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Beheading is an Effective Weapon of Taliban Terror
The February 2 decapitation of a 70-year-old baker in Landi Kotal, Khyber Agency, by the Taliban has terrorised the local population and aroused universal condemnation from tribal society and rights activists.But they won't actually DO anything - it's too dangerous. Will speak out against Crayon burning instead. The Taliban accused the man of being a spy in an attempt to justify his murder. "Waris Khan had always lived a clean life and confined himself to a limited number of friends," Qadeer Jan, a close friend of the murdered baker, told Central Asia Online, while refusing to comment on militant behaviour on grounds of personal safety. Taliban terror is the main reason local residents will not comment on such matters, said local elder Hasam ud Din. So it is working exactly as intended. What will they demand next with terror as their tool of persuasion? Terror indeed works. Few people have the internal fortitude and courage to stand up to terrorists when confronted with a bloody sword just inches from their own neck. That's not a criticism, it's just human nature. Terrorists are astute students of human nature, and they do what works. "We are simply terrorised and are extremely worried about our own safety," he said, adding he and other tribal elders have limited their contact with officials and security personnel for fear of being called spies. Most such killings are groundless, he said. "By and large, they (the Taliban) intimidate tribesmen not to speak against them and keep them under terror," he added. "It's a simple murder without a fair trial," he said. "Taliban courts have no legal justification, and it's completely illegal and inhuman." They may have no legal justification, but they seem to have support in the highest levels of Pakistan's government, and Karzai "talks with them every day." The Taliban's assertion to enforce Islam is based on lies that no practicing Muslim can trust, Allama Noor ul Haq Qadri told Central Asia Online. Hope Allama has good security. "They kill innocent people on the basis of a mere doubt, which is not acceptable in Islam," he argued. "They are criminal in the eyes of our religion ... .all their acts are un-Islamic and have no religious or moral justification." It would be nice to be able to believe that, but the track record suggests the Taliban are the ruling voice of Islam. Such killings are meant to terrorise rather than to enforce justice, since mostly tribesmen of unblemished character have been killed, said Abdur Rahim, the FATA leader of the Awami National Party. "Whatever the motives for such gruesome acts by militants, they leave marks of terror on the minds of ordinary tribesmen," he said, adding some of his terrified pupils had asked him about the baker's beheading. I suspect 'Stockholm Syndrome' may be affecting pupils at this point. Posted by: Glenmore 2012-02-24 |
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