South Asia Terrorism Portal

AFGHANISTAN

A Hostage People
Sanchita Bhattacharya
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management

On November 29, Sedra, the daughter of a physician, Mohammad Dawod Rateb, was abducted in an area close to Balhika private school in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital city of Balkh Province. As reported on December 3, she was subsequently rescued by Taliban forces.

On November 18, Psychiatrist Mohamed Nader Alemi’s dead body, bearing marks of torture, was found by the side of a road in Mazar-i-Sharif. He had been abducted in September (date not specified) from Mazar-i-Sharif.

On November 15, Mohammad Zarif Anwari, Chancellor of the Mawlana Private University, was found dead near his house in Mazar-i-Sharif. He had been abducted over the weekend in Balkh.

On September 14, Bansri Lal Arendeh, an Indian entrepreneur, was abducted at gunpoint from the Afghan capital, Kabul. Later, on September 16, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi stated, "We are in touch with all concerned. We have seen reports about local authorities undertaking investigations into this matter. We will continue to monitor the situation.” According to sources, Arendeh was subsequently released on September 29

On August 8, Taliban fighters abducted a reporter, identified as Nematullah Hemat, from his family home in Lashkargah, the provincial capital of Helmand. He worked for the privately owned news channel Gharghasht TV. His whereabouts are unknown.

According to partial data collated by Institute for Conflict Management (ICM), at least 677 people have been abducted so far in Afghanistan since January 1, 2021, (data till December 10, 2021). However, these numbers are likely a gross underestimate, as open-source reportage is severely limited across Afghanistan.

According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), at least 3,000 incidents of conflict-related abductions have been reported between 2014 and 2020. According to the UNAMA’s Afghanistan Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Annual Report 2020, published in February, 2021, UNAMA documented 1,086 conflict-related abductions in 2020, the highest recorded in a year. 99 per cent of the incidents in 2020 were attributed to the Taliban. Some of the prominent incidents in 2020 included:

October 6: Taliban militants abducted and killed the Deputy Chief of a prison in Ghazni on the Ghazni-Kabul highway in Ghazni Province.

September 5: A District Judge and his clerk were abducted by the Taliban in the Dir Malika area of Tanai District, Khost Province, while they were on their way to the District Administration Centre. They were released during an Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) operation. The judge was injured in the leg during the incident. The Taliban acknowledged responsibility.

June 8: Taliban militants killed a former Afghan Senator, Abdul Wali Ahmadzai, after abducting him in Logar Province.

May 17: Taliban abducted 11 civilians, including religious scholars and local elders, in Shirin Tagab District, Faryab Province. All abductees were released after a couple of days, with two civilians having sustained injuries due to ill treatment by the Taliban.

Incidents of Abduction in Afghanistan

Source: UNAMA Annual Reports

In Afghanistan, conflict-related abductions include the forcible taking and holding of a civilian or civilians by a party to the conflict, in order to force the victim or a third party to take or refrain from taking an action. Anti-government elements kidnap civilians based both on suspicions that they have connections to or work for the government, and for financial gain, with release predicated on payment of a substantial ransom.

Civilians abducted by anti-government elements included personnel from non-governmental organisations, humanitarian deminers, healthcare workers, civilians working for the Government of Afghanistan, journalists and businessmen, among others.

Further, people from minority communities have also been targeted. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report Over a Century of Persecution: Massive Human Rights Violation Against Hazaras in Afghanistan, published in 2019,

Meanwhile, Zabihullah Mujahid, ‘spokesman’ for the Taliban's caretaker government, has claimed that the level of kidnapping has recently declined in the country. He stated that more than 80 kidnappers have been arrested and 12 victims freed since the Taliban's takeover in mid-August 2021.

The Taliban brand of ‘justice’ in such cases was visible on September 25, 2021, when their cadres hung up four bodies of alleged kidnappers in the city of Herat after they were killed in an exchange of gunfire. "Their bodies were brought up to the main square and hung up in the city as a lesson for other kidnappers," Sher Ahmad Ammar, the Deputy Governor of Herat, stated.

