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| India-Pakistan |
| 'Government will not allow Taliban to collect jizia' |
| 2009-05-06 |
| The government will not allow the Taliban to collect jizia from Sikh families living in Orakzai Agency, said Federal Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti on Tuesday. "The government strongly condemns this demand of jizia by Taliban... It is completely illegal and inhumane and the government will never allow any faction to trample rights of the minorities," Bhatti told a news conference at the Press Information Department. He said the jizia collection was in violation of the constitution. The minister said the government had urged the agency administration to take all measures to protect the Sikh families there. He said a conspiracy was being hatched to malign Pakistan in the name of Talibanisation. To a question about internally displaced minorities in Swat, Buner and Orakzai Agency, Bhatti said around 155 families had been compelled to take refuge in Peshawar and Hassanabdal. To another question, he said the non-Muslim families in Orakzai Agency were forced to leave their homes after they had refused to pay jizia to the Taliban. On the statements by the Indian prime minister and others about ill-treatment of minorities in Pakistan, he said India should improve its own record regarding minorities' rights. Bhatti said several minority families were still living in the Tribal Areas, adding that efforts were underway to safely evacuate them. The minister also announced a relief package for the displaced families. The package includes residence, food items, medical, education and Rs 10,000 in financial assistance for each household. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 The writ of the government of the pure does not extend to those regions conquered by the Taliban. They have no way to enforce their lack of permission. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-05-06 22:39 |
| #4 'Government will not allow Taliban to collect jizia' Except they already collected. Taliban militants have demolished houses belonging to the minority Sikh community and confiscated their property in the Ferozkhel area of Orakzai Agency after they failed to pay the negotiated amount of 15 million rupees to the Taliban as jiziya—the poll tax levied on non-Muslim minorities living under Islamic rule as sanctioned by Shari’a. ... The situation for the Christian minority in Swat following the imposition of a Shari’a-based administration is not good and they are reportedly living in constant fear of the Taliban, even though the TTP’s Qari Abdullah is reported to have agreed to provide equal opportunities to the religious communities of Swat (Compass Direct News, March 31). Qari Abdullah’s pledges to protect minorities aside, pro-Taliban elements have attacked the Christian community in the Karachi neighborhood of Surjani Town. The violence began when pro-Taliban militants tried to prevent local Christians from removing graffiti on their church that demanded Christians convert to Islam or give jiziya, like the Sikhs in Orakzai (Daily Times, April 23; The News, April 23). |
| Posted by: ed 2009-05-06 20:35 |
| #3 At Partition, there was 10 million Hindus left in Pakistan and ten million Muslims in India. Now, there is less than 10,000 Hindus in Pakistan, most having been murdered and there is now 100 million muslim sewer rats in India... |
| Posted by: Ming the Merciless 2009-05-06 18:16 |
| #2 Here, lemmee fix that for ya': "Government will OR "Government will not allow Taliban to collect jizia without getting a cut" Honesty is so important.... |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-05-06 13:58 |
| #1 Go down to the Combat Zone; you can collect all the 'jizia' you want... |
| Posted by: Raj 2009-05-06 07:59 |