Friday, September 23, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Pakistan's Sectarian Killers Operate With Impunity; TIME Magazine
By Omar Waraich / Islamabad Friday, Sept. 23, 2011
Residents and relatives gather near the coffins of victims, who were killed in a suspected sectarian attack, before their burial in Quetta on September 21, 2011
Naseer Ahmed / Reuters
It began as an ordinary journey, but ended in a bloody storm of sectarian terror. On Monday, 40 Shi'ite pilgrims from the ethnic Hazara community boarded a bus bound for Iran, planning to pay homage at shrines of their revered saints. Near the town of Mastung, in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, the bus juddered to a halt when a pick-up truck swerved in front of it, blocking its path. The bus driver later told reporters that a second pick-up has pulled up alongside, and men bearing rocket launchers and automatic rifles had leapt from both vehicles.
As the attackers forced the passengers off the bus, some managed to flee, sparing themselves. The others were lined-up in front of the bus and summarily shot — 26 were killed and six wounded. The gunmen then left the scene, with Pakistani security forces arriving only an hour later, to find relatives wailing over blood-soaked bodies. On Wednesday, the survivors, who had set out to mourn at the shrines of their ancient martyrs, instead lowered new ones into fresh graves. Shi'ites, who comprise over a quarter of Pakistan's population, are deemed "apostates" by many extremist sectarian Sunni groups.
Responsibility for the attack on the long-suffering Hazaras of Baluchistan was claimed by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) — a group also suspected of a devastating attack earlier in the week on the home of senior police officer in Karachi who has a record of taking on the militants. Though little known in the West, LeJ, is a sectarian extremist outfit linked to al-Qaeda and to the Pakistani Taliban, is now widely considered Pakistan's most dangerous terrorist group.
While al-Qaeda has suffered a series of setbacks after CIA drone strikes killed successive leaders based in Pakistan's tribal areas, its local affiliate remains unimpeded. "We haven't seen any change in their capacity," laments Amir Rana, the Director of the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies and an expert on Pakistani militant groups. And few seem willing to change that. The Army is reluctant to confront its bases with force; the police have failed to protect those it threatens; the judiciary is unable to successfully prosecute its leading members; and some politicians have sought to appease it with shady deals.
LeJ began life as a particularly vicious offshoot of the banned anti-Shi'ite Sipah-e-Sahaba organization. The sectarian group, with its cells seeded throughout the country, held both doctrinal and organisational appeal for al-Qaeda, which used LeJ's deep and pervasive network to expand its own presence into Pakistan. While al-Qaeda had operational command, LeJ supplied foot soldiers to carry out attacks. The September 2008 attack that turned the Islamabad Marriott into a smoldering heap was the most dramatic demonstration of their collaboration. It is also believed to have been involved in the March 2009 attack on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, which spelled the end of international sports events being hosted in Pakistan. Later that year, LeJ members were involved in the dramatic 24-hour siege of the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi. Hoping to end that embarrassing assault, the Army sent the plane of its commander in chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, to collect notorious LeJ leader Malik Ishaq from his prison cell to negotiate with the attackers.
In July, Ishaq was freed from prison, securing bail after the Supreme Court said there was a "lack of evidence" to prosecute him. Many were alarmed that a man who had boasted of killing many Shi'ites, and has a history of inciting others to do the same, could not be successfully prosecuted. According to observers familiar with the case, the witnesses in the case were either eliminated, or were too afraid to appear in court.
"There is no witness protection program in Pakistan," says analyst Ejaz Haider. "These are people who have such a terrifying reach that they have been able to run their terrorist networks from jail," he adds."How will people come to court and testify against them?"
A day before the massacre near Mastung, Chaudhry Aslam Khan was jolted awake in his Karachi home by a 660-pound bomb delivered by a suicide bomber in a car. The blast destroyed nearby buildings and cars, left a 10-foot crater, and killed six policemen, a mother and her son — the deadliest such attack to strike the well-heeled part of Karachi inhabited by its defense elite. And the militants' willingness to strike not just the target, but his family, too, signals a new trend, some fear.
