Taliban Forces Sharia Onto Large Areas of Pakistan

In Pakistan's North West Frontier pressure is increasing as the Taliban impose Sharia Law in vast tracts of the province. The latest area to fall is the beautiful district of Hangu, in the middle of the NWF.

The announcement to 'go Sharia' is usually made at a mosque, by decree, at Friday prayers. The decision is typically represented as being 'by the express wishes of the people' but the reality is Sharia is imposed by those who have the power and the weapons to tell people how they will live.

The Taliban imposed Sharia that is beginning to blast it's way through the largely Pashtu North West Frontier is the exactly the same as the Sharia which repulsed the West in Afghanistan during the 1990s. Women are banned from being seen publically, except for emergency visits to doctors (if a female medico is available). A senior male member of her family must chaperone her. And of course, she must be in complete hijab.

In many districts girls have not been able to go to school for many months and anyone educating girls faces "dire consequences" - the schools being torched or blown up, or the school girls attacked (reference the recent Taliban acid attack on young school girls across the border in Afghanistan), and the teachers killed.

"All the private and government schools have been given a 15-day deadline to close down the female education facilities," a schoolteacher and social worker told the Times of India on January 3. "We have no choice but to follow the orders. The government cannot give us protection. Taliban runs a parallel government in 90 per cent of the area of the district and they execute everyone who opposes them."

In the past four years, the Taliban has destroyed over 250 schools in the North West Frontier Province.

The sad reality is that other aspects of Sharia law may be greeted with more dismay and resistance in this traditional and conservative area of Pakistan. Banning CDs, DVDs and TV will not go down at all well - saucy Bollywood movies with a racy wet sari or two are very popular. Singing and dancing is a wonderful way to pass the time. Men particularly like singing and dancing together while the 'ladies' are sequestered in another room (usually singing and dancing too - and in my experience having so much more fun).

These violent 'up yours' moves that flip a middle finger to Islamabad are another underlining mark to show who is in control in the northern and border areas of Pakistan. The US backed Pakistan military have mostly failed in their attempts to wrestle Taliban held areas back into Islamabad's hands. Strategically, most of the NWF areas held by the Taliban are essential; from here, they can sortie into Afghanistan, and hold attack raids on nearby NATO troops.

The charity groups that have been listed as fronts for terrorist organizations, al Qaeda operatives and Taliban friends are crawling all over this part of the world, imposing their will on a population who have no ability to fight back. Lakshar-e-Toiba, widely held responsible for the recent Bombay bombings, is at the pointy end of the push for Sharia rule throughout the province.

Despite recent offensives against the Taliban and its tangled web of associates by the Pakistani military, the Taliban and its imposition of Sharia law, for now, seems set to spread its domination in northern Pakistan.

Comments

[wrong]

it is time for the non muslims to do to the muslims what they have been doing to non muslims for 1400 years,,,
In 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams went to negotiate with Tripoli's envoy to London, Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdrahaman or (Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja). Upon inquiring "concerning the ground of the pretensions to make war upon nations who had done them no injury", the ambassador replied:
It was written in their Koran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every mussulman who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise. He said, also, that the man who was the first to board a vessel had one slave over and above his share, and that when they sprang to the deck of an enemy's ship, every sailor held a dagger in each hand and a third in his mouth; which usually struck such terror into the foe that they cried out for quarter at once.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Barbary_War

[Strategy]

Here is what Gener@l Pasha , Chief of ISI has to say about T@liban:

Pasha is apparently adept at overcoming old divisions. However, it is worth listening closely when the Gener@l explained why he too was unwilling to apprehend the T@liban leadership, even though many claimed that T@liban leader Mull@h Om@r, for example, was in Quett@, a city where Pasha lived until a few years ago. "Shouldn"t they be allowed to think and say what they please? They believe that jih@d is their obligation. Isn"t that freedom of opinion?" he asked.

A quote from
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/07-Jan-2009/I-was-ready-to-visit-Delhi-ISI-Chief/

[Virginia M. Moncrieff - Huffpost Blogger]

Many thanks for this information, Strategy.

