Pakistani Taliban threatens tribesmen who do not grow beards
Oh goody, the backasswardsness of Sharia again. What is their rallying cry? Death to shavers?
A PAKISTANI Taleban leader has warned local tribesmen to grow beards within the next two months in accordance with Islamic teachings or face harsh punishment, residents said on Monday. The threat came amid an apparent increase in incidents of militants trying to enforce Islamic Sharia law in Pakistan’s tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, where the new government is trying to make peace with hardliners.
‘Men must grow beards and stop shaving within the next two months,’ residents quoted senior Taleban commander Maulvi Faqir Mohammad as telling dozens of people at a mosque in Khar, the main town in Bajaur tribal district.
Beards were mandatory under the harsh Taleban regime which ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 as part of a strict morality code that also made women wear the all-encompassing burka and outlawed music and other entertainment.
‘It is un-Islamic to shave beards. Harsh punishments will be awarded to all violators,’ added Mohammad, the central vice chief of the Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (Pakistan Taleban Movement) and also a Muslim cleric.
Well, I guess the strategy of appeasement has not served Pakistan well after all. Once again, a nation which wishes to remain sovereign cannot abide terrirists or those that would seize governmental power.