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New Delhi: Pakistani Christians in Swat Valley
are caught between the Taliban and Pakistan’s military
as it assaults the stronghold where sharia (Islamic)
law.
Nearly 15,000 troops have been deployed in the
picturesque Swat Valley in Pakistan’s North West
Frontier Province and across the border in Afghanistan.
Troops came after months of peace negotiations collapsed
between the Taliban insurgents who have imposed sharia
in the valley and the central government last month.
Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis have fled the war
ravaged area for fear of a full military assault. On
Sunday, May 10, the army ordered residents to flee Swat
Valley during a lull in fighting. Aid groups estimate
that as many as 1.3 million could be displaced by the
fighting, reported The Guardian.
Christians are particularly vulnerable in the mass
exodus. Working as poor day labourers, they occupy the
lowest rung of the social ladder and have little money
for costly transport or to stock up on resources before
fleeing. The Taliban had ratcheted up pressure on
Christians, other religious minorities and liberal
Muslims in Swat to live according to Islamic
fundamentalist norms. They were forced to grow beards
and don Islamic attire for fear of their safety in an
attempt to blend in with Muslim residents of Swat.
Many Christians also fled because they couldn’t afford
to pay the jizye, a sharia poll tax paid by non Muslims
for protection if they decline to convert to Islam.
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