The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
urged the senior cleric
in a letter to issue a fatwa
(religious edict) against
democratic system and Security
Forces (SFs), and explain
why the TTP had rebelled
against the state, reports
Daily Times on August
9. A copy of the letter
obtained by Daily Times
read, “Please go through
this letter and help the
Muslims know the Taliban
stance,” read the six-page
letter in Urdu, sent by
TTP spokesman Ehsanullah
Ehsan. The letter did not
mention when it was written
and delivered to the clerics.
It was also not clear if
it was sent to clerics from
all sects.
Senior security officials described the letter as part of “the
propaganda tools” of the
TTP, saying the group would
not gain much from it. The
letter asked how the members
of Parliament of the country
could be called Muslims
if they had failed to legislate
for enforcement of Sharia’h.
The letter appealed to the
sentiments of clerics by
mentioning how the army
was killing the “mujahideen”
who, it said, were fighting
for enforcement of God’s
law in Pakistan. “Do you
know how many mujahideen
were killed or arrested?”
the letter asked the clerics.
It informed them that thousands
of “mujahideen” had
been killed in army-led
operations. The TTP letter
also complained about the
clerics who were “silent”
when the government was
publicly acknowledging being
a “front-line ally of America
and NATO”. It, however,
admitted that the TTP had
“provided shelter” to Uzbek,
Arab, Chechen and other
militants after the United
States (US)-led bombings
ousted the ‘Government’
of Mullah Muhammad Omar
in late 2001 in Afghanistan. |
