Taliban Gain Foothold in Peshawar

[Meesna]

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Groups of Taliban fighters are spilling out of the tribal belt in northwestern Pakistan into the region’s largest city, Peshawar, where they are increasingly showing their presence through a campaign of intimidation and violence, according to residents, the police and city officials.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/w...l=1&adxnnlx=1375038005-Cz/NJRlsBEDD76x5YRoywA

 

[Leader]

vague statement !

 

[niaz]

There are big processions and columns about Drones, Egypt & Syria. Except an article by Dr Amir Liaqat Hussein, it was left to a Christain to write about carnage in Parachinar. Is it because most of those killed were Shia and thus deserved killing?

Despite the fact that I disagree with Imran Khan on his TTP love affair, I respect him the most among the current crop of political leaders. Therefore I am deeply disappointed that PTI leader doesn’t want to participate in the APC against terrorism.

I am a human being before I am anything else and purely as human I detest all those who have soft spot for the sectarian killers. I don’t want to be part of a religion whose followers commit murder of scores of innocent human beings as if they were stepping on ants.

Alas not many of my compatriots share my view. I repeat that if TTP & LEJ killers are Muslim, I am a kafir



Silent terror


Chris Cork
Monday, July 29, 2013
From Print Edition

Silent terror

By eight on Friday evening my social media pages were awash with condemnation of the double bombing in Parachinar, which at the time of writing has taken over 50 lives and left at least 200 injured.

The electronic media reported the incident as it always does, there was the traditional condemnation from assorted political figures – a condemnation that varied somewhat in degree of sincerity I have to say – and announcements of compensation for the families of the dead and wounded. All par for the course. Nothing to see here…move along please.

An obscure arm of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was quick to take responsibility and by the time these words are read the story will have slipped from the headlines.

Beyond the susurrus from the digerati which still hissed on through Saturday – there was nothing. Nobody took out a procession, organised a protest or otherwise expressed support for the victims, most of them members of the Shia minority.

Minorities of any type get a poor deal in Pakistan, and things are getting worse for all of them by the day. But in terms of body count alone, the Shias outstrip all others; they die at the hands of the TTP or one of its franchises. Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists are routinely discriminated against and victimised – sometimes killed in quite large numbers – but nothing matches the sustained ferocity with which Shias are butchered. Killed in numbers that far outweigh the cumulative civilian casualties of American drone strikes, yet evincing none of the passionate protest that comes with drone wars.

So is it that there is nobody that sympathises – empathises even – with the plight of the Shias? No, but they are confined to a tiny space on the internet and hedged around by all manner of vile sectarian commentary and websites promoting hatred and filled with exhortations to violence.

If the state can block YouTube and 250,000 pornographic websites – not to mention ******** and other file-sharing applications – then why are we not seeing the blocking of pages that incite sectarian hatreds? Why are sites that clearly blaspheme against Christianity and other faiths allowed to stand?

It is not as if these sites are hidden away anywhere; they are right there just a Google search away. Facebook has pages aplenty, and within thirty minutes hunting around on the Net I was able to find hundreds – hundreds – of sites advocating the extermination of Shias. Presumably these are not all CIA false-flag operations or the Iranian Secret Services running deception.

Here in the real world of hard copy there is wall-chalking and pamphleteering and the slow-burn of ‘sermons’ that reinforce hatreds, magnify differences. And all of this viciousness, these statements of murderous intent, is in plain view and hearing. If there are any serious efforts to minimise or mitigate them emanating from the state I have yet to come across them.

The talk is often around the theme of ‘Zia started it all…blame Zia’ – yet Zia died in 1988 about 15kms from where I sit typing this. But the Zia legacy now lives on in the blindness to the works of the TTP and others of their ilk. In the gripping physical fear that constrains the ordinary citizen from protesting manifest injustice and persecution; in the school curriculum.

It lives on because nobody challenged this rising tide of extremism, and we are collectively dumb and paralysed, rooted in the pitiless gaze of the rough beast that now slouches towards us.

The writer is a British social worker settled in Pakistan.

Email: manticore73@gmail.com

Silent terror - Chris Cork

 

[CrownPrince]

If true, we need to make something like the Great wall of China along the India-Pakistan border to make sure these savage terrorists don't by any chance find their way into India.

