Karachi: Citizens launch campaign against Taliban

[Naveed Yaseen]

KARACHI: The civil society has launched a signature campaign against the Taliban and the imposition of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation (NAR) in Swat.

Members of the civil society have requested the people of Pakistan to write letters to the president, prime minister and the Chief of Army Staff to take serious action against the militants and crush the Taliban, who are posing a threat to modern society.

The prime aim of the signature campaign is to inform the government and the army that the masses are supporting them in the war against terror and only a minority is challenging the writ of the government. A camp in this regard was set up at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday. The citizens of Karachi are invited to drop their letters to the prime minster and COAS at the camp; these letters will later on be dispatched to the designated person.

Irum Farooqui, the organiser of the camp, stated that the imposition of shariah law in Swat is not acceptable. “It is not Islamic shariah but that of the Taliban,” she went on to say. Farooqui regarded the Taliban as being barbaric and backward people. “They are not humans and pose a threat to society,” she said, adding that we are here to tell the government through letters and e-mails that the majority of the nation is against the Taliban and supports any steps taken against them.

She claimed that, on Saturday, five thousand people sent letters to the prime minister and the COAS. “People are sending signed letters from their homes and offices as well,” she claimed. Mohsin Saeed, a social worker and journalist, who is one of the active members of the camp, told Daily Times that the Taliban pose a serious threat to the development of the nation and its culture.

He maintained that the campaign was started to encourage the majority of the people to make their voices heard against the terrors of the Taliban and let the government know that the civil society and majority of the nation supports them in the war.

The campaign was started in April and people were requested on Facebook to write letters to the high cadre of the government.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg12_1