Though there is no credible data to support or deny Zabihullah Mujahid’s claim, it is clear that a substantial number of incidents of abduction continue. As reported on October 28, 2021, more than 40 business people had been abducted in the country over preceding two months.

Security Force personnel who have surrendered since the Taliban’s ‘take over’ of August 15, 2021, were also abducted and killed. The Human Rights Watch Report, “'No Forgiveness for People Like You,’ Executions and Enforced Disappearances in Afghanistan under the Taliban", published in December 2021, documents the killing or disappearance of 47 former members of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) – military personnel, Police, intelligence service members, and militia – who had surrendered to or were apprehended by Taliban forces between August 15 and October 31, 2021.

Abduction-for-ransom is also rampant. For instance, on November 10, 2021, a young man, identified as Mahdi, was rescued from kidnappers in Paghman District of Kabul Province, after 25 days of abduction from Kabul. The kidnappers had asked for USD 6 million in ransom from his family for his release. No further details regarding whether the ransom was paid or whether the abductors have been arrested, are available.

On November 1, 2020, nine-year-old Abdul Rauf was kidnapped in Mazar-i-Sharif. Kidnappers later demanded a ransom of USD 2.2 million for Rauf’s release and sent numerous videos of his torture.

Many of these crimes link back to the Taliban or to cadres associated with the Taliban, and many to one or other of the quasi-criminal pot pourri of warlords and armed groupings that dot Afghanistan. A large proportion of such crimes are locally ‘settled’, with no reportage, particularly in remote areas or currently ungoverned or loosely governed spaces. While the Taliban has established its ‘government’ in Afghanistan, establishing authority, an effective administration, and an active system of law-and-order management remain a far cry. The terror of an oppressive state and the terror of random violence, abduction and extortion will remain a reality in the lives of the people of Afghanistan for a long time to come.

PAKISTAN

Blasphemy: The Murderous Faithful
Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

On December 3, 2021, a violent mob at the Wazirabad Road in Sialkot city (Sialkot District) of Punjab tortured a Sri Lankan national, Priyantha Kumara, to death over blasphemy allegations before burning his body. Kumara was accused of blasphemy for allegedly tearing down stickers of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) from a wall of factory. Kumar was working as a senior manager at a leading Sialkot factory that manufactures and exports sports products,

The last killing of a foreign national on blasphemy allegations was reported on July 29, 2020, when Tahir Naseem, a US citizen and an Ahmadi, was shot dead inside a District Court in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in the presence of security and the presiding judge. A video of the attacker, identified as Faisal Khan, in handcuffs, shouting angrily that his victim as an "enemy of Islam" was posted on various social media platforms. Faisal Khan was taken into custody on the spot.

Meanwhile, in a press release on February 2, 2021, the Lahore-based Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a minority rights organisation, disclosed that, between 1987 and December, 2020, at least 78 people had been killed extra-judicially after allegations related to blasphemy and apostasy, including 42 Muslims, 23 Christians, nine Ahmadis, two Hindus, and two persons whose religious identity could not be ascertained.

According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least three people have been killed in such violence since the beginning of the current year (data till December 10, 2021). The other two incidents of killing in 2021 include:

July 3: A Police constable, Abdul Qadir, killed Waqas Ahmed with a cleaver over blasphemy allegations in Sadiqabad District of Punjab. The victim was accused of sharing blasphemous content online and was convicted by a court in 2016. However, the Lahore High Court overturned the conviction in 2020, and Waqas was released from prison.

March 24: Taqi Shah, a Shia religious scholar, was axed to death over blasphemy allegations at a local mela (fair) in Basti Murad, Shorkot tehsil (revenue unit), Jhang District, Punjab. A blasphemy case had been registered against the victim in 2019.

