[Reader-list] Radio Taliban: Pakistan- Kashmir being repeated in Swat...

[Lalit Ambardar]

Somewhat similar & even worst was done in what once used to be a beautiful Kashmir valley too in 1989-90.
Albeit, the dictats were issued from the loudspeakers of the mosques or through notices posted on the walls of the mosques,electrical poles or on the victims' houses while the motivation came from the  POK radio.
 
'UnIslamic' Kashmiriyat was dumped overnight.
 
While  'Infidel' Kashmiri Hindu Pandits after their ethnic cleansing in the valley then continue to live as refugees in their own country ,hundreds of Kashmiri Muslim mothers ,widows & orphans have lost their loved ones who were indoctrinated ,trained, armed in Pakistan & pushed back in to Kashmir to wage a war against the 'infidels'.
Time for the world community to take cognizance of the menace of pan Islamism inspired terror & separatism.....
Regards all
LA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> From: anansi1 at earthlink.net> To: reader-list at sarai.net> Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:04:37 -0500> Subject: [Reader-list] Radio Taliban: Pakistan> > A different web 2.0> > Paul> > http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/world/asia/25swat.html?_r=1&hp> > PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Every night around 8 o’clock, the terrified > residents of Swat, a lush and picturesque valley a hundred miles from > three of Pakistan’s most important cities, crowd around their radios. > They know that failure to listen and learn might lead to a lashing — > or a beheading.> > Hundreds gathered Jan. 11 in Swat to watch drug dealers punished. The > Taliban also have made it a crime to shave a beard.> > Using a portable radio transmitter, a local Taliban leader, Shah > Doran, on most nights outlines newly proscribed “un-Islamic” > activities in Swat, like selling DVDs, watching cable television, > singing and dancing, criticizing the Taliban, shaving beards and > allowing girls to attend school. He also reveals names of people the > Taliban have killed for violating their decrees — and those they plan > to kill.> > “They control everything through the radio,” said one Swat resident, > who declined to give his name for fear the Taliban might kill him. > “Everyone waits for the broadcast.”> > International attention remains fixed on the Taliban’s hold on > Pakistan’s semiautonomous tribal areas, from where they launch attacks > on American forces in Afghanistan. But for Pakistan, the loss of the > Swat Valley could prove just as devastating.> > Unlike the fringe tribal areas, Swat, a Delaware-size chunk of > territory with 1.3 million residents and a rich cultural history, is > part of Pakistan proper, within reach of Peshawar, Rawalpindi and > Islamabad, the capital.> > After more than a year of fighting, virtually all of it is now under > Taliban control, marking the militants’ farthest advance eastward into > Pakistan’s so-called settled areas, residents and government officials > from the region say.> > With the increasing consolidation of their power, the Taliban have > taken a sizable bite out of the nation. And they are enforcing a > strict interpretation of Islam with cruelty, bringing public > beheadings, assassinations, social and cultural repression and > persecution of women to what was once an independent, relatively > secular region, dotted with ski resorts and fruit orchards and known > for its dancing girls.> > Last year, 70 police officers were beheaded, shot or otherwise slain > in Swat, and 150 wounded, said Malik Naveed Khan, the police inspector > general for the North-West Frontier Province.> > The police have become so afraid that many officers have put > advertisements in newspapers renouncing their jobs so the Taliban will > not kill them.> > One who stayed on the job was Farooq Khan, a midlevel officer in > Mingora, the valley’s largest city, where decapitated bodies of > policemen and other victims routinely surface. Last month, he was > shopping there when two men on a motorcycle sprayed him with gunfire, > killing him in broad daylight.> > “He always said, ‘I have to stay here and defend our home,’ ” recalled > his brother, Wajid Ali Khan, a Swat native and the province’s minister > for environment, as he passed around a cellphone with Farooq’s picture.> > In the view of analysts, the growing nightmare in Swat is a capsule of > the country’s problems: an ineffectual and unresponsive civilian > government, coupled with military and security forces that, in the > view of furious residents, have willingly allowed the militants to > spread terror deep into Pakistan.> > The crisis has become a critical test for the government of the > civilian president, Asif Ali Zardari, and for a security apparatus > whose loyalties, many Pakistanis say, remain in question.> > Seeking to deflect blame, Mr. Zardari’s government recently criticized > “earlier halfhearted attempts at rooting out extremists from the area” > and vowed to fight militants “who are ruthlessly murdering and maiming > our citizens.”> > But as pressure grows, he has also said in recent days that the > government would be willing to talk with militants who accept its > authority. Such negotiations would carry serious risks: security > officials say a brief peace deal in Swat last spring was a spectacular > failure that allowed militants to tighten their hold and take revenge > on people who had supported the military.> > Without more forceful and concerted action by the government, some > warn, the Taliban threat in Pakistan is bound to spread.> > “The crux of the problem is the government appears divided about what > to do,” said Mahmood Shah, a retired Pakistani Army brigadier who > until 2006 was in charge of security in the western tribal areas. > “This disconnect among the political leadership has emboldened the > militants.”> From 2,000 to 4,000 Taliban fighters now roam the Swat Valley, > according to interviews with a half-dozen senior Pakistani government, > military and political officials involved in the fight. By contrast, > the Pakistani military has four brigades with 12,000 to 15,000 men in > Swat, officials say.> > The Taliban are thought to be responsible for the killing of a popular > Swat Valley dancing girl, Shabana, whose body, above, was found Jan. 2 > in Mingora. The Taliban have made gains in the strategic region, in > part by meting out harsh punishments.