"It's a major shift in their policy," says Azhar Abbas, director of the GeoNews TV news channel. And he has reason to worry. A couple months ago, his name was on a hit list on leaflets dropped by LeJ in Pashtun-dominated areas of Karachi. The pamphlet, Abbas says, had specific instructions: "If you can't reach the target, then get their families." Three other Shi'ite politicians and journalists told TIME their lives had been threatened by LeJ.
For over two years now, Washington has been urging Pakistan to take on militants in North Waziristan, which is home to the Haqqani network (blamed by the U.S. for the recent attack on its embassy in Kabul), al-Qaeda's surviving leadership, the Pakistani Taliban and also, according to a senior military official, the headquarters of LeJ. The Pakistani military's reluctance to enter North Waziristan creates a permissive environment not only for groups that operate against NATO in Afghanistan, but also for those like the LeJ who wreak havoc inside Pakistan.
It's not only the military that appears to be passive in the face of the LeJ. In Punjab, where the group was founded and where leaders like Ishaq continue to openly preach hatred, the provincial government has entered a non-aggression pact with LeJ, says analyst Rana. The Punjab government is alleged to allow LeJ and its parent organization, the Sipah-e-Sahaba to operate with some freedom in return for electoral support. In Karachi and in Baluchistan, where the massacre near Mastung took place, Shi'ites complain that the police are not offering them protection. "It's certainly not a question of capacity," says analyst Rana. "It's a question of will."
Source,
TIME MAGAZINE
Residents and relatives gather near the coffins of victims, who were killed in a suspected sectarian attack, before their burial in Quetta on September 21, 2011
Naseer Ahmed / Reuters
It began as an ordinary journey, but ended in a bloody storm of sectarian terror. On Monday, 40 Shi'ite pilgrims from the ethnic Hazara community boarded a bus bound for Iran, planning to pay homage at shrines of their revered saints. Near the town of Mastung, in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, the bus juddered to a halt when a pick-up truck swerved in front of it, blocking its path. The bus driver later told reporters that a second pick-up has pulled up alongside, and men bearing rocket launchers and automatic rifles had leapt from both vehicles.
As the attackers forced the passengers off the bus, some managed to flee, sparing themselves. The others were lined-up in front of the bus and summarily shot — 26 were killed and six wounded. The gunmen then left the scene, with Pakistani security forces arriving only an hour later, to find relatives wailing over blood-soaked bodies. On Wednesday, the survivors, who had set out to mourn at the shrines of their ancient martyrs, instead lowered new ones into fresh graves. Shi'ites, who comprise over a quarter of Pakistan's population, are deemed "apostates" by many extremist sectarian Sunni groups.
Responsibility for the attack on the long-suffering Hazaras of Baluchistan was claimed by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) — a group also suspected of a devastating attack earlier in the week on the home of senior police officer in Karachi who has a record of taking on the militants. Though little known in the West, LeJ, is a sectarian extremist outfit linked to al-Qaeda and to the Pakistani Taliban, is now widely considered Pakistan's most dangerous terrorist group.
While al-Qaeda has suffered a series of setbacks after CIA drone strikes killed successive leaders based in Pakistan's tribal areas, its local affiliate remains unimpeded. "We haven't seen any change in their capacity," laments Amir Rana, the Director of the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies and an expert on Pakistani militant groups. And few seem willing to change that. The Army is reluctant to confront its bases with force; the police have failed to protect those it threatens; the judiciary is unable to successfully prosecute its leading members; and some politicians have sought to appease it with shady deals.
LeJ began life as a particularly vicious offshoot of the banned anti-Shi'ite Sipah-e-Sahaba organization. The sectarian group, with its cells seeded throughout the country, held both doctrinal and organisational appeal for al-Qaeda, which used LeJ's deep and pervasive network to expand its own presence into Pakistan. While al-Qaeda had operational command, LeJ supplied foot soldiers to carry out attacks. The September 2008 attack that turned the Islamabad Marriott into a smoldering heap was the most dramatic demonstration of their collaboration. It is also believed to have been involved in the March 2009 attack on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, which spelled the end of international sports events being hosted in Pakistan. Later that year, LeJ members were involved in the dramatic 24-hour siege of the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi. Hoping to end that embarrassing assault, the Army sent the plane of its commander in chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, to collect notorious LeJ leader Malik Ishaq from his prison cell to negotiate with the attackers.
