By Jawad Mazhar, Worthy News Special Correspondent reporting from Pakistan
LAHORE, PAKISTAN (Worthy News) -- A loose Pakistan-based umbrella group of factions linked to the militant Taliban organization has threatened to kill or rape all non-Muslims to enslave their children and take away their properties, unless they meet tough conditions.
In a letter, seen by Worthy News Monday, June 15, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said non-Muslims should “embrace Islam”, or pay an Islamic tax known as 'Jaziva Tax' to Muslim rulers, or leave Pakistan “forever”, if they don't want to be harmed.
“If the infidels rejected this suggestion they, would be killed and they would be responsible for it”, wrote TTP leader Muslim Khan.
And, "The women of these disobedient infidels would be enslaved and raped according to [an Islamic ritual] Mut’a," he said.
Under Mut’a a Muslim man can, in theory, marry a woman for several hours and after having sexual intercourse can divorce again by saying three times "I divorce you". The children conceived would be converted to Islam, enslaved and forced to work for TTP, the group added in the letter.
The letter was received May 27, by residents in the Jafferia Colony neighborhood of Lahore, the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab.
CHRISTIANS THREATENED
While TTP mentioned specifically Muslim Shiites for allegedly not observing Islam, the letter was also seen as a direct threat to Christians and other religious minorities in Lahore and elsewhere in the country, where militants have attempted to establish strict Islamic rule.
A 15-member committee representing the complex where the letter was received, including Shiites and Christians, approached local police to intervene, but there was apparently no increased security Monday, June 15.
Police said in a statement they had taken measures “according to resources available” and that special security was provided at ‘houses of worship’ of religious minorities.
The latest letter came amid a government-led military crackdown on Islamic militants.
Just days earlier the TTP threatened Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and other top Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) leaders, saying they would face dire consequences if a military offensive is not discontinued immediately.
In a letter to the PPP Information Secretary Fouzia Wahab, the TTP warned that the country's leadership would be targeted if the operation against them is not stopped, Pakistani media reported.