Taliban beheads two Sikhs in Pakistan

[Vinod2070]

These guys speak Pashto. I think that is why they are called that.

I think India should allow them to settle down in India, it is our moral duty to help all minorities in neighboring countries who find themselves on the wrong side of the border.

The same doesn't apply to those who divided the country in the name of religion. They have to live with the consequences of their own choice.

These Sikhs and other minorities have an entitlement to settle in India, the others can only be allowed on a case to case basis and this has nothing to do with the many issues within India.

[Vinod2070]

Well, Pathankot and Bungal in Punjab are at some height, maybe not the same as Himachal, UT, or Jammu and Kashmir; but I think it will be easier for them to settle in Punjab because of the language; I think they are accustomed to the Gurmukhi script. It would be harder for them to first learn Hindi and than to try to make a living. In Punjab, they'd be able to hit the ground running so as to speak.

I doubt language would be a handicap. I have seen some TV footage of the interviews by these guys and they speak Urdu/Hindi reasonably well.

In terms of learning the script, that would be a minor issue I guess. Being traders, they will manage that easily if it comes to that.

I do agree that Punjab will be easier for them to assimilate however.

[Tronic]

The Bangladesh Rifles intruded and killed many BSF personnel and their bodies were carried slung on bamboo by the Bangladeshi villagers sometime during 2001. If I remember correctly, they were all tortured before being shot.

Wow, Point taken.

[Tronic]

Is the term "Pathan Sikh" correct?.. I would think that the Sikhs there are the decendents of the Ranjit Singh's army or trades who followed them. I don't think any pathans would have converted to Sikhism.

Yes, most of the "Pathan" Sikhs are either remnants of the Khalsa army, or they are traders who have been living in those areas for centuries. The trader Sikh community though is generally concentrated in Afghanistan. There may be a few convert Sikhs since Ranjit Singh did carry out some revenge persecutions of Muslim Pathans in that area; and also, at the same time, built numerous Gurudwaras in the tribal belt. Infact, I think pretty much all the Gurudwaras in that area are from the time of Sikh rule. Though, even in the Sikh books, it is written that a "Pathan" is classified as someone from that area who follows Islam, i.e. Islam is a part of the Pasthun identity, it defines Pasthuns.

[Sumku]

The conflict which we are finding in Pakistani system is primarily the conflict between which version of Windows to install i.e. Windows 7 or windows Vista.Windows 7 which claims to be superior and promises to give a solution to all problems caused by Vista is aggressively marketing itself.
So while there has been aggressive marketing ,it's basically a compatibility issue and since both are Microsoft products, with few tweaking of settings Vista can co-exist with 7. Infact there have been many instances of dual booting of system and this dual booting has been allowed by the administrators themselves in few cases.The system at Swat was dual booting happily a few months ago.

However it must be remembered that Pakistan is primarily a Windows only system and a glance at the manual of Pakistani system (googling would help) would clearly show the restrictions imposed upon Linux OS.
So while Vista users can survive with few tweaking of settings and especially as Windows7 wants them to use the new system.But there is simply no chance for the Linux Users.Linux was anyway unwanted when there was Vista and with Windows7 coming there is no option for them but to boot out as Windows7 is very harsh on non Windows products- they are considered to be too inferior to be exist alongside Windows7.

So Linus users are suffering from a double handicap- restricted earlier,logged out now.

So India which is a multi-boot system can allow these Linux users suffering from double handicap to use India system.
However India cant be to generous with its logging policy.
One reason is that Linux is considered to be a virus free system.So its assimilation won't corrupt the system.But the windows installations available in Pakistan might be malicious or virus infected and even if they aren't their settings are so much alien to Indian system that they might affect the stability of current Indian system.
Second reason is very simple-number of Linux users are very small in Pakistan while Vista users are huge.So Linux users wont overwhelm the system ,but allowing all Vista users to login would overwhelm the Indian system

WOW!!.
What are you a Windows 7 hater or lover ?

