Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 14:45:16 -0400
Subject: Re. The men whose hands were chopped off
Very recently, on one of the Pakistani TV channels, I personally saw the horrific scene of these (formerly) able bodied young men who were shown sitting on the ground, each showing a heavily bandaged stump of a shortened forearm. Now, they are condemned to spend the rest of their lives crippled and dependent on others even for the simplest routine chores of life such as washing up for personal hygiene, wudu, fastening up their shalwars, or closing shut the buttons on their kurtas and countless any number of forced disabilities on the victims of sharia justice. Such is a state of existence to which a human being is reduced thanks to the inhuman and barbaric sharia laws. Now, who will support them and their families and dependents? Sharia sharif does not care for the human consequences of the inhuman act to be borne by the individuals or their families.
Last week I had posted the scenes of stoning to death of a woman in Somalia where a throng of spectators were looking on, some enthusiastically participating in the act of throwing stones at the half buried woman.
Some one having received that mail had commented "don't believe in any of this, for this is all fake and just a propaganda!"
Now, if the sharia clearly prescribes that such and such punishment be meted out (and it does) and the Islamic political parties continue to vigorously campaign for introduction of sharia in many of the Muslim countries, then why should one not believe when it is actually carried out publicly and shown in pockets of territories held by the sharia lovers? The person writing about the photographic evidence among a huge crowd of people should have rejoiced and applauded with pride, instead of protesting at all this being 'fake' and 'propaganda'!
-Kalim
--- On Sun, 5/23/10, Farhat Taj <bergen34@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: Farhat Taj <bergen34@yahoo.com>
Subject: The men whose hands were chopped off
To: asiapeace@yahoogroups.com, omarali502000@yahoo.com
Date: Sunday, May 23, 2010, 5:48 PM
The men whose hands were chopped off
By Farhat Taj
The writer is currently writing a book, Taliban and Anti-Taliban (farhat.taj@tribune.com.pk)
Recently the Taliban chopped off the hands of three young tribesmen in Orakzai – Amal Khan, Razim Khan and Khaisteen – for alleged theft. The men, who come from poor families, are under treatment in a Kohat hospital. I had a chance to talk with the brothers of two of them, who are looking after them in the hospital.
They said that the men were brought to a bazaar where their hands were chopped off in public and that they were more or less left to bleed to death with no medical help. The tribesman who had accused the three men of theft had forgiven them but he, I was told, was afraid to convey this to the Taliban, out of fear that they might chop off his hands as well. There is no authority in Orakzai where the family members of the three men could have sought help. The agency is under de facto control of the Taliban (including a chunk of the Taliban from Punjab) along with al Qaeda foreigners. I was told that despite the ongoing military operations many of the Taliban's private jails in the agency and training centres are still functioning.
This is not the first time that the Taliban have chopped off hands. On dozens of occasions in the past, they have amputated men, flogged people and hung up dead bodies on trees. And now this past week, they literally blew up two alleged spies by attaching explosives to them and triggering them — in a public place. Of course, this has the effect of causing extreme fear and dread in the local population which obviously has no choice but to see all this happen in silence.
Despite media coverage of this incident no one from the government has visited the three men who want to know under what law they were amputated. They said nobody can get them back their hands, but want to know who will compensate them for their loss in material terms, given that they have been crippled for life and will no longer be able to pursue a livelihood.
The root cause of the sufferings in Fata is the fact that the state of Pakistan doesn't see matters beyond carrying out military operations in the region. There seems to be no concept of doing something for the people of Fata, most of whom consider themselves as second-class citizens of Pakistan.
As for the three men, they and their families are now living as IDPs in Kohat. They are seeking help from philanthropists in Pakistan or beyond to help them finance the purchase of artificial hands so that the men can at least work to support their families. I would request the people of Pakistan to generously extend help to them as a symbolic defiance to the Taliban, al Qaeda and the state's flawed policies in the region vis-a-vis these militants.
Published in the Express Tribune, May 24th, 2010.
They said that the men were brought to a bazaar where their hands were chopped off in public and that they were more or less left to bleed to death with no medical help. The tribesman who had accused the three men of theft had forgiven them but he, I was told, was afraid to convey this to the Taliban, out of fear that they might chop off his hands as well. There is no authority in Orakzai where the family members of the three men could have sought help. The agency is under de facto control of the Taliban (including a chunk of the Taliban from Punjab) along with al Qaeda foreigners. I was told that despite the ongoing military operations many of the Taliban's private jails in the agency and training centres are still functioning.
This is not the first time that the Taliban have chopped off hands. On dozens of occasions in the past, they have amputated men, flogged people and hung up dead bodies on trees. And now this past week, they literally blew up two alleged spies by attaching explosives to them and triggering them — in a public place. Of course, this has the effect of causing extreme fear and dread in the local population which obviously has no choice but to see all this happen in silence.
Despite media coverage of this incident no one from the government has visited the three men who want to know under what law they were amputated. They said nobody can get them back their hands, but want to know who will compensate them for their loss in material terms, given that they have been crippled for life and will no longer be able to pursue a livelihood.
The root cause of the sufferings in Fata is the fact that the state of Pakistan doesn't see matters beyond carrying out military operations in the region. There seems to be no concept of doing something for the people of Fata, most of whom consider themselves as second-class citizens of Pakistan.
As for the three men, they and their families are now living as IDPs in Kohat. They are seeking help from philanthropists in Pakistan or beyond to help them finance the purchase of artificial hands so that the men can at least work to support their families. I would request the people of Pakistan to generously extend help to them as a symbolic defiance to the Taliban, al Qaeda and the state's flawed policies in the region vis-a-vis these militants.
Published in the Express Tribune, May 24th, 2010.
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