Sikhs pay 20 million religious tax to Taliban for their "safety"

by israeli.agent | April 17, 2009 at 02:14 am

1055 views | 54 Recommendations | 38 comments

Jizia - The pet name of "infidel" tax non-Muslims must pay to their Muslim rulers in order to show subjection of the state and its laws (read “Sharia”).

Now minority Sikh community living in Aurakzai tribal region have paid 20 million Rupees to their brand new Taliban rulers after the terrorists occupied some of their homes and kidnapped a Sikh leader.

Initially the terrorists asked for a jizia of 50 million rupees. But after negotiations they settled for 20 million rupees. Only after the payment of this amount they vacated the occupied homes and released the Sikh leader Saiwang Singh.

As per the Pakistani officials, Taliban terrorists announced that since the Sikhs fulfilled the obligation user “Sharia” law, they are free to live anywhere in Aurakzai region and no one will harm them.

Officails also said that those Sikhs who left this place fearing Taliban terrorists can come back without any problem now.

(RTTNews) - Pakistan's minority Sikh community were forced to pay Rs.20 million (USD 0.4 Mn) as "Jizia" or tax to the Taliban for them to return to their homes and resume business in Orakzai Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), reports said Thursday.

The minority Sikh community Wednesday met the Taliban demand following which the Taliban released Sikh leader Sardar Saiwang Singh and vacated the community's houses besides being assured of its "protection" and freedom to live anywhere in the area.

"They announced protection for the Sikh community, saying no one would harm them since they have paid “Jizia”. Sikhs who had left the agency would now return to their houses and resume business," an official said.

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israeli.agent

at 02:20 on April 17th, 2009

News from more reliable source.

Sikh families leave Orakzai after Taliban demand jizia

By Abdul Saboor Khan

HANGU: Sikh families living in Orakzai Agency have left the agency after the Taliban demanded Rs 50 million as jizia (tax) from them, official sources and locals said on Tuesday.

Residents of Ferozekhel area in Lower Orakzai Agency told Daily Times on Tuesday that around 10 Sikh families left the agency after the demand by the Taliban, who said they were a minority and liable to pay the tax for living in the area in accordance with sharia.

Locals said the Taliban had notified the Sikh families about the ‘tax’ around a week ago. They said of the 15 Sikh families in Ferozekhel, 10 had shifted while the remaining were preparing to do so.

The locals said the families were impoverished and had left the area to avoid any Taliban action.

.Agent.

Amitjha

at 02:28 on April 17th, 2009

Tax Collection on the name of religion.Great Idea for elimination of religion from the world.

israeli.agent

at 02:32 on April 17th, 2009

I disagree. Great idea to have only one religion in the world. What basically Taliban say is exactly that Mr. George Bush said.

"You are either with us or against us."

Great minds always think alike. So do mindless ones :-)

.Agent.

Mr. Dandy (not verified)

at 04:10 on April 17th, 2009

Ahhh, the ways of a tyrant - let us count the ways. The thing about "bullys" is this: they are cowards. Puss-ies, you know? Nothing less then men is drag - long drag dresses with smelly stinking beards -- public hangings: barbaric.

Amaad

at 03:39 on April 17th, 2009

thats a worse news ever Agent.. honestly this is really shameful. the religious fanatics were against the creation of Pakistan and now they are very much against its existence. tell you what someone said to me.
"whether Pakistan was made in the name of Islam is a controversial claim but one thing is for sure. it will sink in the name of Islam"
the 1/3 white portion of Pakistani flag was supposed to acknowledge and represent the minorities and taliban are very much against it. Jinnah's idea of Islam didnt mean that there was no space for nonMuslims in Pakistan but a Pakistan where everyone along with Muslims was free to live their lives according to their beliefs the reason for separate homeland was meant for Muslim nation which was second important part of the Indian continent. Pointing at more Muslims in India is irrelevant in that case. People who voted for Pakistan did it as a democratic right which was introduced and promoted by the British themselves.
Coming back to Islamic fanatics they called Jinnah , Kafir e Azam (big infidel) and mocked Pakistan as napakistan (land of impure). True to their forefathers Taliban are bent on tearing it down.

by the way rest of the muslims are facing the same fate as the nonmuslims are .. just see if taliban have ever hesitated blowing up the people in the shops, offices and mosques to see if they were muslims or not.

pakka pappi

at 04:48 on April 17th, 2009

I was planning to go to Hassanabdal to visit the Shrine of Punja Sahib. looks like Taliban are not going to let it happen any time in the near future. Pakistan looks like a wild west where the goverment is forced to make peace deals with the bandists and murderers. India needs to bring this up in UN.

pakka pappi

at 05:27 on April 17th, 2009

whatever you say. but this is nothing but a ransom . UN peacekeeping forces should enter in these areas to free the people from these savages

israeli.agent

at 07:49 on April 17th, 2009

The beauty of all terrorists including AQ ,TB or LTTE etc is that they never will have nerves, guts and/or other organs below to fight against any military face-to-face. Whenever they face that situation , what they do is simply hid behind civilians and attack the regular forces. When they reataliate, obviously there will be civilian casualities and collateral damage.Terrorists always know that the regular armies do have to follow certains rules and have to value human rights. The propaganada of terrorists starts and throws away the gory photos in differet angles and grusome stories of many colors about the horrible deaths.Seeing all these outcry and protests starts from all over the world.

Then history repeats.

.Agent.

René

at 07:45 on April 17th, 2009

is that Pakistan rupees or Indian rupees?

israeli.agent

at 07:48 on April 17th, 2009

I think Pakistan rupees.

