, Malakand and Buner constitutes the largest internal displacement of population since 1947. Earlier military operations conducted since August last had displaced nearly six lakh people. With fresh migrations from the present area of conflict the total tally is likely to exceed 15 lakh. The question being widely asked is whether the government possesses the ability to cope with the situation. Lack of planning by the federal and provincial governments has added to the people's suffering. No contingency plan seems to have been put in place before launching the operation. Absence of coordination between the civilian government and the military is visible all around. Nothing has been done to deal with the consequences of the military action, including an orderly transfer of the affected population from the zone of conflict. With scant private transport available and forced to utilize breaks in the curfew imposed all over Malakand Division, the exhausted and bedraggled people have been forced to travel on bus rooftops, hitch rides on the holds of container trucks, or walk on foot. With the curfew breaks ending, they get stranded in places where no food or shelter is available. Most have left their belongings behind. Thousands of people caught in cross fire suffer from injuries. There is a large number of women, children and old men among them. What is more, many more people are bound to become homeless in days to come as the operation is extended to the rest of the Taliban controlled areas. The way the camps meant for the IDPs are being run amply indicates a lack of forward thinking. They are invariably short of staff. Tired and shocked refugees are required to queue up for hours in the sun for registration. On Saturday, bad management led to disorder in a camp in Mardan where displaced persons looted UN supplies The nearly 80 member federal cabinet has been able to raise on its own a sum of Rs. 20 crore worth of contribution which could only have a symbolic significance in view of the scale of the migration. How it intends to mobilize local and foreign resources commensurate with the challenge remains to be seen. The government has to fulfill its responsibilities if it wants to avoid a humanitarian tragedy that would lead to two unhappy consequences. First, the extremists could use the government's lapses to recruit hundreds of sympathizers from among the disaffected victims. Second the government will face a severe political backlash if its performance was not considered to be up to the mark