In July, Ishaq was freed from prison, securing bail after the Supreme Court said there was a "lack of evidence" to prosecute him. Many were alarmed that a man who had boasted of killing many Shi'ites, and has a history of inciting others to do the same, could not be successfully prosecuted. According to observers familiar with the case, the witnesses in the case were either eliminated, or were too afraid to appear in court.
"There is no witness protection program in Pakistan," says analyst Ejaz Haider. "These are people who have such a terrifying reach that they have been able to run their terrorist networks from jail," he adds."How will people come to court and testify against them?"
A day before the massacre near Mastung, Chaudhry Aslam Khan was jolted awake in his Karachi home by a 660-pound bomb delivered by a suicide bomber in a car. The blast destroyed nearby buildings and cars, left a 10-foot crater, and killed six policemen, a mother and her son — the deadliest such attack to strike the well-heeled part of Karachi inhabited by its defense elite. And the militants' willingness to strike not just the target, but his family, too, signals a new trend, some fear.
"It's a major shift in their policy," says Azhar Abbas, director of the GeoNews TV news channel. And he has reason to worry. A couple months ago, his name was on a hit list on leaflets dropped by LeJ in Pashtun-dominated areas of Karachi. The pamphlet, Abbas says, had specific instructions: "If you can't reach the target, then get their families." Three other Shi'ite politicians and journalists told TIME their lives had been threatened by LeJ.
For over two years now, Washington has been urging Pakistan to take on militants in North Waziristan, which is home to the Haqqani network (blamed by the U.S. for the recent attack on its embassy in Kabul), al-Qaeda's surviving leadership, the Pakistani Taliban and also, according to a senior military official, the headquarters of LeJ. The Pakistani military's reluctance to enter North Waziristan creates a permissive environment not only for groups that operate against NATO in Afghanistan, but also for those like the LeJ who wreak havoc inside Pakistan.
It's not only the military that appears to be passive in the face of the LeJ. In Punjab, where the group was founded and where leaders like Ishaq continue to openly preach hatred, the provincial government has entered a non-aggression pact with LeJ, says analyst Rana. The Punjab government is alleged to allow LeJ and its parent organization, the Sipah-e-Sahaba to operate with some freedom in return for electoral support. In Karachi and in Baluchistan, where the massacre near Mastung took place, Shi'ites complain that the police are not offering them protection. "It's certainly not a question of capacity," says analyst Rana. "It's a question of will."
Source,
TIME MAGAZINE
Mastung tragedy PML-N, MQM move Parliament
Muhammad Arshad
Islamabad—Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Wednesday, submitted separate adjournment motions in both the Lower and Upper Houses of the Parliament against Tuesday’s tragic incident that claimed lives of 29 people in Mastung (Balochistan).
The Adjournment Motion submitted by PML-N in the National Assembly Secretariat said the incidents like Mastung tragedy were on the rise in Balochistan and appropriate precautionary measures should be taken to avert such incidents in future. The motion condemned the tragedy and urged the state to provide protection to every citizen as it was prime constitutional obligation of the state.
The Motion said that the government failed in fulfilling its basic responsibility, urging the House to halt the routine proceeding of the session for debate on the incident.
Similarly, Col (Retd) Tahir Hussain Mashhadi of MQM also moved an Adjournment Motion in Senate Secretariat on Tuesday’s tragedy.
It is pertinent to note that 29 people were shot dead and six others wounded in two separate incidents in Mastung and Quetta districts on Tuesday. The defunct Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) claimed responsibility for the carnage. The first incident took place in the Ghuncha Dori area, 40 kilometres from Quetta, when some unidentified-armed men attacked a Taftan-bound passenger coach.
The passenger coach was carrying 45 pilgrims and traders from Quetta to Taftan (Iran), when it was attacked. And on Wednesday funeral prayers of the 22 pilgrims shot dead in Mastung were offered in Hazara Town graveyard and partial strike was being observed in various areas of provincial capital. On the other side more than 200 people have been held in connection with the incident.
Source,
PAKISTAN OBSERVER
Islamabad—Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Wednesday, submitted separate adjournment motions in both the Lower and Upper Houses of the Parliament against Tuesday’s tragic incident that claimed lives of 29 people in Mastung (Balochistan).