> > > But the soldiers largely stay inside their camps, unwilling to patrol > or exert any large presence that might provoke — or discourage — the > militants, Swat residents and political leaders say. The military also > has not raided a small village that locals say is widely known as the > Taliban’s headquarters in Swat.> > Nor have troops destroyed mobile radio transmitters mounted on > motorcycles or pickup trucks that Shah Doran and the leader of the > Taliban in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah, have expertly used to terrify > residents.> > Being named in one of the nightly broadcasts often leaves just two > options: fleeing Swat, or turning up headless and dumped in a village > square.> > When the army does act, its near-total lack of preparedness to fight a > counterinsurgency reveals itself. Its usual tactic is to lob artillery > shells into a general area, and the results have seemed to hurt > civilians more than the militants, residents say.> > In some parts of Pakistan, civilian militias have risen to fight the > Taliban. But in Swat, the Taliban’s gains amid a large army presence > has convinced many that the military must be conspiring with the > Taliban.> > “It’s very mysterious how they get so much weapons and support,” while > nearby districts are comparatively calm, said Muzaffar ul-Mulk Khan, a > member of Parliament from Swat, who said his home near Mingora was > recently destroyed by the Taliban.> > “We are bewildered by the military. They patrol only in Mingora. In > the rest of Swat they sit in their bases. And the militants can kill > at will anywhere in Mingora,” he said.> > “Nothing is being done by the government," Mr. Khan added.> > Accusations that the military lacks the will to fight in Swat are > “very unfair and unjustified,” said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the chief > military spokesman, who said 180 army soldiers and officers had been > killed in Swat in the past 14 months.> > “They do reach out, and they do patrol,” he said.> > Military officials also say they are trying to step up activity in Swat.> > General Abbas said the military did not have the means to block > Taliban radio transmissions across such a wide area, but he disputed > the view that Mingora had fallen to the militants.> > “Just because they come out at night and throw down four or five > bodies in the square does not mean that militants control anything,” > he said.> > Few officials would dispute that one of the Pakistani military’s > biggest mistakes in Swat was its failure to protect Pir Samiullah, a > local leader whose 500 followers fought the Taliban in the village of > Mandal Dag. After the Taliban killed him in a firefight last month, > the militants demanded that his followers reveal his gravesite — and > then started beheading people until they got the information, one > Mandal Dag villager said.> > “They dug him up and hung his body in the square,” the villager said, > and then they took the body to a secret location. The desecration was > intended to show what would happen to anyone who defied the Taliban’s > rule, but it also made painfully clear to Swat residents that the > Pakistani government could not be trusted to defend those who rose up > against the militants.> > “He should have been given more protection,” said one Pakistani > security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the > delicacy of the subject. “He should have been made a symbol of > resistance.”> > Gruesome displays like the defilement of Pir Samiullah’s remains are > an effective tactic for the Taliban, who have shown cruel efficiency > in following through on their threats.> > Recently, Shah Doran broadcast word that the Taliban intended to kill > a police officer who he said had killed three people.> > “We have sent people, and tomorrow you will have good news,” he said > on his nightly broadcast, according to a resident of Matta, a Taliban > stronghold. The next day the decapitated body of the policeman was > found in a nearby village.> > Even in Mingora, a town grown hardened to violence, residents were > shocked early this month to find the bullet-ridden body of one of the > city’s most famous dancing girls splayed on the main square.> > Known as Shabana, the woman was visited at night by a group of men who > claimed to want to hire her for a party. They shot her to death and > dragged her body more than a quarter-mile to the central square, > leaving it as a warning for anyone who would flout Taliban decrees.> > The leader of the militants in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah, gained > prominence from making radio broadcasts and running an Islamic school, > becoming popular among otherwise isolated homemakers and inspiring > them to sell their jewelry to finance his operation. He also drew > support from his marriage to the daughter of Sufi Mohammed, a powerful > religious leader in Swat until 2001 who later disowned his son-in-law.> > Even though Swat does not border Afghanistan or any of Pakistan’s > seven lawless federal tribal areas, Maulana Fazlullah eventually > allied with Taliban militants who dominate regions along the Afghan > frontier.> > His fighters now roam the valley with sniper rifles, Kalashnikovs, > rocket-propelled grenade launchers, mortar tubes and, according to > some officials, night-vision goggles and flak vests.> > His latest tactic is a ban on girls’ attending school in Swat, which > will be tested in February when private schools are scheduled to > reopen after winter recess. The Taliban have already destroyed 169 > girls’ schools in Swat, government officials say, and they expect most > private schools to stay closed rather than risk retaliation.> > “The local population is totally fed up, and if they had the chance > they would lynch each and every Talib,” said Mr. Naveed Khan, the > police official. “But the Taliban are so cruel and violent, no one > will oppose them. If this is not stopped, it will spill into other > areas of Pakistan.”> _________________________________________> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.> Critiques & Collaborations> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header.> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
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