Taliban in Pakistan
After the Taliban slaughtered scores of Pakistanis in a Rawalpindi mosque on Friday, Dec. 4, Lahore's Daily Times editorialised on De. 6: "Pakistanis have become almost resigned to the daily fate of suicide bombing and other attacks by the barbaric terrorists who pretend to speak in the name of Islam. But even an almost inured populace could be forgiven its shock and horror at the suicide attack on a mosque in Rawalpindi.”
This shows that the Taliban will go to any length to justify their slaughter of Pakistanis in the name of their version of Islam. It may be reminded that when the Taliban controlled Afghanistan, they engaged in brutal suppression, including mass executions, of those who did not agree to their interpretation of Islam, banned all education for women; engaged in the wholesale destruction of Afghanistan's rich cultural heritage and provided al-Qaeda bases to plan and attack the US. Now after their ouster from Afghanistan, they have moved to Pakistan and are carrying out a two-pronged war against both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Yet, most people in Pakistan seem to believe in Taliban propaganda that they are fighting against the "infidel" westerners in the name of Islam. Most Pakistanis remain rabidly anti-US and tend to blame the US for their plight. It is time Pakistanis realise that the Taliban are the real enemy who will not hesitate to slaughter ordinary Pakistanis if it suits them. It is time the masses in Pakistan rise up against the brutal Taliban.
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