The ordeal of the late Kamal Mahsud, a well-known singer from Waziristan, and his family is a case in point. Mahsud went on singing despite threats passed by Taliban. He was ordered to give up his singing. He died in January 2010 in a fire that mysteriously gutted his house. His family believes it was a case of target killing carried out by Taliban in collaboration with elements in khakis. The Mehsud family pinpoints Inter Services Public Relations, or ISPR, in this regard.

The ISPR made use of Mahsud’s audio and video songs, without his permission, in the anti-Taliban propaganda campaign in Waziristan. This invoked the wrath of Taliban. They placed, the aggrieved family believes, Kamal Mehsud on Taliban hit-list. Taliban viewed him somebody collaborating with the army. He received death threats. In fear, he along his family left Waziristan. They also sold their property in Dera Ismail Khan and took refuge in Islamabad. The threats continued to pour in and the family kept moving even in Islamabad from one place to another out of security concerns. A couple of months before his death, Kamal Mehsud got a threatening letter from Taliban. This time, he sought refuge in an Islamabad mosque.

“The Taliban finally found and killed him,” says his family. His family believes the ISPR first cheated him by dangerously exposing him to Taliban then abandoned him. No security was provided despite requests.

Now the Taliban, it seems, have set their eyes on Shan Mahsud, Kamal Mahsud’s son. Shan Mehsud, like his father, is also a fine singer. Shan Mahsud received threats from Waziristan in a live radio programme that also welcomes telephone calls. The caller said Shan it seemed had not learnt any lessons from the fate his father met. The caller said sticking by music would be fatal for Shan as well.

The Mahsud familiy complains that even in his life Taliban used to threaten that the entire family was Wajibul-Qatl (a murder Sharia allows). With no security provided by the state, the family has applied for a political asylum abroad.

The doctrine of strategic depth means Pakistan is not a safe haven for Pakhtuns opposing Taliban or Talibanization either with arms or musical instruments. In case of Kamal Mahsud, deceit was employed. In certain other cases, anti-Taliban elements were encouraged by the state to stand up to the militants. All such individuals were identified this way and target killed. Some of the anti-Taliban lashkar leaders lost their lives as a result of this strategy.

A few who took weapons against Taliban on their own initiative and are still defiant, they still await state’s patronage.

For instance, the suicidal attack on anti-Taliban grand tribal jirga and lashkar of the Ali Khel tribe in Orakzai. A suicide bomber rammed an explosive laden vehicle into the grand Ali Khel jirga, assassinating the entire Ali Khel tribal leadership on the spot. The state never appreciated the anti-Taliban stance of the Ali Khel tribe before or after the assassination of the entire tribal leadership.

I wish Shan Mahsud and his family get asylum in some foreign country. Since for a Pakhtun opposing Taliban or Talibanziation in Pakistan is an increasingly dangerous undertaking, therefore, there  must be a few Pakhtuns voices opposing Talibanization from the safety of the foreign lands. Shan Mahsud is certainly that kind of Pakhtun who deserves protection of a foreign land. What a tragedy, by the way, for Pakhtun culture!

Farhat Taj is a research fellow at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Research, University of Oslo and a member of Aryana Institute for Regional Research and Advocacy. She can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it