Armed militants occupy Sikhs' homes in Pak

Flint

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Armed militants occupy Sikhs' homes in Pak
Press Trust of India, Wednesday April 15, 2009, Islamabad

Armed militants have occupied four homes of members of the minority Sikh community in Pakistan's restive Aurakzai tribal region near the northwestern city of Peshawar, a media report said on Wednesday.

About 200 armed militants arrived at Qasimkhel village in Aurakzai Agency yesterday and demanded Rs 40 million from the Sikhs, said Galyan Singh, an elder of the minority community.


"We failed to pay the amount and they forced the 38-member Sikh community to vacate houses," Singh told <I>The News daily</I>.

The families that were evicted from their homes have taken refuge in Manikhel area, Singh said.

Local residents of Qasimkhel condemned the incident and said injustice had been done to the Sikhs.

There is a sizeable number of Sikhs living in Peshawar and adjoining semi-autonomous tribal regions.
 

Paritosh

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akhbar in the 15th century thought of the jizya to be backward and discriminatory...
 

nitesh

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http://www.ptinews.com/pti\ptisite.nsf/0/BF7ECD0C96D771616525759A0025D11B?OpenDocument

Sikhs pay Rs 20 million in 'tax' to Taliban in Pak's Aurakzai



Islamabad, Apr 16 (PTI) Members of Pakistan's minority Sikh community living in the restive Aurakzai tribal region have paid Rs 20 million as "tax" to the Taliban after militants forcibly occupied some of their homes and kidnapped a Sikh leader.
The Taliban had demanded Rs 50 million as 'jizia' a tax levied on non-Muslims living under Islamic rule but the militants finally settled for Rs 20 million.

After the amount was paid yesterday, the militants vacated the homes they had taken over and released Sikh leader Saiwang Singh, officials in the tribal region near the northwestern city of Peshawar were quoted as saying by the Daily Times newspaper.

The officials said the Taliban had announced that the Sikhs were now free to live anywhere in Aurzakzai Agency. The militants also announced they would protect the community, saying that no one would harm them after they had paid jizia.

Sikhs who had left the area would now return to their homes and resume their business, the officials said.

The militants had occupied at least 10 homes of Sikhs in Qasimkhel village on Tuesday. About 35 Sikh families have been living in Qasimkhel for many years.

The Taliban demand for jizia was resolved at a jirga or council held yesterday through the efforts of local tribal elders. The militants had said the Sikhs should pay jizia in accordance with Shariah or Islamic law. PTI
 

Yusuf

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Jizya in Sharia? Thats the first time i have heard of it.
 

nitesh

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get ready you will here lot of things like that
 

Vinod2070

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It is going to be a repeat of what happened in Afghanistan.

The next few news stories from the region:

Public beheadings and lashes
No music/dance
No education for women
No woman to go out without her husband or father/brother
No treatment for women by a male doctor (and no women can be a doctor as they can't get educated)
Separate hospitals for genders. No anaesthesia in women's hospitals (They are meant to bear pain)
Trousers above the ankles as in the 7th century Arabia
....
 

Yusuf

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Obviously the funds collected will be used to buy more sophisticated arms and ammunition. Sometimes i wonder just how these terrorists manage to get so many weapons? Not Taliban though as it gets from Pak Ordnance Factories.
 

Soham

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It is going to be a repeat of what happened in Afghanistan.

The next few news stories from the region:

Public beheadings and lashes
No music/dance
No education for women
No woman to go out without her husband or father/brother
No treatment for women by a male doctor (and no women can be a doctor as they can't get educated)
Separate hospitals for genders. No anaesthesia in women's hospitals (They are meant to bear pain)
Trousers above the ankles as in the 7th century Arabia
....
Its called "The Sharia" ;)
In Afghanistan they went overboard with their obsession. Televisions, radios and all foreign liquor were spread on the ground to allow some of the few Talibani tanks to crush them in public.

Obsession is defined as "the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc".... the Taliban has taken the definition itself to a whole new level.
 

thakur_ritesh

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Yusuf, adding to what daredevil had to say, today they thrive on money generated by way of extortion of which kidnapping has become very organised and a big money spinner and then there is direct funding coming in from middle east. as usual in the blame game raw gets its undue share of blame by the pakistan authorities.
 

Yusuf

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Why will India (RAW) support Taliban with weapons?
 

Vinod2070

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Why will India (RAW) support Taliban with weapons?
There is no reason. They are anti-everyone. They will turn on India the moment they are done with Pakistan.

They should be bombed with B-52s as wished by the clown.
 

Soham

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There is no reason. They are anti-everyone. They will turn on India the moment they are done with Pakistan.

They should be bombed with B-52s as wished by the clown.
??
Who ?
 

