PESHAWAR, May 3: The assassination of the founder of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, at the hands of US special forces is yet to arouse public protests which means that the popularity his organisation enjoyed at the time of 9/11 attacks in Washington and New York has faded away.

The US attacks on Afghanistan also helped religious parties to collect donations from people. The people had generously contributed.

It is another story as to where those contributions have gone but the main question remains why the killing of Osama has fallen on deaf ears and even religious parties, which secured votes in 2002 elections due to their pro-Taliban slogans and reached the corridors of power, are also silent mysteriously.

What actually has happened all these years? The killing of Osama, once regarded as leader of the Ummah, has gone unsung. There were few tiny protests in Quetta, but the rest of the country, especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, stayed calm.

One thing that has gone against Al Qaeda is the follies made by Taliban in the shape of suicide attacks and bomb blasts in bazaars, mosques and funeral ceremonies besides blowing up schools and other government-owned buildings. The victims in most of the cases happened to be innocent people, including women and children.

Attacking mosques with bombs is height of terrorism. Killing people and hanging their bodies from electricity poles by Taliban have dented their popularity and the people, who were willing to pay them money in 2001, are now least concerned about the head of Al Qaeda.

Even the bodies of the opponents of Taliban were exhumed and hanged in public, which earned them public disapproval and lowered their rating steeply.

Targeting mosques negatively impacted Taliban's image. Not only Pakistanis, but the lackluster attitude of Afghans towards the high-profile death of the US enemy number one is also understandable.

The Afghan refugees living in Pakistan term Osama's killing as a welcome sign for peace in the war-battered Afghanistan as well as the host country.

Many Afghans, who spoke to this correspondent, held bin Laden and Taliban responsible for all the ills their country suffered from. It was bin Laden, who sowed seeds of discard among Afghans, they said. According to them, the massive displacement caused by endless wars in Afghanistan is just because of the jihadist groups, spearheaded by Al Qaeda founder.

Hundreds of innocent people were abducted and killed on charges of spying for the US and Pakistan army.

People are surprised at the absence of protests by the religious leaders, whose politics revolves around anti-American sentiments. In the past, the religio-political leaders took pride in having links with Taliban and Al Qaeda.

Perhaps, they don't want to invite wrath of the US or the relentless heat has confined them to air-conditioned rooms.