Punjab Research Group

A few pieces have appeared in the Daily Times recently on South Punjab and links with terrorism. Read further below:

Editorial: Terror’s free run in South Punjab

Mian Channu in Khanewal offered on Monday another glimpse into the outreach of terrorism in South Punjab. The house of a local teacher of the Quran blew up, destroying all the houses in the vicinity and killing 12, including five children, and wounding 61. When the police reached the spot the local people attacked them out of anger for having neglected them, but not without displaying all the symptoms of a besieged population acting under intimidation.

 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C07%5C15%5Cstory_15-7-2009_pg3_1

COMMENT: Talibanisation of Punjab —Shaukat Qadir

Southern Punjab, also known as the Seraiki belt, based on the local language, a distinct variation from the Punjabi spoken elsewhere, has always considered itself exploited by Northern Punjab; and with some justification

A few weeks ago, an individual called Zubair, alias Nek Muhammed, was arrested in Lahore and accused of being one of those involved in the attack on the Sri Lankan team. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, eyewitnesses had stated that some of the attackers spoke Pashto, apparently they also had local assistance. Since this boy belongs to the Punjab Taliban, affiliated with the banned Lashkar-e Jhangvi which is known to have links with Al Qaeda. This incident is of no particular significance, except to again highlight the fact that Southern Punjab has a significant portion of people under the influence of the Taliban.

 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C07%5C18%5Cstory_18-7-2009_pg3_4