Religious Culture

The Afghan Taliban are outdoing themselves.  They claim not to be.  Perhaps in the hope that the outside world be informed that they too have certain moral scruples.  Word has it that this is not the official Taliban position.  That they cannot possibly oversee completely and control all that their recruits plan to do.  That perhaps it is the work of certain Taliban and not reflective of the entire cult of fundamentalist Islamism of the Afghan/Pakistan variety.

The latest atrocities out of the country is news of the beheading of an adolescent boy and of a six-year-old girl in separate incidents.  Beheadings are popular in the world of Islam.  Particularly barbaric, but then also attention-getting and attention is what Islamists and jihadists crave.  So that those against whom these actions are perpetrated to ensure that they completely understand the stern dominance will be amply horrified and will then obey.

It is the will of Allah that Muslims strictly adhere to Sharia law.  And those who flout the manifold laws that instruct those who prostrate themselves before the will of Islam, must be made an example of.  What better example to shatter the peace of mind of say, a Western audience, than to take a Westerner, a journalist, a Jew, and to videotape his execution through beheading?  That riveting event brought attention to jihad.

In Afghanistan at the present time, a 12-year-old boy was abducted.  His brother was a member of the Afghan Local Police.  Whom the U.S. military is training.  To ensure that the police are capable of challenging the Afghan Taliban in Kandahar Province, to keep Afghans safe from their oppressive, predatory violence. Particularly so in preparation of the withdrawal of NATO troops.  That boy was killed, his severed head placed beside his body.

The governor of the province and the police take it for the symbolic meaning it was mean to convey.  "It's a Taliban warning tot he Afghan Local Police and to others who support the government" said Jawid Faisal, spokesman for the Kandahar governor.  Qari Yousuf, a Taliban spokesman, however, denied the charge.

And in eastern Kapisa province, provincial police chief Abdul Hamed announced the beheading of a six-year-old girl.  "We are not sure if she was beheaded by her family or the Taliban, but we know the Taliban control the area".  He could not be certain, he said, and would not be able to investigate the matter simply because the area was too dangerous for him to send an investigator there.

For their part, Amnesty International, through their deputy director for Asia, has their own opinion of the matter:  "These two acts of despicable killings of children in Kandahar and Kapisa provinces must be subject to prompt, independent and thorough investigations - those responsible must be held to account in trials that meet international standards of fairness, without use of the death penalty."

One must, above all, in confronting issues of stark inhumanity and vicious brutality against innocents, be aware of civilized conduct.  The death penalty must not, under any circumstances, be employed as a mechanism to reduce the potential for further such atrocities committed against children, for to do so would set a poor example.  As though those who commit atrocities look to others to set good examples.

The Taliban hold good examples to be represented in the shooting and beheading of 17 young Afghans who were disporting themselves at a party in southern Helmand province this week.  "What we're seeing could be a new tactic by the Taliban to behead civilians to intimidate the population", said Mr. Faisal.

The pattern is widespread and horrific.  In Kandahar's Zhari district a 16-year-old boy who had been accused by the Taliban of spying on behalf of the Government of Afghanistan was beheaded and skinned.  One might shudder and ask oneself how such horrifyingly anti-human behaviour could possibly be carried out by those who consider themselves religious acolytes?