MUSLIM WORLD

Minorities are Target of Taliban's Wrath

Srecko Latal in the Pioneer, 10 Dec., 1996

Ethnic minorities make up roughly half the population of Afghanistan's capital.

Taliban troops are mostly ethnic Pashtuns, a majority in this patchwork nation of ethnic and religious groups, and the sought treatment of minorities suggests there is more to the movement's war than a campaign to impose a strict Islamic society.

Indeed, workers for international aid groups say ethnic overtones are becoming increasingly evident on both sides of the conflict, with civilians being targeted solely because of their ethnicity.

The enemies of the Taliban army, all from Afghanistan's minorities, formed an alliance shortly after Taliban captured Kabul in September, 1996.

The alliance's two main factions are led by Rashid Dostum, an Uzbek, and Ahmed Shah Massood, a Tajik. Tajiks and Uzbeks live in Afghanistan's, Northern provinces and are culturally linked to the neighboring republics of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Two smaller factions in the alliance are made up of Shiite and Ismaili sects, both minority religions in this predominantly Sunni Muslim country.

The Pashtuns that predominate in the Taliban army make up about 60 per cent of Afghanistan's 15 million people and most are Sunni Muslims. Taliban forces control about two-thirds of the country, the area where Pashtuns are the dominant ethnic group.

It is not clear whether the Taliban movement is engaged in an organized campaign of attacking ethnic minorities, or if its leaders are unable to control the military units and are sending a clear signal to minorities that they are not welcome.

But the result is the same. Random arrests are frequently followed by beatings. Many people have disappeared, which has terrorized many minorities in the city. As many as 800 people are fleeing the capital each day.

While ethnic minorities appear to have been targeted almost since the outset of Taliban rule, the harassment is worsening.

The strict version of Islam practiced by Taliban leaders also has contributed to the unrest. Many people in the north contend Taliban social edicts reflect Pashtun tribal traditions more than Islamic law.

Taliban leaders have banned music, movies, television, work for women and school for girls.

Men have been forced to grow beards and go to the mosque to say their prayers. 

In areas controlled by Taliban foes, the conditions, although conservative, are more relaxed.

Chechenya's Victory Over Russia

The Mujahideen in Chechenya have achieved a great and significant victory. The Russian empire was built at the expense of Islam. It started in 1552 when the Khanate of Kazan was defeated. Astrakhan fell next and it was at the beginning of the eighteenth century that Russian hordes started their forays into the Caucasus.

The Chechens have fought the Russians for 200 years finally defeating them in Grozny on August 6, 1996. This is an event of tremendous significance.

Chechens were dismissed only a few months ago as finished. Comparison of sheer numbers between the Russians and Chechens is mindboggling. Russia, the world's largest country, has a population of more than 150 million. Its armed forces are still several million strong, with 20,000 nuclear weapons to boot.

The Chechens, on the other hand, are barely one million. They have no regular army; only dedicated cadres who formed independent units with small arms to confront the Russian hordes. While the West financed Russia's genocidal war in Chechenya by pouring US$10 billion in aid to Moscow through the International Monetary Fund (IMF), no Muslim country sent a cent to the Chechens. Even the surrounding Caucasus Republics of Ingushetia, Daghestan, Abkhazia etc. did not help the beleaguered Chechens.

The Chechens waged their jihad single-handedly. For nearly 20 months (December 11, 1994 – August 31, 1996), they withstood the Russian onslaught from the land and the air, all alone. Using their superior fire-power, especially from the air, the Russians destroyed virtually the whole of Chechenya. Forced to abandon their capital, they moved into the southern Caucasus Mountains and waged their struggle from there. Small bands of Chechen fighters continued to attack the Russian occupation forces in Grozny with weapons captured from the enemy. (Subsequently Russia has signed an agreement which gives de facto independence to Chechenya and has withdrawn all its troops – Editor.)

(Crescent International, Toronto, 16 October, 1996)

World Muslim Population

Region Population Percentage

Asia 760 million 69.2%

Africa 300 million 27.3%

Europe 32 million 2.9%

North America 5.5 million 0.6%

Latin America 1.3 million 0.6%

Oceania (including Australia and Pacific Islands) 0.4 million 0.4%

World Total 1.099 billion 100% 

While the largest proportion, 69.2 percent, live in Asia.

China has only 20 million Muslims in a population of 1.2 billion.