Imran Khan Says Taliban's 'holy War' In Afghanistan Is Justified By Islamic Law

[Singh559]

Imran Khan says Taliban's 'holy war' in Afghanistan is justified by Islamic law

Pakistani politician's comments at hospital that treated shooting victim Malala Yousafzai outrage Afghanistan's government

• Jon Boone in Islamabad
• The Guardian, Sunday 14 October 2012 10.20 EDT

Afghan men burn an effigy of Pakistani politician Imran Khan after he said the Taliban were fighting a jihad against US and western forces. Photograph: Jangir/AFP/Getty Images

Afghanistan's government has lashed out at Imran Khan after the formerPakistan cricket star, now a politician, said the Taliban were fighting a "holy war" in the country that was justified by Islamic law.

Speaking after visiting a hospital in Peshawar where Malala Yousafzai – the 14-year-old activist shot in the head by the Taliban for supporting girls' education – was treated last week, Khan told reporters that insurgents in Afghanistan were fighting a "jihad". Citing a verse from the Qur'an, he said: "It is very clear that whoever is fighting for their freedom is fighting a jihad …

"The people who are fighting in Afghanistan against the foreign occupation are fighting a jihad," he added, according to a

.

Afghan politicians have reacted with disbelief, with one parliamentarian suggesting Khan should be arrested. The Ulema Council, a grouping of senior clerics, declared his comments "unislamic".

A Kabul foreign ministry spokesman said Khan was "either profoundly and dangerously ignorant about the reality in Afghanistan, or he has ill will against the Afghan people.

"Our children are killed on daily basis, civilians killed and our schools, hospitals and infrastructure attacked on a daily basis. To call any of that jihad is profoundly wrong and misguided."

Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has written to all of Pakistan's political leaders, including Khan, saying: "We must ask why we have been unable to counter the terrorism that is attacking our people, and the promise of a better future for our children."

Khan has also courted criticism by saying he will not publicly name the Taliban while criticising the men who attempted to kill Malala, because he feared it would put his party's supporters at risk.

The row with Kabul highlights the awkward political situation Khan has found himself in recent days. He has long blamed the rise of the Taliban in the country on the US, saying its military operations in Afghanistan and the CIA drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal belt are responsible for the upsurge in militancy.

But his populist position has been challenged by the almost unprecedented public anger against the Pakistani Taliban triggered by the attempt to kill Malala as she sat in a van with her classmates in Swat last Tuesday.

While many observers fear the mood of national outrage will ultimately change little, the country's media continues to cover the saga intensively while the country's powerful military chief called on the nation to "unite and stand up to fight" against extremism.

The foreign minister has even suggested the attack might be a turning point for a country that has long struggled to muster support for a decisive push against militants. On Sunday, tens of thousands of people attended a rally in Karachi in support of Malala, organised by the Muttahida Qaumi movement, the dominant political party in the southern city.

Malala is unconscious and in intensive care in a military hospital in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. A military spokesman said her condition was improving and that no decision had been made as to whether she should be sent overseas, despite an offer from the United Arab Emirates to supply an air ambulance.

Local media continued to focus on her condition despite government warnings that the Pakistani Taliban, apparently angered by criticism of the attack on Malala, had ordered attacks on journalists.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/14/imran-khan-taliban-afghanistan-islam

[PakistaniPunjabi01]

Cheeta!!!!

No wonder International Establishment didn't let him win and rigged the last elections massively.

He says things as they are!!...

The only actual *leader* present in entire sub-continent today....

[proactive]

He says things as they are!!...

Typical Pakistani falsehood. Can you for once tell the truth as it is. Imran Khan is sh.itted of the Taliban blowing his party workers and him into the great whorehouse in the sky, so he refrains from criticising them. So I suppose you too support the attacks on little girls going to school? Bullets to the head and using gas to attack their schools?

No wonder International Establishment didn't let him win and rigged the last elections massively.

Yeah and Jews knew about 9/11 beforehand, CIA did 9/11, Bin Laden is still alive or he died in 2002. What other conspiracy theory are you going to peddle. So how did Khan's party win in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa? Did the CIA not have enough manpower to win a state with 1/10 the population of Punjab?

[Jonny101]

The Afghan fight against the occupiers may not be a bad thing. But it's unfortunate that the resistance against the occupiers are the Taliban. Once the Taliban come back into power they will probably go back to implementing the ancient Sharia Law by banning schools for girls, preventing women from working, persecuting Shia. Many Pakistanis will first celebrate the return of the Taliban to power. But It might very well back fire on them when Islamic extremists in Pakistan will feel more emboldened and demand a similar Sharia system in place in Pakistan. I don't think liberals like Imran Khan will want the Sharia imposed in Pakistan. The Taliban coming to power will probably have a spill over effect on Kashmir resistance too.

[PakistaniPunjabi01]

The Afghan fight against the occupiers may not be a bad thing. But it's unfortunate that the resistance against the occupiers are the Taliban. Once the Taliban come back into power they will probably go back to implementing the ancient Sharia Law by banning schools for girls, preventing women from working, persecuting Shia. Many Pakistanis will first celebrate the return of the Taliban to power. But It might very well back fire on them when Islamic extremists in Pakistan will feel more emboldened and demand a similar Sharia system in place in Pakistan. I don't think liberals like Imran Khan will want the Sharia imposed in Pakistan. The Taliban coming to power will probably have a spill over effect on Kashmir resistance too.