Rage

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Ladies and gentlemen, I give you yet another instance of brazen harassment and galling of the Sikh community in Pakistan:


Taliban seize houses, shops of Sikhs in Orakzai


Thursday, April 30, 2009


HANGU: Taliban on Wednesday forcibly occupied three houses and 10 trade centres belonging to Sikhs in Orakzai Agency for not paying jizia, a tax levied on non-Muslims living under Islamic law. A few days ago, the local Taliban had asked Sikh families living in the agency to pay jizia amounting to Rs 50 million, which was later reduced to Rs 15 million after negotiations. They had set a deadline to pay the amount. Taliban occupied Sikhs houses and business centres in Samma Feroz Khel, Qasim Khel and Chirat areas after the deadline expired. Sources said the Taliban also burnt three trade centres belonging to the Sikh community. Around 15 Sikh families have left their ancestral villages and have taken refuge in Minni Khel area of the agency. staff report




Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
 

Su-47

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Jizya in Sharia? Thats the first time i have heard of it.
Yusuf, you are behind times. The latest version of the Koran just got released in Pakistan. Its the one which says, "edited by the Taliban." The old one just got obsolete in Pakistan.
 

Rage

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Indian Government conveys concern to Pak over Sikh harassment in Swat

2 May 2009, 0301 hrs IST, TNN


NEW DELHI: With reports from Pakistan suggesting that Sikhs in the Swat valley and several other places are being subjected to `jaziya'

(religious tax) and other forms of discrimination, India on Friday conveyed to Pakistan its apprehensions about the treatment being meted out to minority communities in the country.

"On seeing reports about Sikh families in Pakistan being driven out of their homes and being subjected to `jaziya' and other such impositions, the Indian government has taken up the question of treatment of minorities in Pakistan with the government of Pakistan,'' said MEA official spokesperson Vishnu Prakash.

Sources said that the foreign ministry summoned a Pakistan diplomat and expressed about the treatment being meted out to the minority communities.

According to reports, Taliban militants have demolished 11 homes of members of the minority Sikh community in Pakistan's troubled Aurakzai tribal region after they failed to pay `jaziya'.

The militants acted after a deadline set by them for payment of `jaziya' by the Sikhs expired on April 29, the reports said. The Sikhs had discussed the possibility of leaving the area at a meeting of the community but were unable to reach any decision.

Though Sikhs have been living in Aurakzai Agency for centuries, the Taliban asked them earlier this month to pay Rs 50 million a year as `jaziya'. The militants claimed this was being done as Shariah or Islamic law had been enforced in the area and all non-Muslims have to pay what they described as protection money.

The statement by MEA came a day after minister of state for foreign affairs Anand Sharma refused to draw a parallel between the treatment of Sikhs in Pakistan and the situation in Sri Lanka. Sharma said in Patiala that while the problem in Sri Lanka was 25 years old, the Taliban had only recently imposed `jaziya' on Sikhs. He, however, said India would raise the issue with Pakistan.

"It is incumbent upon the government and state of Pakistan -- their political leadership, their administrative leadership and their military leadership -- to neutralise the Taliban and other terrorist organisations so that this region can have peace which is an essential pre-requisite for prosperity,'' he said.


India conveys concern to Pak over harassment of Sikhs in Swat - India - The Times of India
 

Rage

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Pakistan rejects Indian statement on Sikhs

Sunday, 03 May, 2009 | 04:15 AM PST |



Displaced Hindu and Sikh women from Buner gather
at the Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Hassanabdal.—AFP



ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday rejected Indian slurs about ‘maltreatment’ of Sikhs by Taliban in tribal areas as gratuitous.

‘Sikhs living in Orakzai agency are Pakistani citizens and hence of no concern to India,’ Foreign Office spokesman Mr Abdul Basit said in a statement.

India expressed concern about the security of Sikhs in tribal areas after reports appeared in a section of press that Taliban were imposing Jazya (a tax imposed on non-Muslims) on Sikhs and demolishing their homes in the tribal belt.

‘On seeing reports about Sikh families in Pakistan being driven out of their homes and being subject to Jaziya and other such impositions, the Government of India has taken up the question of treatment of minorities in Pakistan with the Government of Pakistan,’ a statement by India’s external affairs ministry had said.

‘The Government of Pakistan is fully cognizant of the situation and looks after the welfare of all its citizens, particularly the minority community,’ Mr Basit said.



DAWN.COM | Metropolitan | Pakistan rejects Indian statement on Sikhs
 

Rage

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BJP expresses concern over targeting of Sikhs in Pakistan

Published: Sun, 03 May 2009 at 15:32 IST


New Delhi: Expressing "deep concern" over reports of Taliban targeting Sikhs in Pakistan, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday demanded that the Indian government take proactive steps to save the lives of the people of Indian origin.

The BJP demanded that the government should take 'proactive steps to save people of Indian origin living in Pakistan, a party statement said'.

"The government utterly failed to protect the people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and elsewhere. Efforts by the government so far have remained technical only and have not yielded any tangible results," the statement added.

Quoting sources, Pakistani channel Geo TV had said that Taliban militants had taken over the shops and homes of the 35 Sikh families and arrested community leaders Kalank Singh and Sewa Singh in the Ferozkhel area of Lower Orakzai Agency.

Following this, a local jirga ruled that the Sikh community should annually pay Rs.15 million ($187,000) as jaziya or protection money. Earlier reports had said the Taliban had demanded Rs.50 million but that this had been reduced.

When the Sikh community expressed their inability to pay, the Taliban then auctioned their houses and other belongings, forcing them to migrate from the area. There were reports the militants had demolished the 11 houses of the Sikh community after they failed to pay the jaziya tax.


BJP expresses concern over targeting of Sikhs in Pakistan :: Samay Live
 

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