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| India-Pakistan |
| The other victims of jihad... |
| 2002-08-24 |
| Four times in the last four years, Bashir Butt tracked down his son at training camps for Islamic extremists in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir and begged him to come home. On Aug. 9, police arrived at the Butts' modest home here and told them their son Kamran, 21, was dead. He died while attacking Christians leaving a church in Taxila about 30 miles west of Islamabad. Three Christian nurses were killed and a fourth was mortally wounded. Yasss... We all remember it well. An heroic attack against unarmed nurses. Something for the jihadis to be proud of... Bashir Butt, however, remembers his son as a shy boy who never caused trouble in the neighborhood and who ''had a great respect for his fellow human beings.'' Unless they were infidels, of course... ''We never thought that one day he would become a terrorist,'' Bashir Butt said. ''We never even imagined. ... These cruel jihadis made him a terrorist.'' Him and lots of others... Kamran Butt was one of thousands of young Pakistani men who have been drawn in recent years into the network of Islamic extremists, known here as ''jihadis,'' who recruited them to fight the Indian army in Kashmir and in Afghanistan before the collapse of the Taliban last year. They were motivated in part by religious conviction and in part by the romance of battling the nonbelievers in the name of God like the great heroes of the Muslim faith centuries ago. Among young and impressionable men, poorly educated and with a narrow view of the world, the appeal of the jihadis is as strong as that of religious cults among spiritual youth in the West. A little more bloodthirsty than the Hari Krishnas, Moonies, or Scientologists, though... To Kamran's family, however, his death seems pointless. It has left his family deeply bitter over the extremist groups and what they had done to him. ''I hate these jihadi organizations,'' said Bashir Butt, a 48-year-old widower with two other sons and a daughter. ''I hate these so-called jihadi leaders. They are the killers of my son.'' Some of us have been pointing that out for some time now. The ones pointing it out who're in Pakistan stand a fairly good chance of getting assassinated... Bashir Butt said his son got caught up in the jihadi movement after joining Jamaat-e-Islami, a major Islamic political party. Although details are unclear, it appeared that Kamran Butt was recruited by Jaish-e-Mohammed. Four years ago, Kamran disappeared for the first time, leaving a message for his family that he had gone ''to participate in jihad (holy war)'' in Kashmir, the father said. Bashir Butt, who runs a small telephone service here, set off for Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, finally locating his son at a Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp there. Militant leaders told the father to leave but assured him they would send his son home in three days. The militants kept their word, but the son disappeared again after a few months. That was surprising. But four years ago the lad was 17. They were probably willing to wait until he was mature cannon fodder. ''The second time, I spotted him at a camp near Muzaffarabad,'' Bashir Butt said, referring to the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. Again, the son returned after a few days. After a few months, he was gone again — off to the jihad. The cycle was repeated until the beginning of this year, Bashir Butt said. I knew a lot more about the ways of the world, to include what's really right and wrong, than my Dad when I was that age, too. Luckily the knowledge never killed me and broke his heart... ''During the last four or five months, I could not find him,'' Bashir Butt said. ''He made a few calls to his family, and I thought he would be back like always. But this time, instead of him, the police came. I was informed that my son was dead and that he has killed worshippers at a church.'' Police told the family that Kamran Butt was among four militants who hurled grenades at worshippers as they left church after a morning prayer service. Police said a fragment from one of the grenades pierced his heart, and he died instantly. Pop sounds like a perfectly nice man whose son has been stolen from him by a bunch that doesn't mind how many eggs it has to break to make the omelette of khalifate. I feel sorry for him, even though I don't have a shred of sympathy for the kid, who sounds like he was a jerk. The father said he repeatedly tried to talk his son out of devoting his life to the extremist movement but ''Kamran always politely refused my suggestions... He used to tell us that this world is mortal and we should spend our life in accordance with the teachings of Islam and that Islam says we must participate in jihad,'' Butt said. A regular little beturbanned robot... According to the father, no representative of any of the country's Islamic militant groups has contacted the family to express condolences. Why bother? The kid's dead — just cannon fodder, expendable and easily replaced by some other father's kid... That's just as well, Bashir Butt said. ''I will kill them, I will butcher them, I will make a horrible example of them if they came here for condolence,'' Butt said. Well, that's one of Pakland's 140 or so million who don't like them... Butt said he wants to visit the church where his son died to express his sorrow over the deaths of innocent people. ''But I'm not sure how they will receive me,'' he said. Since they're Christians, the reception will probably be more polite than if he went to call at a mosque under the same circumstances. Bloodthirsty revenge isn't a requirement of Christianity. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 Terrible jokes need to be made: 1) Does Mssr. Butt have a brother? [the Butt Brothers?] 2) Does Mssr. Butt have friends? [the Butt Buddies]...boy, I could keep going all day with this. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2002-08-24 19:06:32 |