Resistance fighters aren't exclusively Talibans. It is just retarded Western media who 'lump' all of the resistance into one and than name it "terrorists". Well, its convenient for them..after, they have to keep their gullible audience in line.

Talibans also aren't a "one" group. There are many different groups, factions and so on.

[Hammertime007]

another No Ball !

[Jonny101]

Resistance fighters aren't exclusively Talibans. It is just retarded Western media who 'lump' all of the resistance into one and than name it "terrorists". Well, its convenient for them..after, they have to keep their gullible audience in line.

Talibans also aren't a "one" group. There are many different groups, factions and so on.

We are not your western audience. We are from same region you are from so we have a different take than the western audience on this subject. We are all aware the Taliban resistance are a loose confederation such as the main Taliban group, Haqani network, GulBuddin Hekmatyar group, even TTP carries out operations in Afghanistan. But all of these groups owe their allegiance to Mullah Omar whom they regard as Amir Ul Monineen. Once the western backed government in Kabul is toppled and the Taliban take over, all of these groups of fighters will be part of the Taliban's main body.

The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan will have a spill over effect in all the neighboring countries. It will embolden the Islamic radicals in Pakistan to demand Sharia laws. The Kashmiri separatists will probably have a boost of Jihadis in their ranks(not good for the Indian army). In China, the Uighur resistance will get a boost in their resistance against the Chinese which is close by to Afghanistan and central Asian states will also have a resurgent Islamic militant movement. It will have an effect on large parts of Asia which is probably why Iqbal called Afghanistan the heart of Asia.

[PakistaniPunjabi01]

We are not your western audience. We are from same region you are from so we have a different take than the western audience on this subject. We are all aware the Taliban resistance are a loose confederation such as the main Taliban group, Haqani network, GulBuddin Hekmatyar group, even TTP carries out operations in Afghanistan. But all of these groups owe their allegiance to Mullah Omar whom they regard as Amir Ul Monineen. Once the western backed government in Kabul is toppled and the Taliban take over, all of these groups of fighters will be part of the Taliban's main body.

The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan will have a spill over effect in all the neighboring countries. It will embolden the Islamic radicals in Pakistan to demand Sharia laws. The Kashmiri separatists will probably have a boost of Jihadis in their ranks(not good for the Indian army). In China, the Uighur resistance will get a boost in their resistance against the Chinese which is close by to Afghanistan and central Asian states will also have a resurgent Islamic militant movement. It will have an effect on large parts of Asia which is probably why Iqbal called Afghanistan the heart of Asia.

I don't think Taliban will just 'take-over' Afghanistan. There will be some sort of power-sharing b/w all parties involved in Afghanistan.

The biggest threat to Asia is what you mentioned....China's Muslims! Pakistanis/Saudis/Iran with the help of Americans "exported" the deadly mixture of radical puritanical Islamic thought+Islamic Revolution of Iran to Central Asia. This ideological aspect of Islam crushed the weakened communism in Central Asia and communism fell along with U.S.S.R and 5,6 new Muslim-majority states emerged and Islam swept through central Asia..Mashallah. Though that mission was "successful", but now, it gives me goose bumps.

Chinese are really worried that if radical Islam entered their Western province, then it would be a disaster for them. Extremists operating from Pakistan-Afghan border region are causing some problems for China...

After U.S leaves, Pakistan must contain this virus ...If it spreads to China..then it would be bad for Islam, China, Asia, and rest of the humanity too..

[Singh559]

It won't happen in China, the Chinese are really good at shutting up all religious sort of thought and they aren't scared to get their hands dirty (even more so than the French) to ensure no religion proliferates.

[proactive]

The biggest threat to Asia is what you mentioned....China's Muslims! Pakistanis/Saudis/Iran with the help of Americans "exported" the deadly mixture of radical puritanical Islamic thought+Islamic Revolution of Iran to Central Asia. This ideological aspect of Islam crushed the weakened communism in Central Asia and communism fell along with U.S.S.R and 5,6 new Muslim-majority states emerged and Islam swept through central Asia..Mashallah. Though that mission was "successful", but now, it gives me goose bumps.

The growth of Islamic extremist movements in the Central Asian republics postdate the collapse of the Soviet Union. Islam didn't cause the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was the collapse of the Soviet Union that allowed Islamic extremism to expand into those areas. The Soviets were quite good at keep the lid on Islam, they did it for over 70 years.

You are placing too much importance on a Taliban controlled Afghanistan. They will be loathe to pick a fight with China which will be the case if they support the Uygers. They've already seen what supporting a mad Arab in the 90s gave them. China for it's part is quite adept in playing one Islamic faction off against another. It will support Iran and use the Shias of Iran, now buttressed by the Iraqi Shia to threaten Afghanistan from the West. Before 9/11, Iran and Taliban Afghanistan nearly went to war, The West wouldn't mind the Chinese having a costly insurgency in their western provinces but then again the experience of blowback will probably keep them from fishing in troubled waters.

The Taliban in control in Afghanistan will mainly be a danger to Pakistan. It will embolden their even madder cousins the Pakistani Taliban to commit more attacks on the government as well as on the Shias. All sorts of mad mullahs will emerge each more insane than the last. It will make for interesting watching.