[VictorPurinton]

Everything is the fault of the US imperialistic hegemon. Didn't you know we created al Qaeda and the Taliban? That's right, our nefarious CIA spies taught them that girls have to be covered at all times and shouldn't be educated. Why don't we want girls to be educated? For some reason, we think educated girls will disrupt the flow of natural gas, our real reason for being interested in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

If it were not for the US, Halliburton and the RAND Corporation (and some Jews), the Taliban would be an enlightened force for love, peace, freedom and harmony. Let's just give them a chance. Don't they deserve that? They'll stop beheading teachers soon, I promise.

[Strategy]

The Swat chapter of Tehrik-e-T@liban P@kistan (TTP) on Tuesday softened its stance on girls" education by announcing that it would permit girls to study up to Class IV. The concession was made public by the TTP Swat deputy leader M@ulana Shah Dauran while making his night-time speech on an illegal FM radio channel. "Though the TTP had announced to proscribe girls" education in the valley, yet after the decision made by the T@liban Shura, education only up to Class IV has been allowed," he said, adding that those girls, who appear older than their ages, should wear proper dress while going to their schools. He said there should be no co-education in schools and boys and girls should be seated in separate classes. Do i need to say anything else?

[rasit]

Who is governing Pakistan? Taliban??
Where is the Pak. govenment's girls education ploicy.

Pakistan said it will "protect its integrity and soverignity" against foreign attack..Doesn't that include the protection of the value of Pakistani's girls education??

[Virginia M. Moncrieff - Huffpost Blogger]

This is very interesting Strategy. Would you be able to provide a reference/more information on this. Thanks so much for reading.

[Strategy]

http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?209496

[cayuse]

Taliban are Pakistani's the US brought them into Afghanistan to fight Russia and they won.

Allot of waging fingers here with little Justice.

My grandmother made a kitchen her castle. That had allot more to do with her and 0 to the US giving her rights.

She was born before womens sufferage in America and women could not even work along side men. Until they went off to fight a war, then they had to work. Until they had to give jobs back to the soulders when they returned home. The women went back to the kitchen.

Of course we have never had women abuse in the US

[rasit]

Good try, but bad logic.....Two wrongs NEVER make it RIGHT, even by your arguement,,,

[Spiritgirl2]

Where there is a void of real leadership - the people will perish. Though it is not up to America to police the world - the truth is that the American government has backed despots (think Saudi family, Shah of Iran, etc.), facilitated coups (think: Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, etc), and generally helped ensure hate, havoc and discontent were fomented around the globe in the name of "freedom" aka GREED!

America should learn that "we are not the world police", and stay out of other nations business. World leaders need to learn to do better by their citizens, and everyone should understand the importance of education! It is due to a lack of education that the Taliban continues to enforce these backward edicts that should have gone out with the stone age!

[lisa12345]

Yes, I agree (except for what you said about the Shah). The people need education so the Taliban cannot enforce backward edicts. How do they get it? Can they do it by themselves? It sounds like the Taliban has the power. They need outside help. Should we stay out of their business if the people want and need our help?

[Virginia M. Moncrieff - Huffpost Blogger]

This is the nub of the problem, don't you think Spiritgirl2? What to do with obvious injustice and the central Pakistan government failing to do anything, but the US government detrmined to create the world in its own image. It's just a mess. You are right of course about America realising it's not the world's police.
Many thanks for reading.

[Cmdr UK]

Good news, Sharia sure beats USA-Israel 'democracy' any day of the week.

[klaatu barada nikto]

just keep telling yourself that

[Tatiana]

That's an absurd comment. You must be joking.

[Brett575]

And you are living in Afghanistan, right?!

[lisa12345]

Frightening comment

[Tatiana]

What does "Sharia" have against women?

They were born in the womb of one of them.

[freshjaan]

well pakistan is the birthplace of the taliban. the government there should do more to get rid of them. so what goes around, comes around. you created them, you deal with them.

[Beachrunner]

"Taliban Forces Sharia Onto Large Areas of Pakistan"

Not to mention the U.K. and Denmark.

