Situation heats up again in Khorog

KHOROG, Tajikistan – Tensions are rising again in Khorog after gunmen killed former insurgent field commander Imomnazar Imomnazarov in his house early August 22. He was a suspect in the July 21 slaying of State National Security Committee Gen. Abdullo Nazarov outside Khorog, but authorities had not arrested him.
Another of the four main suspects in the killing, fellow ex-insurgent field commander Tolib Ayombekov, surrendered August 12. A third suspect, Mukhammadbokir Mukhammadbokirov, has been answering investigators’ questions. He presently is accused only of hooliganism and illegal organisation of a demonstration. The fourth suspect, Yodgor Mamadaslamov, remains at large.
Reportedly, unknown men surrounded Imomnazarov’s house, threw grenades at it and opened fire, News.tj reported. Imomnazarov was killed immediately and his brother, Okhirnzar, was wounded, the media outlet said.
Imomnazarov, a prominent insurgent field commander during the 1992-1997 civil war, had been confined to a wheelchair by old war wounds for more than 15 years. He also had been weakened in recent years by diabetes.
Protest after slaying
After news of Imomnazarov’s death broke, a demonstration formed in Khorog. Protesters shouting for the government to keep its promises of security and stability began throwing stones at the oblast administration building, causing troops to fire into the air. Two demonstrators were wounded, News.tj reported.
The crowd dispersed but re-assembled outside the Khorog mayor’s office.
Demonstrators called for President Emomali Rakhmon to intervene. “You were able to achieve peace and harmony in our homes (after the civil war). ... In this difficult time for Gorno-Badakhshan and all of Tajikistan, we ask you to aid a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Khorog,” a group of young residents said in an appeal to Rakhmon that Tajik media carried.
Mourners carried Imomnazarov’s body to Vakhdat Square, News.tj reported, and he was buried later August 22.
Theories about culprits; slaying’s ramifications
Tajik politicians were unanimous in saying that a third force that had no interest in a stable Tajikistan killed Imomnazarov, who had negotiated with authorities and met all their demands.
“This was all organised by external forces (likely, militants from Afghanistan), and it’s they who are very skillfully prolonging the chaos,” Saifullo Safarov, deputy director of the Presidential Centre for Strategic Studies, said of the unrest in Khorog.
The events in Khorog increasingly resemble the run-up to the civil war, political scientist Parviz Mullodzhanov said, and the future depends largely on the government’s response.
“Back then,” he said of the prelude to the war, “almost every day, murders took place, and the outline of this killing resembles the outline of the provocations at the start of the civil war. After all, the Khorog talks were almost finished, and then you have this murder. ... It’s clear that someone doesn’t want the talks to end well.”
The killing was meant to destabilise the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO), agreed Mukhiddin Kabiri, leader of the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan.
“I don’t think this was the work of the security agencies,” he said. “They needed this man. Many in the GBAO valued his opinion.”
“I think we need to use our maximum efforts to calm the situation with the help of negotiations and other peaceful mechanisms,” Kabiri said. “The use of force has shown its lack of effectiveness. Even a temporary (military) victory doesn’t solve problems – it only makes the situation worse.” Rakhmon had been expected to arrive August 21 or 22 to help celebrate Khorog’s 80th anniversary, but a scheduling change was announced August 22.
He is now scheduled to visit September 9 to celebrate Khorog’s anniversary in conjunction with Tajikistan’s Independence Day.
 ARTICLE SOURCE:By Dilafruz Nabiyeva

Pakistan takes steps to prevent faith violence

kARACHI – With militant acts on the rise, Hindus in Sindh Province, Pakistan, have been falling victim to an increa
Now, in response to calls from human rights groups, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has ordered the formation of a committee to prepare a draft constitutional amendment designed to protect minorities’ rights and to prevent the forced conversion of Hindu girls.
Amarnath Motumal, vice-chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, hailed Zardari’s decision and said Pakistani Hindus are looking forward to an end to forced conversions of Hindu girls.
The Hindu community has been calling for help since the alleged kidnapping and forced conversion of Rinkal Kumari in February, according to media reports, and the August 7 abduction and forced conversion of 14-year-old Manisha have sparked a mass exodus of Hindus from Sindh, minority rights activists say.
Such violence against the Hindu community is killing the spirit of religious pluralism that has long been a hallmark of Sindhi culture, said Ali Hassan Chandio, head of the Sindh National Movement.
It is high time for political parties, civil society, enlightened religious scholars and media to act together to prevent such insanity in the interfaith tranquil province of Sindh, he said.
The governmental response is multi-faceted. Legislation to deal with the issue is under consideration in the National Assembly and the Sindh Assembly, Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Maula Buksh Chandio said.
Also, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah announced plans to spend Rs. 50m (US $530,000) for the welfare of poor Hindus and development of worship places. Shah also has ordered implementation of a 5% quota for minorities in government jobs, according to an August 15 press statement from Chief Minister House.
Shah directed the provincial police chief to ensure timely co-operation on complaints of kidnapping, robberies and forced conversions within the Hindu community, the statement said.
Increase in faith-based violence in Sindh
Pakistan’s 2.7m Hindus constitute the country’s largest religious minority, according to the 1998 census. Most Pakistani Hindus live in Sindh Province, which has seen an increase in faith-based violence in the past few years, said Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, head of the Pakistan Hindu Council.
“The minorities are vulnerable to religious exploitation, complaining of an increase in forced conversions, targeted killings, extortion, looting, kidnapping, religion-based discrimination, and troubles linked to their places of worship,” Vankwani said.
In recent sectarian violence, three Hindu men were gunned down November 7 in the Char area of Shikarpur when a Muslim local clerk incited the Bhayo tribe to attack them, local media reported, and the Sindh government last September deployed Rangers in Pannu Aqil to stop Muslim rioters from destroying Hindu houses and shops.
Such events have lent momentum to the trend of Hindus abandoning their motherland, Vankwani told Central Asia Online.
However, some activists and governmental officials challenged the reality of a mass exodus.
No official statistics exist on how many Hindus have fled Pakistan, Eshwar Laal, a Sukker-based leader of Hindhu Panchayat, an organisation representing the Hindu community, said.
However, more than 1,000 such families have left Sindh in recent years, he said. More than 200 Hindus had left for India in recent days, but they were visiting religious sites and were expected to return, Chandio said.
The committee has met with leaders of Hindu communities and learned that many Hindu families have shifted to Canada, the United Kingdom and Europe, but they are leaving “for their children’s higher education and better future, and not because of lawlessness,” Chandio told Central Asia Online.
Those who are leaving are generally “in search of better economic prospects,” Motumal agreed.
Militancy gaining ground in Sindh
Some districts of Sindh, a province known for its non-violent and secular traditions, are becoming religiously intolerant of minority communities, civil society activists contend. “We, the minorities, know that Islam has nothing to do with militancy and fanaticism, but the extremists are misusing the name of religion to attack minority communities,” said William Sadiq, a minority rights activist associated with the Karachi-based Action Committee for Human Rights.
“Due to deep-rooted influence of Sufism and progressive politics, militancy has never flourished in Sindh, but the proliferation of militants is posing a threat to what has been a liberal society for many years,” said Afzal Junejo, a Larkana-based intellectual.
sed incidence of forced conversion, extortion and kidnapping for ransom

ARTICLE SOURCE:

By Zia Ur Rehman