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Taliban prefer not to be known as Taliban
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=24435
Thursday, September 10, 2009
By Rahimullah Yusufzai
PESHAWAR: Afghan Taliban prefer their organisation to be known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan instead of being simply called Taliban.
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, or Amarat-i-Islami Afghanistan, was the name given by Taliban to their homeland when they were in power from 1996-2001. The Taliban still use that name and their organisation is called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. In Pashto, the Taliban refer to it as Da Afghanistan Islami Amarat.
Though the name Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is being used for the last many years, a senior Afghan Taliban official said they now prefer not to address themselves as Taliban. In our declarations or in statements by our leader Mulla Muhammad Omar, you would have noted the absence of the word Taliban. Our leadership and shuras refer to our organisation as Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and to our fighters as mujahideen, he explained while talking to The News from an undisclosed location.
Requesting anonymity, the Afghan Taliban official said one of the reasons for not using the name of Taliban was the growing stigma attached to it. He noted that the Taliban had been demonised by their enemies and maligned to no end. Also, he pointed out that some people had misused the name of Taliban and committed crimes. This had brought a bad name to the Taliban. The term Taliban no longer represented the madrassa students who rose against the Afghan mujahideen in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s and challenged and defeated their corrupt and cruel commanders, he stressed.
Other Afghan Taliban members argued that they needed to remain distinct from the Pakistani Taliban. They felt it sometimes became difficult to differentiate between the two as all of them were lumped together and known as Taliban. The Afghan Taliban are fighting Western forces that have occupied Afghanistan. It is jehad against non-Muslims and occupiers. We cannot say the same about the new groups of Taliban fighting in places outside Afghanistan, one of the Taliban members commented.
The Pakistani Taliban, it may be mentioned, are condemned by critics for fighting their own army and law-enforcement agencies and destabilising Pakistan. In their publications also, the Afghan Taliban make it a point to use the term Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Their Pashto journal, Morchal, which carries news of Taliban military operations, always refers to their movement as the Da Afghanistan Islami Amarat. The same is the case in their Arabic journal, Al Somood, the publication named Srak published by the Taliban-run Islamic Literary Group, and the weekly magazine, Ilham, published by the cultural department of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Though most of the Pakistani Taliban organised them on the platform of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) under the leadership of Baitullah Mahsud in December 2007, they continued to look to the Afghan Taliban for inspiration and guidance. All important Pakistani Taliban commanders publicly expressed allegiance to the Mulla Muhammad Omar.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=24435
Thursday, September 10, 2009
By Rahimullah Yusufzai
PESHAWAR: Afghan Taliban prefer their organisation to be known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan instead of being simply called Taliban.
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, or Amarat-i-Islami Afghanistan, was the name given by Taliban to their homeland when they were in power from 1996-2001. The Taliban still use that name and their organisation is called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. In Pashto, the Taliban refer to it as Da Afghanistan Islami Amarat.
Though the name Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is being used for the last many years, a senior Afghan Taliban official said they now prefer not to address themselves as Taliban. In our declarations or in statements by our leader Mulla Muhammad Omar, you would have noted the absence of the word Taliban. Our leadership and shuras refer to our organisation as Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and to our fighters as mujahideen, he explained while talking to The News from an undisclosed location.
Requesting anonymity, the Afghan Taliban official said one of the reasons for not using the name of Taliban was the growing stigma attached to it. He noted that the Taliban had been demonised by their enemies and maligned to no end. Also, he pointed out that some people had misused the name of Taliban and committed crimes. This had brought a bad name to the Taliban. The term Taliban no longer represented the madrassa students who rose against the Afghan mujahideen in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s and challenged and defeated their corrupt and cruel commanders, he stressed.
Other Afghan Taliban members argued that they needed to remain distinct from the Pakistani Taliban. They felt it sometimes became difficult to differentiate between the two as all of them were lumped together and known as Taliban. The Afghan Taliban are fighting Western forces that have occupied Afghanistan. It is jehad against non-Muslims and occupiers. We cannot say the same about the new groups of Taliban fighting in places outside Afghanistan, one of the Taliban members commented.
The Pakistani Taliban, it may be mentioned, are condemned by critics for fighting their own army and law-enforcement agencies and destabilising Pakistan. In their publications also, the Afghan Taliban make it a point to use the term Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Their Pashto journal, Morchal, which carries news of Taliban military operations, always refers to their movement as the Da Afghanistan Islami Amarat. The same is the case in their Arabic journal, Al Somood, the publication named Srak published by the Taliban-run Islamic Literary Group, and the weekly magazine, Ilham, published by the cultural department of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Though most of the Pakistani Taliban organised them on the platform of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) under the leadership of Baitullah Mahsud in December 2007, they continued to look to the Afghan Taliban for inspiration and guidance. All important Pakistani Taliban commanders publicly expressed allegiance to the Mulla Muhammad Omar.
