http://www.satribune.com/archives/oct21_27_02/P1_taliban.htm
Gruesome Tales of Horrifying Brutalities
Mohammad Shehzad
PESHAWAR: Hundreds of Pakistani Taliban, arrested in Afghanistan, were allowed to have a shower once in two months, were not allowed to pray, were given only half a chapatti (thin bread) and that too not everyday.
They were kept thirsty and when they demanded in despair, they were given urine to drink. At night, the soldiers stripped them, flogged their buttocks and back until blood oozed from their skin. Then soldiers urinated on their wounds.
This is part of the story Ghulam Mustafa, a young boy from Sargodha, told the South Asia Tribune in Central Jail, Peshawar.
Mustufa was incited by the clergy to join the Taliban to fight the US’ state-of-the art war weapons with Jazba-e-Imani (power of the faith). The poor, illiterate and unemployed were brainwashed with the chicanery — heaven, hoors (gorgeous dames of paradise) and harum (house of keeps) after the martyrdom. Around 10,000 joined the caravan of Sufi Mohammad of Tehreek-e-Nifaze-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) and sneaked into Afghanistan.
They could not harm the US. The first “soldier of Islam” who fled for life was Sufi Mohammad, who masterminded everything. And then the “sole proprietors of Islam” i.e. the Taliban fled too. Pakistanis fought till the last moment. Most of them were killed and the rest were made prisoners of war (POWs) by the Northern Alliance or the forces of Rashid Dostum.
This is the story of the “wise enemies” (the clergy) and the “foolish friends” of Islam (the Pakistani Taliban).
About 300 of the “foolish friends” were recently released by Dostum. This scribe met some of them. Mustafa said the Friday sermons of a local clergy convinced him it was the time to wage ‘jihad’ against the US which had attacked the sovereignty of Islam, and being a Muslim, he was bound to resist.
The religious leader who misled Mustafa had seven strong-built sons. He himself was fat and glutton. None of them went for jihad.
But Mustafa does not regret going for jihad. The treachery of the Taliban or Sufi Mohammad does not discourage him. He does not know his future plans but was committed to teach India a lesson if it attacked Pakistan.
There were around 50 POWs—in pathetic condition—at the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar. For them, the hospital’s environment was as bad as Shibergan jail. They were not provided with medicines and decent food. They were not attended to in a humane manner. The hospital administration was biased because they were holy warriors. In their opinion, a shia doctor—Dr Irfan—was behind this maltreatment. They lambasted him, declaring him as infidel and wajibul qatl (deserving to be murdered).
They were not ready to admit that the Taliban had cheated them. About their premature surrender at Kunduz, they said: "Nobody surrendered. We had enough resources and ammunition to continue fighting. But Amirul Momineen (the head of all pious Muslims) Mulla Omar did not give us the permission. He asked us to accept Dostum’s exit offer. We trusted Dostum but he cheated us and arrested us.”
Karim, 15, resident of Okara heard a clergy saying, the US was about to attack Pakistan to chase the Taliban and thus Islam was in danger. His sermon inflamed a fire of hatred in his heart against the Americans. He came to Afghanistan without his parents’ permission. He said the maulvi had two sons, who were never moved by their father’s sermon. But he was motivated to sacrifice his life a thousand times for jihad–because he wanted to have a harum of girls in the heaven. Karim had been sodomized several times by a seminary mentor, and he wanted to enjoy the “bliss” himself but in an Islamic way, in the heaven.
Another militant, Usman, 19, resident of Borewala, who was in a critical condition said that the Taliban did deceive them. They were selfish. They struck a deal with Dostum and took the good advantage of the exit-offer at midnight when everybody was sleeping. His words provoked his colleagues. They abused him. However, they were speechless when they were reminded that jihad was not the act of killing Muslims by Muslims and that no jihad was going on in Afghanistan. It was a civil war for the lust of power. The Northern Alliance and the Pashtoon Taliban, both were Muslims.
Pakistani Taliban were against General Musharraf. They called him an man without dignity. They labeled him as an enemy of Islam. “We seriously doubt on his being a Muslim.,” said the militants.
"Some 4,000 Pakistanis and thousands of the Taliban were killed in the Shibargan Jail. Another 30,000 Mujahideen surrendered at Kunduz. We were packed in containers. There was no ventilation. When we reached Shibergan, only 2000 were alive. 28,000 died of suffocation during the journey from Kunduz to Shibergan. Most of the Mujahideen were martyred in Chardara during the journey from Kunduz to Shibergan. We, ourselves, picked up the wounded militant. When we reached Mazar-e-Sharif, Dostum’s army threw the wounded like bricks and buried all of them alive! His soldiers snatched everything from us - even our clothes. They also deprived us of shalwars (trouser),” said Asif Khan, a seminary student from Dera Ghazi Khan.
“The Northern Alliance packed 300 Mujahideen in one container. When we reached Shibergan, hardly 5 were alive in each container. The moment we were put in the Shibergan jail, Dostum’s army started torturing us. They tortured us with hot iron rods and chains. In the night, they would wake us up and try to molest us. Those who would refuse would be severely beaten. We had small-sized Holy Korans. They threw and desecrated them in front of us,” said Mohammad Farid, a seminary student of Rawalpindi.
When asked why they did not wage a holy war against social injustice, unemployment, exploitation, and evils prevailing in Pakistan, the militants said: “We are mindful of it but let us first liberate Kashmir! Our Kashmiri mothers, brothers, and sisters are calling us. We would go there to defend their honor and liberate Kashmir from the illegal occupation of the cunning and coward Hindus.”
Not a single Jihadi regretted going to Afghanistan. Affliction, torture and even disability could not extinguish their passion. They had no idea who Osama or Mulla Omar were! They had just heard about them. One of them admitted that he was impressed the way Osama and Omar were glorified by the media.
Has Musharraf done a good job by bringing the “foolish friends” back to Pakistan, while taking no action against the “wise enemies” of Islam? If the “foolish friends” are not reformed, not engaged in the healthy activities, not provided economic opportunities, they would revert to their “foolishness” i.e. satiating their passion of jihad by killing shia doctors like Dr Irfan—to buy a harum of hoors in the heaven.
The Taliban fighters believe the landslide victory of Muttahida Majlise Amal (MMA) will make this job very easy for them. MMA’s victory is in fact a renaissance of the Taliban. September 11 had threatened the “bread and butter” of the clergy. MMA’s victory has removed this threat.
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