The Adjournment Motion submitted by PML-N in the National Assembly Secretariat said the incidents like Mastung tragedy were on the rise in Balochistan and appropriate precautionary measures should be taken to avert such incidents in future. The motion condemned the tragedy and urged the state to provide protection to every citizen as it was prime constitutional obligation of the state.
The Motion said that the government failed in fulfilling its basic responsibility, urging the House to halt the routine proceeding of the session for debate on the incident.
Similarly, Col (Retd) Tahir Hussain Mashhadi of MQM also moved an Adjournment Motion in Senate Secretariat on Tuesday’s tragedy.
It is pertinent to note that 29 people were shot dead and six others wounded in two separate incidents in Mastung and Quetta districts on Tuesday. The defunct Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) claimed responsibility for the carnage. The first incident took place in the Ghuncha Dori area, 40 kilometres from Quetta, when some unidentified-armed men attacked a Taftan-bound passenger coach.
The passenger coach was carrying 45 pilgrims and traders from Quetta to Taftan (Iran), when it was attacked. And on Wednesday funeral prayers of the 22 pilgrims shot dead in Mastung were offered in Hazara Town graveyard and partial strike was being observed in various areas of provincial capital. On the other side more than 200 people have been held in connection with the incident.
Source,
PAKISTAN OBSERVER
Rally raps Mastung mayhem
Published: September 23, 2011
OUR STAFF REPORTER
LAHORE - Shia Shehryan-e-Pakistan on Thursday took out a rally outside the Karbla Gamay Shah against the killing of 29 devotees in Mastung, Quetta.
Shia Shehryan-e-Pakistan Convener Allam Sayed Waqarul Husnain led the rally as protesters chanted anti-Balochistan government slogans and demanded Balochistan Chief Minister to resign.
Makhdoom Sayed Naubahaar Shah, Allam Waqar Haider Faizi, Allama Karamat Ali, Dr Sayed Noor Al-Mustafa Qadri, Sayed Ilyas Raza Rizwi, Malik Altaf Hussain, Allam Rajeeullah Khan Allama Kazim Naqwi, and others participated in the rally.
They urged Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take suo moto as more than 5,000 had been killed in Quetta.
Source,
THE NATION
OUR STAFF REPORTER
LAHORE - Shia Shehryan-e-Pakistan on Thursday took out a rally outside the Karbla Gamay Shah against the killing of 29 devotees in Mastung, Quetta.
Shia Shehryan-e-Pakistan Convener Allam Sayed Waqarul Husnain led the rally as protesters chanted anti-Balochistan government slogans and demanded Balochistan Chief Minister to resign.
Makhdoom Sayed Naubahaar Shah, Allam Waqar Haider Faizi, Allama Karamat Ali, Dr Sayed Noor Al-Mustafa Qadri, Sayed Ilyas Raza Rizwi, Malik Altaf Hussain, Allam Rajeeullah Khan Allama Kazim Naqwi, and others participated in the rally.
They urged Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take suo moto as more than 5,000 had been killed in Quetta.
Source,
THE NATION
BHC takes suo moto notice of Mastung killings
By: Bari Baloch | Published: September 23, 2011
QUETTA - Chief Justice Balochistan High Court Qazi Faiz Esa on Thursday took suo motu notice of the killings of 26 pilgrims in Ghanja Dori in Mastung District and issued notices to Federal and provincial governments.
Chief Justice took notice of the incident following the appeal of people through reports published in local and national media. The bus passengers were shot dead ruthlessly.
BHC observed that the incident has spread wide fear in the general public and traumatised a segment of the society.
Balochistan High Court issued notices to Secretary Interior, Home Secretary, Inspector General Frontier Corps (FC), Inspector General Police, Commissioner Kalat Division, Deputy Commissioner Mastung and Director General Levies. The hearing will begin on Sept 26th.
Source,
THE NATION
QUETTA - Chief Justice Balochistan High Court Qazi Faiz Esa on Thursday took suo motu notice of the killings of 26 pilgrims in Ghanja Dori in Mastung District and issued notices to Federal and provincial governments.
Chief Justice took notice of the incident following the appeal of people through reports published in local and national media. The bus passengers were shot dead ruthlessly.
BHC observed that the incident has spread wide fear in the general public and traumatised a segment of the society.
