Video: inquiry into film of Taleban beating teenage girl

[L. Coyote]

From Times Online - April 3, 2009 - Zahid Hussain, Islamabad
Video: inquiry into film of Taleban beating teenage girl
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6030741.ece


The Pakistani supreme court today ordered an inquiry into the public flogging of a teenage girl by the Taleban which has provoked widespread outrage in the country.

Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, the chief justice, ordered the local radical administration to bring the victim to court after several Pakistani television channels aired footage showing a 17-year-old girl being beaten in front of a crowd.

The incident illustrated growing violence against women in the north-western Swat valley which is ruled by radical Islamists.

The grainy footage, apparently recorded with a mobile phone camera, showed a man in a black turban .....

[MADem]

1. This shit happens all the time in places where the Taleban hold sway.

Of course, if the Taleb have their way, there will be no cell phones to record these things, as they will be regarded as un-Islamic.

“For God sake stop it . . .Hang on, hang on,” the girl, wearing a red shirt, begged in Pashtu as the bearded man beat her.

“I swear by my father, I will not do it again,” she cried throughout her ordeal. After the punishment, she was dragged back to her house.

The married girl was accused of stepping out of her house with her father-in-law, an act the Taleban describes as un-Islamic. The Taleban allows women out on the street only when they are accompanied by their husbands.

That video is profoundly disturbing, and it's Must-See TV for anyone who tries to suggest that the Taleban culture is just "different" and not "fucked up."

Growing violence against women--it's the Taleban Way! I think those sumbitches need to be held down and have the shit beaten out of them, too....eye for an eye, and all that.

[Iris]

4. "to suggest that the Taleban culture is just "different"" Does anyone really suggest that?

here at DU? Or in general?

[MADem]

5. Yes, they do. Here at DU. In some cases, calling oneself a progressive does not

automatically impart cultural awareness or understanding.

We have "no business" there because "those people" are just trying to live their lives "in peace" and "according to their culture."

When "their culture" involves the brutal abuse and subjugation of more than half the population, I run out of patience.

Stroll through the archives--the amount of ignorance and willful blindness as to the true nature of these Taleb fuckers, many of whom are outsiders from the ARAB (as opposed to southwest asian) world is nothing short of astonishing.

[SheilaT]

6. I don't know if I've seen

such a suggestion here on DU, but lots of horrors are tacitly condoned by saying that we just don't understand a different culture. Such things as female genital mutilation, for instance.

While you have not said this, and I'm not trying to suggest you think this, I'm really infuriated at those who claim that Liberals are all cultural relativists and therefore have no moral standards at all. I rather doubt I'm the only card-carrying liberal who, while respecting other cultures and viewpoints, does believe quite strongly that some things are simply wrong. And any culture or belief system that treats females badly is wrong.

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. It's nonsense

Nobody says that. It exists purely in the imagination of somebody's version of something they call "cultural relativism."

[Igel]

8. Not entirely true.

There was a guy (woman?) posting a few days ago who insisted that the shari'a in the Swat Valley was (a) desired by everybody, (b) would lead to justice and peace, and (c) not a bad thing at all. Furthermore, (d) it wasn't Taliban in Swat, it was a moderate Islamic group that just sought justice.

He continued that the proper response of most DUers was to respect the differences in culture and religion and try to see it their way.

He did, of course, receive a proper dose of abuse and, no doubt, being put on 'ignore'.

[alcibiades_mystery]

9. One dimwitted asshole does not a trend make

[SheilaT]

11. Some people do claim

that all liberals are moral relativists. Count yourself lucky if you've never encountered that smear.

[lpbk2713]

2. Great. Now she's going to be killed for sure.

Once this blows over just a little bit she will be beheaded, if not sooner. No doubt in my mind.

[Traveling_Home]

3. I don't think so, here's why

the scariest thing is that the Taleban are proud of what they do. They are not trying to hide their actions or to acknowlege any wrongdoing. They will simply continue to do what they believe is right. No discussion or compromise is possible with them.

[uppityperson]

10. k&r. First rec.

[Catherine Vincent]

12. Those sadistic bastards.

Did you read where one of them said women should be killed if they stepped out of their house with a man other than their husbands?