Other recent incidents linked to alleged blasphemy included:

November 28, 2021: A mob attacked and set on fire the Mandani Police Station in the Charsadda District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), demanding that authorities hand over a man arrested for allegedly desecrating the Holy Quran. According to Police, the person who had allegedly torched the Holy Quran was apparently mentally deranged and he was immediately taken into custody and shifted to an unknown location. A mob of 3,000-4,000 persons gathered outside the Police station and demanded that officials hand over the man to them. When the Police refused, the mob attacked the Police Station and set it on fire. At least 17 vehicles and motorcycles parked in the Police Station compound were set ablaze and official records were gutted. While Policemen at the station managed to escape, the protesters took away weapons from the Police Station.

November 18, 2021: Four Muslims – a man and his three sons – were charged with blasphemy for arguing with a mosque Imam while requesting him to allow a funeral announcement from the village mosque for a Christian neighbour at Khodi Khushal Singh village under Burki Police Station in Lahore District, Punjab.

August 4, 2021: Hundreds of people vandalised a Hindu temple in the Bhong town of Rahim Yar Khan District in Punjab and blocked the Sukkur-Multan Motorway (M-5). The mob alleged blasphemy by a nine-year old Hindu boy, who they claimed had urinated in a local seminary.

Blasphemy has been used by the government as well as fundamentalists as a weapon to discriminate against minorities in the theocratic state of Pakistan. In the early phase after the birth of the country, there were no legal provisions for blasphemy. Deviations were introduced during the military rule of Zia-ul-Haq (1978-1988) and the most controversial laws, Section 295-B of Pakistan Penal Code, PPC, (blasphemy against the Holy Quran) was introduced in 1982; and Section 295-C, PPC (desecration against Prophet Muhammad) in 1986. The section 295-C read,7, 2010, for blasphemy

Later, the Federal Sharia Court held in a judgement that life imprisonment was repugnant to Islam, and that, therefore, the death penalty was the only punishment possible for those convicted of blasphemy under 295-C. The Court ruled that if the Government did not delete the words "imprisonment for life" from the statute by April 30, 1991, the Court would consider the change to have been made. On May 1, 1991, the death penalty became mandatory for persons convicted under 295-C. Though a Bill was adopted by the Senate to give effect to the ruling, the National Assembly did not pass the Bill. However, the court's ruling on the mandatory death penalty remained valid.

According to the CSJ report, between 1987 and 2020, at least 1,855 people have been accused under Blasphemy Laws. 200 of these cases were reported in 2020 alone. Moreover, since 1987, Punjab has recorded the highest proportion of cases of the abuse of Blasphemy Laws, 76 per cent of all cases in the country, followed by Sindh, with 19 per cent.

Among the most high-profile accused was Aasia Bibi, also known as Asia Noreen, a Christian woman from Ittan Wali village in the Sheikhupura District. She was sentenced to death on November 7, 2010, for blasphemy [LINK: SAIR 16.26], allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad during a row with woman neighbours in June 2009. Noreen denied that she had committed blasphemy and asserted that she had been accused by her neighbours to "settle an old score." On November 7, 2010, Muhammed Naveed Iqbal, a judge at the district Court of Sheikhupura, sentenced her to death by hanging. Additionally, a fine equivalent to USD 1,100 was imposed. On October 31, 2018, Pakistan’s Supreme Court overturned the conviction, and Aasia Bibi was released from the New Jail for Women in Multan on November 7, 2018.

In the interim, the then Governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, who came forward to support Aasia Bibi, was killed [LINK: SAIR 9.27] by his own security guard, Mumtaz Qadri on January 4, 2011. Qadri was reportedly incensed by the Governor’s denunciation of the blasphemy law, as also his advocacy for Aasia Bibi. Taseer had demanded the removal of the mandatory death penalty on conviction. Subsequently, on March 2, 2011, unidentified assailants killed [LINK: SAIR 9.35] the then Federal Minorities Affairs Minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, another outspoken critic of the law.

Significantly, most of the blasphemy cases are found to be false. On June 3, 2021, the Lahore High Court (LHC) acquitted a Christian couple – Shafqat Emmanuel, the watchman of a school in Gojra tehsil of Toba Tek Singh District in Punjab, and his wife Shagufta Masih – who had been sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy. The High Court noted that the prosecution had failed to establish the case and that the trial court had decided the case in “a slipshod manner.” The couple was arrested in July 2013 on the charges of sending blasphemous text messages to the complainants, shopkeeper Malik Mohammad Hussain and Gojra tehsil Bar Association former president Anwar Mansoor Goraya. In April 2014, the couple was sentenced to death for blasphemy and fined PKR 100,000 each by an additional district and sessions judge in Toba Tek Singh District.