.Agent.

René

at 08:01 on April 17th, 2009

Good, that is only half as much to the wretched tallies.

Roy C

at 07:50 on April 17th, 2009

A very important story that the left will ignore, as you can see from who has posted here on this thread and who has not.

Good job, Agent.

generaldecay

at 07:53 on April 17th, 2009

That is extremely offensive. Here I am, a big leftie, commenting! Perhaps it's worth considering that the comments one leaves are often rather more about the time one has than about ignoring some posts in favour of others.

generaldecay

at 07:55 on April 17th, 2009

Good catch on this one, Agent. The Taliban is not known for its softlly softly approach, and this is yet another indication of the lengths it's prepared to go to.

Roy C

at 08:14 on April 17th, 2009

Oh, General, lighten up! You are still alone here as the only proponent of the left. Your exceptionality proves the rule.

Extremely offensive, and true, to boot, making it more offensive!

generaldecay

at 08:29 on April 17th, 2009

Don't tell me too lighten up. You have just been snide about an entire group of people on NP and that is unacceptable. If you have an issue with the values of the 'left', comment on them and omit your claims about what you think those people do or do not do on NP. Such claims are counter-productive and petty, and in my opinion, nothing less than flaming.

Roy C

at 09:44 on April 17th, 2009

Snide comments are made regularly by your side about "our" side.

Do you object in principle when this happens?

I am from the left, but an old left, a JFK left, not a modern liberal left. I am not a conservative, nor am I a republican. Try grokking that, as we used to say.

generaldecay

at 09:47 on April 17th, 2009

Do you object in principle when this happens?

Absolutely I do. I can and do object to snideness no matter where, or to whom, it's directed. I have always felt that this left v. right antagonism does no one any favours.

Roy C

at 09:55 on April 17th, 2009

Do you have an example of this objection in some thread here, apart from me, that is, when the left has been snide? And I am still waiting for a comment about the Taliban, not about me.

generaldecay

at 10:01 on April 17th, 2009

No, you don't tell me (or anyone else) what I should and should not be commenting about. I have already commended Agent on this story - it's frankly none of your business whether or not I comment further on the Taliban or not.

And, yes, I have seen several instances of the 'left' being snide about the 'right' on NP and I have stepped in as appropriate.

Roy C

at 10:12 on April 17th, 2009

Could you furnish a link? Thank you.

generaldecay

at 10:19 on April 17th, 2009

I wouldn't even know where to start with finding you a link, and I feel no need at all to justify myself to you.

So you're just going to have to take my word for it, I'm afraid.

Roy C

at 10:22 on April 17th, 2009

By the way, I never told you that you should comment. I only asked if you had proof of actually doing what you said you would do.

My comment about the left seems to have struck a nerve. Sometimes when we have unacknowledged fears or guilt, minor criticism gets blown up into a war, of words or otherwise.

What I do when I feel that way is to acknowledge the validity of the criticism just to see if there is something I am trying to avoid.

And, you may not be guilty of this at all, but certainly many here on the left have been guilty of this on multiple occasions. Or do you disagree?

Public education and the mass media today is so full of the left's precepts that off-hand disparagement of the right, as we saw yesterday in the comments about Rush and the Tea Parties, passes for normal, and then the left is surprised, as the right used to be when they dominated, that there is something to be held accountable for, that, corrupted by power, they have succumbed to the vanity of thinking and feeling that one side is virtually infallible in word and deed, when that can never be the case.

israeli.agent

at 08:19 on April 17th, 2009

Thank you , Roy and generaldecay,

It is a good thing that Pakistani media has given coverage to this news.

Just for records, This did not happen to the major "infidels" like Christians or Jews or Hindus, but the minority Sikhs. As per reports there are just 35 families living in that area. Taliban occupied 10 of those families just for the heck of it.

René, still USD 0.4 Mills is a real huge sum for a country where the per capita income is $1,027 - as per last year's reports.

.Agent.

bettermakings (not verified)

at 10:58 on April 17th, 2009

the Christians are simply being slaughtered. they're going easy on the Sikhs..... this same "tax" will happen in the EU soon enough.

sjsingh (not verified)

at 08:47 on April 17th, 2009

its is very shameful, inhumane act.we cant feel what happened there with sikhs , only those sufferd can feel it,we are just making comments here, every human being must protest against it from every part of world

Roy C

at 09:59 on April 17th, 2009

The Taliban say that this behavior and policy comes from the Koran. I am sure that Amaad will argue the case that this policy is a misinterpretation of the Koran.

In my exposure to the Koran, I am aware of statements by Mohammed that are tolerant, but later statements are ones that say that taxing the infidels who are of the book, the Jews and Christians, is what should be done, and that an attitude of submission must be invoked in these infidels.

bettermakings (not verified)

at 11:02 on April 17th, 2009

my family came from Christians in Iraq, and i've heard many stories of this "infidel-tax", even by the Ottomans (Turks) who are not extremists in Islam. many use the Koran when it's convenient, financially or any other way.

Amy Judd

at 10:22 on April 17th, 2009

Some comments on this thread directly violate our Flaming Policy. I suggest having another read of this document as if there are any more comments of this nature, the offending member(s)'s account will be automatically suspended.

israeli.agent

at 10:24 on April 17th, 2009

The requirement of times.

What stated in many religious books as rules maybe perfectly valid if we consider that time when the rule is made. Maybe it would stay valid for a couple of generations too. But trying apply those rules at present times is just a spectacular idea.

.Agent.