Taliban recruits – Part I: Arrested by the army, freed on Independence Day
While many like Naseem were arrested, Maulana Fazlullah, commonly known as Mullah Radio, escaped.
SWAT:
“I used to hear screams from the rooms next to me, where they tortured other prisoners, but I was spared,” says Naseem, a 23-year-old former Taliban recruit from Spal Bandai, Swat, who was freed by the military after three months in captivity.
Naseem was recruited by the preacher of a local mosque in early 2009 to patrol his village. Although the patrol team wore masks and carried a menacing air, Naseem claims he did not want to join the Taliban. “I never believed in their ideology. I used to listen to music on the radio and worked at a tailor shop, before our village was taken over by Maulana Fazlullah’s men, who forcefully asked many of us to join them,” he says.
While many like Naseem were arrested, Maulana Fazlullah, commonly known as Mullah Radio, escaped.
Fazlullah leads the banned Tehreek-Nifaz-e-Shariah-e-Mohammadi (TSNM), a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, which recruited Naseem and others of a similar profile from the area when the militant group held power in Swat.
With a strong built, long hair and a boyish smile, Naseem is adamant he did nothing wrong. “I did not even have a weapon. We were told to just walk around with sticks and made sure people knew who was in charge.” Naseem is now full of regret for those days due to the mental stress he endured after being caught by the military.
Naseem says he disassociated himself from the Taliban a few months after his initial recruitment when the Pakistan military emerged victorious in Swat. Unfortunately for him, someone in the village tipped off the authorities.
“I was picked up from a shop I was working at. They blindfolded me after my arrest and I was taken to an unknown location. Every few days, they would come and interrogate me about my association with the Taliban. I never thought I would come back alive,” he recalls.
He regained his freedom on the rather apt occasion of Pakistan’s Independence Day. “It was August 14, 2009, and even at the location we were at there was loud music and festivity. One of the soldiers came up to the room where we were kept and asked if any of us wanted to join them in the singing and dancing outside. I volunteered.”
The next day, Naseem was called in by a commanding officer. He feared the worst, thinking he had perhaps done something wrong the previous night.
“The officer told me that owing to my behaviour and attitude, he felt I got wrongly mixed up with the Taliban and I was free to go home.” Naseem was overjoyed at the prospect of returning to his village after three months. The military blindfolded him and dropped him off at Mingora, from where he made his way to Spal Bandai.
Although most military officials deny that a situation such as Naseem’s could happen, some sources say that occasionally they do let people go out of compassion and understanding.
“We are not just soldiers on duty. We are also human. And sometimes when we see how someone we arrested was at the wrong place at the wrong time, we know they are not the real Taliban so we let them go. Naseem looks like one of those cases,” says a military official who asked not to be identified.
For Naseem, life has returned to relative normality. He has rejoined the tailor shop and now says that, having played a part, however small, in a Taliban regime and seeing them from up close, he feels they are not human beings.
“I cannot disclose much of what I did and what I saw because it is the past I want to forget, but it was horrible and the Taliban destroyed everything,” he adds. According to Naseem, most of the alleged militants caught by the military are innocent – while the real ones escaped.
*NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT IDENTITIES
Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2011.
“I used to hear screams from the rooms next to me, where they tortured other prisoners, but I was spared,” says Naseem, a 23-year-old former Taliban recruit from Spal Bandai, Swat, who was freed by the military after three months in captivity.
Naseem was recruited by the preacher of a local mosque in early 2009 to patrol his village. Although the patrol team wore masks and carried a menacing air, Naseem claims he did not want to join the Taliban. “I never believed in their ideology. I used to listen to music on the radio and worked at a tailor shop, before our village was taken over by Maulana Fazlullah’s men, who forcefully asked many of us to join them,” he says.
While many like Naseem were arrested, Maulana Fazlullah, commonly known as Mullah Radio, escaped.
Fazlullah leads the banned Tehreek-Nifaz-e-Shariah-e-Mohammadi (TSNM), a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, which recruited Naseem and others of a similar profile from the area when the militant group held power in Swat.
With a strong built, long hair and a boyish smile, Naseem is adamant he did nothing wrong. “I did not even have a weapon. We were told to just walk around with sticks and made sure people knew who was in charge.” Naseem is now full of regret for those days due to the mental stress he endured after being caught by the military.
Naseem says he disassociated himself from the Taliban a few months after his initial recruitment when the Pakistan military emerged victorious in Swat. Unfortunately for him, someone in the village tipped off the authorities.
“I was picked up from a shop I was working at. They blindfolded me after my arrest and I was taken to an unknown location. Every few days, they would come and interrogate me about my association with the Taliban. I never thought I would come back alive,” he recalls.
He regained his freedom on the rather apt occasion of Pakistan’s Independence Day. “It was August 14, 2009, and even at the location we were at there was loud music and festivity. One of the soldiers came up to the room where we were kept and asked if any of us wanted to join them in the singing and dancing outside. I volunteered.”
The next day, Naseem was called in by a commanding officer. He feared the worst, thinking he had perhaps done something wrong the previous night.
“The officer told me that owing to my behaviour and attitude, he felt I got wrongly mixed up with the Taliban and I was free to go home.” Naseem was overjoyed at the prospect of returning to his village after three months. The military blindfolded him and dropped him off at Mingora, from where he made his way to Spal Bandai.
Although most military officials deny that a situation such as Naseem’s could happen, some sources say that occasionally they do let people go out of compassion and understanding.
“We are not just soldiers on duty. We are also human. And sometimes when we see how someone we arrested was at the wrong place at the wrong time, we know they are not the real Taliban so we let them go. Naseem looks like one of those cases,” says a military official who asked not to be identified.
For Naseem, life has returned to relative normality. He has rejoined the tailor shop and now says that, having played a part, however small, in a Taliban regime and seeing them from up close, he feels they are not human beings.
“I cannot disclose much of what I did and what I saw because it is the past I want to forget, but it was horrible and the Taliban destroyed everything,” he adds. According to Naseem, most of the alleged militants caught by the military are innocent – while the real ones escaped.
*NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT IDENTITIES
Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2011.