Brutal behaviour

Deccan Herald – Source

‘It’s a war between the Taliban and its opponents.’

The beheading of two Sikhs by the Tehrik-e-Taliban, Pakistan (TTP) underscores the heightened vulnerability of religious minorities in areas where the Taliban are in control. There is much confusion over why the Sikhs were killed. While some allege that the TTP had demanded that they convert to Islam others maintain that the two were among four Sikhs who were kidnapped for ransom over a month ago. Apparently the deadline for ransom expired and two hostages were decapitated. While this is the first time that the Pakistan Taliban has beheaded members of the Sikh community, intimidation and violence targeting the community is not new. In May last year, for instance, the houses of around 35 Sikh families in the Orakazai Agency in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP) were burnt down and their belongings auctioned as they had not paid $2,00,000 in jaziya (tax imposed on non-Muslims) to the Taliban. Sikhs have lived in Afghanistan and Pakistan for centuries and have worked there as money changers, traders and businessmen. Ever since the eruption of the Afghan civil war, thousands of Sikhs fled to India. With a semblance of normalcy returning in 2004, some trickled back to Afghanistan. But with the situation in Afghanistan and particularly Pakistan’s NWFP and tribal areas deteriorating sharply over the last couple of years, a heightened sense of insecurity gripped the Sikh community there again.

It is perhaps not their religious identity alone but their refusal to bow to the Taliban’s diktat that is the reason for their targeting. Muslims too are suffering grievously, as millions of them have been killed by the Taliban or subjected to flogging or summary executions. It is public reluctance to follow the puritanical way of life dictated by the Taliban or pay ransoms they demand that marks people out for Taliban punishment. This is a war between the Taliban and its opponents.

As the war against the Taliban heats up, the militia can be expected to step up its brutal operations against ordinary people. As pressure on it mounts, it will increase its demands for money and allegiance from them. It is known to terrorise people into submission. Millions are fleeing the warzones along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and the Sikhs could join their ranks.