[Sumku]

Too small a number, that smells like PR to me.

What do you want....entire Afghan population to given Indian Citizenship?
How big should be the number to make it NOT look like a PR ?

[Tronic]

Ontario Sikh family fears Pakistani Taliban have kidnapped their son

Anthony Reinhart

Toronto — From Thursday's Globe and Mail Published on Wednesday, Mar. 03, 2010 10:07PM EST Last updated on Friday, Mar. 05, 2010 3:12AM EST

Eight years ago, Bishan Dass left the heat of the Pakistani city of Peshawar for the cold of Canada and settled into a peaceful retirement amid a burgeoning community of fellow Sikhs in Brampton, Ont.

For the past three weeks, Mr. Dass, 70, has found little peace inside his suburban home. He and his wife, Shama, have been worrying about one of the two grown sons they left behind, 32-year-old Robin Singh, who was abducted in Peshawar on Feb. 12 as he made his way to work as an IT professional.

“We can't even sleep at night,” Mr. Dass said. “We're not hearing anything about him.”

Mr. Singh, a married father of three sons, is one of four Sikhs kidnapped in recent weeks in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, where Taliban militants have been waging an escalating program of persecution against Sikhs and other non-Muslims. Of the other three abductees, who were taken together in the province's rural tribal belt in January and held for ransom, one was beheaded last month and the other two freed this week in a raid by Pakistani forces.

There has been no word, however, on Mr. Singh, who was hauled away in broad daylight in a market district in Peshawar. While responsibility for the disappearance has not been confirmed and abductions for profit are not uncommon in the region, his family and other observers strongly suspect Taliban involvement.

The chilling news came to Mr. Dass a few days after the abduction, when his other Peshawar-based son, Rajan, received a phone call. “Your brother Robin Singh is with us,” the caller reportedly said. A ransom demand of 10 million rupees, or about $125,000, followed days later.

Frantic to free their son, the family launched a fundraising drive in Brampton last week, but Mr. Dass said donations are no longer being sought. Canadian officials with the World Sikh Organization, among others, advised strongly against paying the ransom for fear it would encourage further kidnappings.

“That will send the wrong message,” Amanpreet Bal, a spokesman for the organization, said of the community funding effort. Mr. Bal suggested Canadians would do better to ask Ottawa to press the Pakistani government to protect minorities in the country's restive northwest, and to support international efforts to bring the Taliban to heel.

Despite their minority status, 10,000 Sikhs have lived and thrived for decades amid the region's Muslim majority, speaking the local Pashto language and running small businesses. After a surge in Islamic extremism in 2001, they were initially left alone by the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups, but were finally targeted as hostilities peaked last year. Taliban factions began to enforce jazia , a kind of protection tax for non-Muslims, forcing many Sikh families to flee. In some cases, their properties were razed.

Last May, the Toronto-based South Asians for Human Rights Association held a conference, attended by activists, federal officials and Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's minister for minority affairs, at which Mr. Bhatti pledged to “stop atrocities on Sikhs.”

Tim Uppal, a Sikh who sits as a Conservative MP from Edmonton, also attended the conference, and announced millions in Canadian government aid for people displaced by the Pakistani insurgency.

Mr. Uppal said in an interview that Canada has put pressure on Pakistan to ensure the safety of its minorities, and “they have assured us they have been doing that and will continue to do that, but obviously we're seeing violence in that region escalate.”

The government won't comment on Mr. Singh's case other than to say it is “very much aware of the situation,” Mr. Uppal said.

Roger Nair, chairman of South Asians for Human Rights, said his group has asked Ottawa to expedite immigration claims for persecuted minorities in the troubled region, and has offered the government undertakings to ensure newcomers are financially supported, but has yet to get a substantive reply.

With a report from Saeed Shah in Islamabad
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1488877/

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