The outrageous murder of Sikhs by the Taliban, Current affairs, NewAgeIslam.com

Current affairs

The outrageous murder of Sikhs by the Taliban

Tormented by Taliban

Let’s bring home persecuted Hindus, Sikhs

The beheading of two Sikhs by the Taliban in Pakistan’s tribal badlands is no doubt a ghastly crime which has understandably shocked the people of India. But it would be instructive to ask ourselves whether we expected the abductors of the hapless Sikhs to behave any better. Indeed, no purpose is served by expressing shock and revulsion at the Taliban’s gross display of inhuman cruelty; that’s what the adherents of Islamism are trained to do and that’s what jihadis indulge in for pleasure. It would be deceitful to suggest that the Sikhs were murdered because their families failed to pay the ‘ransom’ that had been demanded by their abductors. The abduction of these Sikhs (and at least four others who are believed to be still in the custody of the Taliban) was not what is usually referred to as kidnapping for ransom by criminals looking for easy money. What the Taliban had demanded — and continues to demand — from the Sikh community, which is a designated minority in Islamic Pakistan, is jizya, or survival tax (call it protection money if you wish) that non-believers must pay to stay alive in an Islamic caliphate. Since the Taliban’s ideology of hate extols the ‘virtues’ of puritanical Islam, it is only to be expected that they — as also the Islamic orthodoxy — should believe in the Quranic concept of dhimmitude and the right to treat dhimmis in the most appalling manner. We only need to recall the plight of the few remaining Sikhs in Afghanistan and the misery that is inflicted on Hindus in Pakistan. For further evidence we could look at Bangladesh where the Jamaat-e-Islami and its diabolical front organisations have targeted Hindus for atrocities committed in the name of Islam: The homes of Hindus have been looted, Hindu temples have been desecrated, Hindu women have been raped and Hindu men killed in cold blood, most noticeably when the BNP-Jamaat alliance was in power. The efforts of the Awami League Government to reverse the tide of Islamism are no doubt showing results, but a lot more needs to be done to restore a sense of security among Hindus and, in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Buddhists.

http://newageislam.com/the-outrageous-murder-of-sikhs-by-the-taliban-/current-affairs/d/2493

“Azad” Kashmir: 'Not part of Pakistan'?, Current affairs, NewAgeIslam.com

Current affairs

“Azad” Kashmir: 'Not part of Pakistan'?

Ahmad Rafay Alam

February 26, 2010

Mangla Dam was built between 1961 and 1967 primarily to increase the amount of water that could be used for irrigation from the flow of the Jhelum and its tributaries. It was constructed pursuant to the Indus Water Treaty and with funding from the World Bank.

The core trench of Mangla Dam is 10,300 feet long and 454 feet high with a reservoir of 253 square kilometres. On its impounding in 1967, the Mangla Dam had an original gross storage capacity of 5.88 million acre feet (MAF).

The secondary function of Mangla Dam was to generate electricity from the irrigation releases through the head of the reservoir. Mangla Dam has the potential to produce 1,000MW of electricity. (What is actually produces is another matter.)

For the newly conceived state of Pakistan, the construction of Mangla Dam was in step with its ambitions to harness the country's enormous agricultural potential and to supply the increasing demand of electricity in accordance with the country's growing industry. For the people of Pakistan Mangla Dam was one of the icons, along with Tarbela on the Indus and the Kaptai of the Chittagong Hills Tracts, of the time euphemistically referred to as the "Decade of Development."

http://newageislam.com/%E2%80%9Cazad%E2%80%9D-kashmir---not-part-of-pakistan-?/current-affairs/d/2516

Will Sheikh Hasina control the ISI clone in Bangladesh?, Radical Islamism and Jihad, NewAgeIslam.com

Radical Islamism and Jihad

Will Sheikh Hasina control the ISI clone in Bangladesh?

‘Poll verdict against terror’

In post liberation Bangladesh your party won in 1996 and 2008 parliamentary polls. Would you evaluate these two victories differently?

How can I do that? But I must admit that the role of both the Caretaker Government and the Election commission in this poll was absolutely neutral. There was considerable international pressure that this election was conducted impartially and internationally accepted credible norms were followed. But the most redeeming feature of this poll was that our people favoured a secular and democratic system of governance. And this time this could happen because, unlike 2001 poll, military and the EC remained neutral. Which they were not in 2001 poll.

Are you trying to say that there was no rigging in this election?

Of course attempts were made. But people resisted that. A presiding officer and seven others were caught red handed by people in Tangail’s Bhuapur area while stamping on BNP’s poll symbol ~ paddy sheaf. People only handed them over to the police. In Chittagong a relation of one of our rival candidates was also caught red-handed for distributing Taka 41 lakh among voters. Similar incidents happened elsewhere too but our voters were extremely watchful. This awareness among our voters has helped to strengthen our democracy. This time bogus voters could not have a field day because our electoral roll has photographs of voters alongside their names.

http://newageislam.com/will-sheikh-hasina-control-the-isi-clone-in-bangladesh?--/radical-islamism-and-jihad/d/1128