[Marjiecanuck]

and many parts of India too :(
Kerala is going 100% Sharia in many parts , even little girls are wearing the head to toe covering black tent ( with tiny holes for eyes) in the oppressive heat and humidity . Black tent was never the traditional attire of women of Kerala .

[rasit]

Kerala girls may follow Muslim customs, but it is NOT because of Taliban threat...There is a vast difference between the conditions in India and Pakistan...for one thing India has been a democracy since 1947...

[Nemo99]

Ind1a should've never agreed to partition. A festering sphere of 1slamic resentment. That whole region is. No suprise its bookended by two democracies that suffer the greatest under the religion of peace.

[gjohntheterrible]

India did not have a choice.

[rasit]

Pakistan was what Jinnah wanted, in spite MohanDas Gandhi's reported offer to Jinnah to let him become the firstt Prime Minister, instead of Nehru...

[driselda]

"In the past four years, the Taliban has destroyed over 250 schools in the North West Frontier Province. "

and how come there is not a huge outcry about this?

[oxi]

Because nobody really cares about the areas the Taliban controls. The U.S. rushed in with a small force that later major components of were moved to Iraq for the great oil grab. They took over enough land to usher in a puppet regime loyal to the West and call it a day claiming democracy as their victory tune.

The U.S. and West is only concerned with the small slice they control today. Enough of a slice to construct the $7.5 billion TAPI oil pipeline to by-pass Russia with through Central Asia.

Other than that oil pipeline the U.S. and the West could care less because really Afghanistan has nothing else to offer the West in return just like with Rwanda and Darfur!

[driselda]

That's such a depressing world view. I hope you are not right, although I fear otherwise.

[ivy]

I fear you're right. No vast oil fields or other valuable commodity, and the West couldn't care less what's happening to these people, though I admit I don't have any suggestions as to how we could take control back from the Taliban in these areas.

[freshjaan]

you're right. but remember the taliban created a breeding ground for AlQaeda, since they had nowhere else. so peace in afghanistan must be a priority for the world, or else it wil become a breeding ground once again.

[Tatiana]

Thanks oxi, you answered my question before I could reply.

Aren't the Taliban ruffians? They can't possibly own the military hardware of Pakistan, US & GB so why don't these countries attack them?

That sect has got to be the worst blemish on our planet earth since the beginning of time.
Nuke em'

[AliMB]

Your statement that "nobody really cares about the areas the Taliban controls" is false... the United States and NATO are desperately trying to control southern and eastern Afghanistan, as is evident by the amounts of treasure and blood spent there. Gen. Petraeus, has already recommended a major troop surge in Afghanistan; a doubling of US troops in Afghanistan based on requests from NATO Commander Gen. McKiernan. That's about 30,000 American combat forces, and the US is pressing European countries to send more. Also, the Commandant of the Marine Corps has stated his desire to move from Anbar province (which is now relatively secure) to Afghanistan and get in the fight in full.

In sum, the problem has been failed policy (yes, in large part to a lack of troops), not lack of interest... it would be a serious security threat for the west to have the Taliban take unfettered control of the pashtun areas of Afghanistan; creating a nest-egg for international terrorism (Taliban is allied with AQ, HIG, LeT, JEM, Hizbul Muj, and other foreign terrorists) and a destabilizing factor for Pakistan. Your comment that the West is only concerned with an oil pipeline is a common fallacious conclusion from the international left not supported by any evidence.

[Very Berry]

What do we do? Can we actually impose nay solutions to this, if it is a traditional Islamic law? I understand that this is the extreme end but can we actually act against this?

The Pakistani government must make sure that their military is fighting successfully in these area and protecting their citizens....MEN AND WOMEN AND BOYS AND GIRLS.....not just the men who have the upper hand in that society but all the population.

If Pakistan wants to be taken seriously within the world and within this war we are fighting it must make sure it looks at all areas where the Taliban are gouging into the country.

[MsAnn]

That's not traditional Islamist law; that reads of tribal law mixing with Islamist law. These people need a public school system, which is why the people with the guns are destroying them.