TTP letters: Taliban warn against casting vote in polls

The first time Taliban has warned people through letters in the Sherkera area.


Umer Farooq May 03, 2013
Letters were put up on walls in different locations. PHOTO: FILE

PESHAWAR:


A sense of fear prevailed among residents after the Taliban warned people not to cast their vote in the general elections. They termed democracy as against the ‘teachings of Islam.’


Letters were put up on walls in different locations, including Hameed Khan Machine, Captain Tor Khan Kallay and Iqra Public School in Sherkera area. It read that people should avoid voting because democracy is contradictory to the teachings of Islam.

This was the first time the Taliban warned people through letters in the Sherkera area.

Last month, a member of banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said his group is focused on jeopardising democracy by creating obstacles for Election Day.

We have succeeded politically after we were asked to negotiate by the government, said TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud, adding that the group is now solely focused on the next elections.

As the elections come closer, the TTP’s aim is to derail the democratic system, read a letter issued to the media. Mehsud also urged TTP’s militants to target senior politicians and party leaders, while simultaneously fighting security forces.

In a rare address from an undisclosed location, Mehsud further said that the TTP is not just fighting a war on a tactical level, but has been successful in subduing politicians and bringing them to the negotiation table.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4th, 2013.

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