Peshawar: Taliban threat on dress code works

[Naveed Yaseen]

Insurance company asks employees to adorn local outfit

Nisar Mahmood

PESHAWAR: After thrashing of a medical representative by Taliban and warning to employees of banks, the workers of an insurance company in Peshawar have been directed to avoid pant-shirt and wear ‘shalwar-kameez’.

The employees of National Jubilee Insurance (NJI), a private insurance company, would wear ‘shalwar-kameez’ from today (Wednesday) as directed by the higher authorities, sources informed.

Though majority of the people working in the company were not used to traditional dress of ‘shalwar-kameez’ as they have been wearing pant-shirt from school days, the Taliban threats have now compelled them to put on ‘shalwar-kameez’, the sources added.

The employees of different banks in the provincial metropolis have stopped wearing pant-shirt, he added. He said since the staff of other organisations and institutions in the provincial capital had already started wearing traditional dress, the NJI high-up at a meeting told the workers to wear ‘shalwar-kameez’ to avoid any untoward incident.

It was told that Taliban threats should not be taken for granted and banks and others organisations and institutions should be followed in the dress code, he added. The local Taliban thrashed a medical rep at the city busiest Dabgari Gardens a couple of days ago. They beat up the man with butts of rifles after which he fell unconscious and before leaving they put a letter in his pocket with wording like “this was a message and next time those not abiding our instructions and wearing ‘un-Islamic dress’ would be slaughtered.”

The incident took place at the most busy place of the city where hundreds of doctors are running their private clinics and which being visited by thousands of patients and their attendants daily. Police station is situated at a distance of few yards.

Before warning to medical reps and doctors of public sector hospitals, the people identifying themselves as Taliban had entered a private bank branch at Ramdas area sometime back and warned the staff not to wear pant-shirt to avoid dire consequences.

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