On April 28, 2021, just before the acquittal of the Christian couple, the European Union (EU) Parliament discussed the situation of blasphemy laws in Pakistan, focusing especially on this specific case. It adopted a resolution in which it expressed concern at the continuous abuse of blasphemy laws in Pakistan which exacerbated existing religious divisions and the prevailing climate of religious intolerance, violence and discrimination. The resolution stressed that Pakistan's blasphemy laws were not in line with international human rights laws, and were increasingly used to target vulnerable minorities in Pakistan. The resolution demanded that Pakistan allow space for religious freedom and urged EU authorities to review the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus status for Pakistan. 681 members of the EU parliament voted in favour of the resolution while only three opposed it. The GSP is a set of EU rules allowing exporters from developing countries to pay less or no duties on their exports to the EU.

Meanwhile, on December 7, 2021, under increased international pressure, more so after the ghastly killing Priyantha Kumara, Prime Minister Imran Khan declared that “from now on” the government would not allow the misuse of religion or name of Prophet Mohammad. He declared,

Interestingly, the same Imran Khan Government succumbed to the pressure of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), the group which came into existence at the grave of Mumtaz Qadri, the killer of Punjab’s former Governor, Salman Taseer. After taking the nation hostage with mass protests and violence during the month of October 2021, TLP forced the Government to lift the ban against it on November 10, 2021 and managed to secure the release of its Chief Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi from jail on November 18. With violent action against blasphemy as an essential element of its principal agenda, TLP is readying itself for the upcoming general elections.

Pakistan is one of 13 countries where blasphemy is punishable by death. While no one has been hanged under the law, many have lost their lives to vengeful mobs, even after the Courts have dismissed charges against them. Where the state is, itself, complicit in creating an atmosphere of enveloping hatred, it is not the law alone that is at fault.

Afghanistan

Al-Qaida has grown in Afghanistan after US withdrawal, tells US Central Command General Frank Kent McKenzie United States (US) Central Command (CENTCOM) commander General Frank Kent McKenzie, in his recent interview, said that terror groups like Al-Qaida have grown in Afghanistan after the US troops withdrew from Afghanistan on August 30. McKenzie said the US has less and only two percent intelligence and surveillance ability compared with the ability they used to have in Afghanistan. The Khaama Press News Agency, December 11, 2021.

670 IS-KP militants arrested in the last three months, says Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid: Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the Afghan interim government has arrested over 670 militants of Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-KP), during the last three months. Mujahid said that 25 hideouts of the terrorist group have also been destroyed in Kabul and Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province. Anadolu Agency, December 9, 2021.

International community's lack of recognition for the current Afghan government is unjust, says IEA member of Doha Office Anas Haqqani On December 8, a member of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s political office in Qatar, Anas Haqqani said that the international community's lack of recognition for the current Afghan government is unjust. “This is the injustice of the world toward Afghanistan. Earlier they talked about (called for) peace and security and now they have imposed new conditions and say that these should be accepted,” Haqqani said. Tolo News, December 9, 2021.

US sanctions RAB and seven top officials of the agency: The United States (US) on December 11 imposed human rights-related sanctions on Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and seven current and former top officials of the agency, including Benazir Ahmed, now Inspector General of Police (IGP). Benazir, former Director General (DG) of RAB, and five officials were designated by the Department of the Treasury under the Global Magnitsky sanctions programme in connection with serious rights abuse. The Daily Star, December 13, 2021.

22 Rohingya organisations denounce ARSA: 22 Rohingya organisations in a statement on December 7 denounced the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) for the latter’s recent activities and criminal associations along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border. In the statement, they branded the ARSA, also known as Harakah Al Yakeen, as a criminal group. New Age, December 9, 2021.