Taliban have used all kind of violence against businesses that consider against their Sharia. They used bombings, murders and death threats against poor barbers, CD shops, internet cafes, artists, singers and actors, schools, shrines and anyhtings to do with music. However, they have not been that vocal and aggresive against financial institutions like banks. This article points out that it might be because robbing and looting banks is a source of revenue for them and they are not going to close them down despite banks being an interest based system!
Karachi being used as revenue
Karachi being used as revenue
generation city for Taliban, claim police officials
Thursday, May 14, 2009
By Waqar Bhatti
Karachi
In the first week of April this year, the Crime Investigation Department of Karachi police busted a gang of five criminals, who were allegedly involved in various criminal activities, ranging from armed attacks on security forces to bank robberies and dacoities and kidnapping for ransom in Karachi. During interrogation, these five men, Sarfraz, Faisal, Akbar, Farid and Dur Muhammad Baloch revealed that they were actually religious militants, belonging to Laskhar-e-Jhangvi, a sectarian militant group associated with the Taliban.
They claimed that they were not “professional criminals”, and were committing these crimes to meet financial requirements of their organizations, fighting Pakistani security forces in FATA tribal area and some other parts of NWFP. This is a trend that is worrying local security agencies.
At the time of the arrest, CCPO Karachi Wasim Ahmed proudly presented the case before the media at a press conference at the Central Police Office (CPO) and said it was a great achievement for not only the law enforcing agencies but also for the people of Karachi. “These (criminals) belonging to the tribal areas said there were Fatwas issued by their religious mentors, sitting in the tribal areas, allowing them to loot banks and other financial institutions involved in interest-based transactions “ a senior CID Karachi official, requesting anonymity told The News.
The official, who has investigated several crimes of kidnapping for ransom that took place in the city during the past one and half years, said the investigation revealed startling facts about the rationale, thinking and modus ope***** and activities of the extremists. “They believe that depriving industrialists of their money through kidnapping and extortion, robbing banks and convoys carrying fuel and other goods to US and NATO forces in Afghanistan is a rightful act” the police official told The News.
He said the arrested extremists said they were entrusted with the task if generating money from larger cities like Karachi as money was constantly required to fund the holy war and pay for ammunition as well as explosives as well as salaries to holy warriors and their families. In this regard, he cited the name of Qasim Toori, an activist of Jandullah, who confessed to robbing of a bank for the same reason. The kidnappers of film producer and distributor Satish Anand, who was taken to Waziristan by the militants also made a similar confession. What is worrisome in the Satish Anand case was the involvement of retired military officers.
“Besides these two cases, there were other instances where it was found out that extremists and militants kidnapped industrialists or threatened them of abduction and extorted money, which was later sent to tribal areas” claimed the police official. He said involvement of persons and security guards belonging to tribal areas, especially in the high profile bank robberies in Karachi like the one at H&H Exchange Company in which over Rs. 140 million were looted authenticated the suspicions of the investigators.
Even the Sindh Home Minister Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza, who strongly rejects presence of the Taliban in Karachi and Sindh, admitted at a meeting thismonth that a few militant elements having association with Taliban were involved in criminal activities in Karachi.
“There is no evidence that Taliban are present or planning to get active in Karachi but yes, there instances when law enforcing agencies detected some criminals having links with the Taliban or other extremist groups involved in crimes to generate money” he told a press conference at CM House earlier this month. When contacted. the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Spokesman in Malakand division, Haji Muslim Khan rejected these allegations saying it was part of propaganda against them to defame them. “Those fighting and struggling for implementation of Shariah can’t do any such activities as it just the propaganda on the behest of US and British governments to defame Taliban and religious people in the eyes of common Pakistanis” he told The News over the phone.
He said those making such allegations should prove their claims providing evidences otherwise they “would have to answer for their lies before Almighty.” The Taliban have eradicated criminal gangs and kidnappers in their controlled areas as they believe in peace and in value of human lives property of the common people, Muslim Khan said. Another angle given by Karachi-based trader from FATA, Abdul Qayyum was that militants fighting in tribal areas and NWFP were getting funds from Karachi and other major cities of Pakistan but said they were in fact getting funds from people who originally belonged to the tribal areas.
“I know that they get funds from Karachi, collected from local influential and wealthy parties who hail from tribal areas but all that is done voluntarily” he claimed. Qayyum said that there was no involvement of militants in criminal activities for generating funds commenting that actually the criminals from the tribal areas were committing robberies, dacoities and kidnappings for last couple of decades but they had nothing to do with the Taliban or other religious groups.
They also bear striking resemblences to Farooq Sattar.