I hope Govt of India and RAW/IB are aware of this development and are taking proper counter-measures against it.

 

[Spring Onion]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/w...l=1&adxnnlx=1375038005-Cz/NJRlsBEDD76x5YRoywA

If true, we need to make something like the Great wall of China along the India-Pakistan border to make sure these savage terrorists don't by any chance find their way into India.

I hope Govt of India and RAW/IB are aware of this development and are taking proper counter-measures against it.

 

[Marwat Khan Lodhi]

Taliban have spilled into Peshawer from Khyber agency, F.R peshawer and dara adam khel, you cant prevent flow of people from these tribal areas into peshawer. They can kidnap any one from Peshawar city and take him to khyber agency for ransom. The rural areas of peshawer district has some presence of Taliban from where they attack police,FC and army.

 

[Spring Onion]

Taliban have spilled into Peshawer from Khyber agency, F.R peshawer and dara adam khel, you cant prevent flow of people from these tribal areas into peshawer. They can kidnap any one from Peshawar city and take him to khyber agency for ransom. The rural areas of peshawer district has some presence of Taliban from where they attack police,FC and army.

NOT from city but yes from Hayatabad in the past mostly the kidnapping happened.

However hayatabad is also now much much better

 

[Marwat Khan Lodhi]

NOT from city but yes from Hayatabad in the past mostly the kidnapping happened.

However hayatabad is also now much much better

By city you mean androon e shehr?

 

[Spring Onion]

By city you mean androon e shehr?

oh yara Peshawar is a small city just starting from GT road ring road ending at Board.

androon or beroon its the same execpt the subruban villages

 

[niaz]

NOT from city but yes from Hayatabad in the past mostly the kidnapping happened.

However hayatabad is also now much much better

Per PTI's Pervez Khattak "Taliban are not our enemies" and to the best of my info he has not retracted his statement. Does it implies that victims of Taliban are enemies of PTI?

Should such an extremist lover be CM of KPK? It looks that we have a 'Narender Modi' in the guise of a Pakitani Pashtun!

 

[Marwat Khan Lodhi]

oh yara Peshawar is a small city just starting from GT road ring road ending at Board.

androon or beroon its the same execpt the subruban villages

yet you excluded hayatabad from peshawer city?...

Per PTI's Pervez Khattak "Taliban are not our enemies" and to hthe best of my info he has not retracted his statement. Does it implies that victims of Taliban are enemies of PTI?

Should such an extremist lover be CM of KPK? It looks that we have a 'Narender Modi' in the guise of a Pakitani Pashtun!

So is the opinion of his party leader imran khan.

 

[Spring Onion]

Per PTI's Pervez Khattak "Taliban are not our enemies" and to hthe best of my info he has not retracted his statement. Does it implies that victims of Taliban are enemies of PTI?

Should such an extremist lover be CM of KPK? It looks that we have a 'Narender Modi' in the guise of a Pakitani Pashtun!

dont read too much into political diplomatic statements.

On the one hand US wants talks with Taliban mending ways, removing them from UN blacklists and using same al-qaeda affiliates against Syria and justifies its hence it is too difficult for locals to come out with loud statements.

When your PM is ready to hold talks with TTP then its not easy for local CM to go harsh though we locals are against these talks.

yet you excluded hayatabad from peshawer city?...



.

well YES it wasnt city or even close it rather a border town you can say but still its now much safer

 

[CrownPrince]

Whats there to laugh about? We don't do Taliban here in India.

While its fun to watch you guys play with the Taliban (from distance), I would absolutely not want these savage animals anywhere within 100 kms of my border, much less the country.

Great Wall of India-Pak would be a good name for that piece of architecture

 

[Spring Onion]

Whats there to laugh about? We don't do Taliban here in India.

While its fun to watch you guys play with the Taliban (from distance), I would absolutely not want these savage animals anywhere within 100 kms of my border, much less the country.

Great Wall of India-Pak would be a good name for that piece of architecture

bwahahahahhhahaha its fun to see you are assuming as if Peshawar has a border with India bwahahahahahahahahaha

 

[doppelganger]

bwahahahahhhahaha its fun to see you are assuming as if Peshawar has a border with India bwahahahahahahahahaha

I found out you are from Peshawar. As a journalist do you write pro-Taliban stuff in order to stay safe and not get kidnapped or worse?