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Taliban in Valley

Taliban in Valley

Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 15, 2006

The manufactured protest against the alleged sex racket that was recently exposed in Srinagar is assuming an alarming dimension. This is not the first time that a sex racket has come to light in India, nor is it surprising that politicians and police officials were allegedly involved in Srinagar's sex-for-money scandal. Which is not to suggest that the crime of forcing teenaged girls into prostitution should be glossed over.

On the contrary, no effort should be spared to get to the bottom of the racket, identify those guilty of either providing protection to the racketeers or benefiting from their crime, and mete out exemplary punishment to them so that others are deterred from following in their footsteps. If there are any doubts about the impartiality of an inquiry by the Jammu & Kashmir Police, then those can be set aside by ordering a thorough investigation by the CBI. But social concern over such crimes, no matter how repulsive they may be, cannot be allowed to take the form of violent protests as have been witnessed in recent days.

The breast-beating by burkha-clad activists of the jihadi sisterhood, Dukhtaran-e-Millat, who have been fighting pitched battles with security personnel on the streets of Srinagar, has little to do with condemning the crime of forcing young girls into prostitution. It is an attempt to impose their perception of morality on Kashmiri society. That perception must be resisted because it is no different from what the Taliban did in the guise of enforcing an Islamic moral code on the people of Afghanistan.

The Government of Jammu & Kashmir must also resist the terror tactics of assorted jihadi groups who have suddenly discovered merit in preaching morality after indulging in horrendous butchery in the name of religion. Those whose hands are stained with the blood of innocent men, women and children have no moral authority to lay down a code of ethics.

In fact, the bogus rage of Dukhtaran-e-Millat and the terrorist groups has little to do with the sex racket. What we are seeing is the unfolding of a diabolical conspiracy to forcibly convert Jammu & Kashmir into a clone of Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi society. It is an extension of their bloody campaign to cleanse the State of religious, cultural and social pluralism. It is Islamisation by another name in another disguise; morality has nothing to do with this poisonous campaign.

There is another reason why authority should immediately crack down on these wannabe muttawa: If the Islamists are allowed to have their way, they will impose their warped code of ethics on not only the residents of Jammu & Kashmir but also those visiting the State. Already, as a nonplussed administration watches helplessly, cable operators have been coerced into pulling the plug on all channels barring those aired by Pakistan TV.

Thugs masquerading as upholders of morality have asked parents to take away mobile phones from their daughters. And Syed Ali Shah Gilani, who dreams of hoisting the Pakistani flag on Indian soil, has described the racket, run by Kashmiris, as an "Indian conspiracy". Unless restrained, if necessary with force, the Islamists will now demand that tourists and visitors must also comply with their diktats, or else pay with their lives. That is both intolerable and unacceptable.


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