Balochistan High Court issued notices to Secretary Interior, Home Secretary, Inspector General Frontier Corps (FC), Inspector General Police, Commissioner Kalat Division, Deputy Commissioner Mastung and Director General Levies. The hearing will begin on Sept 26th.
Source,
THE NATION
Human rights commission blames govt inaction for anti-Shia violence
ANITA JOSHUA
Outraged by the targeted killing of 29 Shia pilgrims in Balochistan on Tuesday, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Wednesday said persistent lack of action against “sectarian militant groups” had emboldened them. They were taken off a bus, lined up and shot down after scrutiny of their identity cards.
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) has claimed responsibility for the attack first on the pilgrims and then some of the ambulances that were going to their assistance. Given that sectarian violence has been going on for years now — particularly in Balochistan — and LeJ’s own agenda, the HRCP questioned the absence of action against the outfit which is technically banned in the country. “How do they still manage to roam free with their weapons and vehicles?”
Meanwhile, in Quetta, the government came under scathing attack for continued attacks on the community as Shias gathered for a mass funeral of those killed in the targeted killing.
In a statement, the HRCP said it was appalled by the gruesome killing of Shia pilgrims near Mastung and found the utter lack of protection for them outrageous, particularly when pilgrims travelling in the area — en route Iran to visit shrines there — had been attacked previously and were known to be at risk.
Referring to the provincial administration’s contention that the pilgrims had not informed the Home Department about their pilgrimage nor sought security, the HRCP said: “How convenient that instead of finding those who failed to perform their duty, the victims have been blamed. This just adds insult to injury.”
Describing Tuesday’s attack as a failure on many levels that once again exposed the diminishing writ of the state, HRCP asserted that “continued sectarian bloodshed across the country, particularly in Balochistan, is a direct consequence of the authorities’ perpetual failure to take note of sectarian killings in Quetta which have been going on for many years”
Of the view that official condemnations following such attacks are futile in the absence of follow-up action, the HRCP urged the government to move beyond rhetoric and its current casual and reactive approach to law and order challenges and start functioning as a responsible authority.
The Shia community of Quetta — was not even spared on Eid this year with a blast targeting them as they were returning from their prayers on August 31; killing ten people and injuring several others. What makes them all the more vulnerable in Balochistan is that they are predominantly Hazaras who have very distinctive Mongoloid features.
Source,
THE HINDU
Outraged by the targeted killing of 29 Shia pilgrims in Balochistan on Tuesday, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Wednesday said persistent lack of action against “sectarian militant groups” had emboldened them. They were taken off a bus, lined up and shot down after scrutiny of their identity cards.
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) has claimed responsibility for the attack first on the pilgrims and then some of the ambulances that were going to their assistance. Given that sectarian violence has been going on for years now — particularly in Balochistan — and LeJ’s own agenda, the HRCP questioned the absence of action against the outfit which is technically banned in the country. “How do they still manage to roam free with their weapons and vehicles?”
Meanwhile, in Quetta, the government came under scathing attack for continued attacks on the community as Shias gathered for a mass funeral of those killed in the targeted killing.
In a statement, the HRCP said it was appalled by the gruesome killing of Shia pilgrims near Mastung and found the utter lack of protection for them outrageous, particularly when pilgrims travelling in the area — en route Iran to visit shrines there — had been attacked previously and were known to be at risk.
Referring to the provincial administration’s contention that the pilgrims had not informed the Home Department about their pilgrimage nor sought security, the HRCP said: “How convenient that instead of finding those who failed to perform their duty, the victims have been blamed. This just adds insult to injury.”
Describing Tuesday’s attack as a failure on many levels that once again exposed the diminishing writ of the state, HRCP asserted that “continued sectarian bloodshed across the country, particularly in Balochistan, is a direct consequence of the authorities’ perpetual failure to take note of sectarian killings in Quetta which have been going on for many years”
Of the view that official condemnations following such attacks are futile in the absence of follow-up action, the HRCP urged the government to move beyond rhetoric and its current casual and reactive approach to law and order challenges and start functioning as a responsible authority.
The Shia community of Quetta — was not even spared on Eid this year with a blast targeting them as they were returning from their prayers on August 31; killing ten people and injuring several others. What makes them all the more vulnerable in Balochistan is that they are predominantly Hazaras who have very distinctive Mongoloid features.
Source,
THE HINDU
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