TARGET killings have become order of the day in the country and the authorities seem to have no answer to control the situation. Three lawyers and five others were killed in Karachi and another three in Quetta on Wednesday in what appears to be a free for all to take the lives of innocent people and law enforcement machinery unable to nab the culprits.
The lawyers fraternity boycotted the courts on Thursday to protest against the killings and some other organisations also organised demonstrations in Karachi and Quetta against the incidents. Angry people set tyres on fire on roads suspending traffic on Shahra-e-Faisal and National Highway but that is no solution and in fact it is like playing in the hands of subversive elements that want to destabilize the country on the orders of their masters. These killings are the result of massive weaponisation of the society. In Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa too weapons are being indiscriminately used to settle scores on grounds of personal enmity and in marriage parties and electioneering days aerial firings have become a culture. Though there is a ban on display of weapons but one may say that weapons, in the VIP circles security guards accompanying the political leaders openly display theirS arms giving terrifying scenes which is not symbol of a civilized society. Similarly terrorist groups and members of different mafias are heavily armed and they roam around freely creating a psychological dent in the society. In such an environment, people with some resources also acquire illegal weapons for their personal security and there is huge demand for such weapons all over the country. In a society where every third person is armed with legal or illegal weapons, one can expect killings on petty issues and with the passage of time the situation will certainly deteriorate. To prevent it, the only answer is deweaponisation and a total ban on issuance of arms licences. We understand that it is easy to suggest and difficult to implement but it is the foremost duty of the government to provide security to its citizens and it will have to find a way out to end the menace of target killings.
Pakistan Observer
Thursday, January 26, 2012
HDP protested against the targeted killing of three people belonging to their community in Quetta.
Balochistan violence: Hazara Democratic Party stages protest
By Our Correspondent
Published: January 26, 2012
PHOTO: AFP/FILE
QUETTA: Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) on Thursday staged a noisy protest demonstration outside the Balochistan Assembly building, against the targeted killing of three people belonging to their community in Quetta.
Inspector of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Vilayat Hussain, TV actor Abid Nazish and Mohammad Anwar were shot dead by unknown assailants on Wednesday night in Quetta, in what appeared to be an incident of sectarian killing. However, no outfit had claimed responsibility for the killings.
Protestors marched through various roads and held a demonstration on Zarghoon Road outside the Balochistan Assembly building. They were carrying placards and banners with messages against target killing.
They raised slogans against the government and the chief minister for their failure to overcome the growing incidents of target killing and kidnapping for ransom in Quetta.
Vice President of HDP Mirza Hussain said Hazara community was being subjected to target killing for the past several years and the government had failed to launch a crackdown against the criminals. “Government should answer who are the target killers? And how they carry out deadly attacks with complete impunity,” he added.
Protestors said four people belonging to Hazara community were kidnapped a few days ago from Quetta-Chaman highway and were still missing. “The kidnappers approached the families and asked for a huge amount as ransom for the release of these four people,” one of the protestors said.
HDP warned that they will hold protest demonstrations across the world where Hazara community is residing, to lodge their protest against the organised target killings if government and law enforcing agencies failed to protect the innocent lives.
“We are Pakistanis and do not want to give a bad name to our country by holding protest in other countries. But now we are being pushed against the wall and left with no option,” Hussain said, adding that Hazara community is demanding an end to the target killing and kidnappings.
Meanwhile, Provincial Ministers Ayinullah Shams of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Sultan Tareen of Awami National Party (ANP) addressed the protestors and assured them that government will soon hold a meeting to review the law and order situation.
Express Tribune
By Our Correspondent
Published: January 26, 2012
QUETTA: Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) on Thursday staged a noisy protest demonstration outside the Balochistan Assembly building, against the targeted killing of three people belonging to their community in Quetta.
Inspector of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Vilayat Hussain, TV actor Abid Nazish and Mohammad Anwar were shot dead by unknown assailants on Wednesday night in Quetta, in what appeared to be an incident of sectarian killing. However, no outfit had claimed responsibility for the killings.
Protestors marched through various roads and held a demonstration on Zarghoon Road outside the Balochistan Assembly building. They were carrying placards and banners with messages against target killing.
They raised slogans against the government and the chief minister for their failure to overcome the growing incidents of target killing and kidnapping for ransom in Quetta.
Vice President of HDP Mirza Hussain said Hazara community was being subjected to target killing for the past several years and the government had failed to launch a crackdown against the criminals. “Government should answer who are the target killers? And how they carry out deadly attacks with complete impunity,” he added.
Protestors said four people belonging to Hazara community were kidnapped a few days ago from Quetta-Chaman highway and were still missing. “The kidnappers approached the families and asked for a huge amount as ransom for the release of these four people,” one of the protestors said.
HDP warned that they will hold protest demonstrations across the world where Hazara community is residing, to lodge their protest against the organised target killings if government and law enforcing agencies failed to protect the innocent lives.
“We are Pakistanis and do not want to give a bad name to our country by holding protest in other countries. But now we are being pushed against the wall and left with no option,” Hussain said, adding that Hazara community is demanding an end to the target killing and kidnappings.
Meanwhile, Provincial Ministers Ayinullah Shams of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Sultan Tareen of Awami National Party (ANP) addressed the protestors and assured them that government will soon hold a meeting to review the law and order situation.
Express Tribune
Juggling for peace in Afghanistan
It’s easy enough to find war in Afghanistan: step out of Kabul, head south and it will most likely find you. I’ve found it often enough: chasing after the Taliban and embedding with Canadian troops in Kandahar. But finding peace, unearthing hope, is another thing altogether. It takes a firm heart to resist the temptation for cynicism, to fight the overarching feeling that every attempt to challenge war with peace is pointless and doomed to failure. It’s a common theme here in Kabul among the foreign aid workers and journalists: Afghanistan will never change; it’s hopeless.
I’ve felt myself slipping into that state of mind in recent years. After 10 years of covering the Afghan war, war had become the lens through which I saw Afghanistan. But then I had a revelation: I decided to join the circus, and everything changed....Continue Reading...
I’ve felt myself slipping into that state of mind in recent years. After 10 years of covering the Afghan war, war had become the lens through which I saw Afghanistan. But then I had a revelation: I decided to join the circus, and everything changed....Continue Reading...
Three Hazara men shot dead in Quetta
Saleem Shahid | National | From the Newspaper
QUETTA: An inspector of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), a TV artiste and another government official were gunned down near Mecongi Road on Wednesday evening, police said.
The three were going home in a car when assailants on a motorcycle opened fire on them with automatic weapons in a street.
“All of them died on the spot,” hospital sources said.
Police said it appeared to be a case of targeted sectarian killings because the victims — FIA Inspector Walayat Hussain, Quetta television artiste Abid Hussain Nazish and Mohammad Anwar Hussain, an accounts officer at the Balochistan Accountant
General’s office — belonged to the Hazara tribe.
“We are also looking into other aspects of the investigation,” Quetta city police chief Ahsan Mehboob said. He said police were checking vehicles and carrying out raids in different areas to arrest the attackers.
The bodies were taken to the Civil Hospital and handed over to the victims’ families after post-mortems.
In a statement, the Shia Conference Balochistan condemned the killing and said provincial authorities had failed to protect citizens and urged the federal government to ensure an immediate arrest of killers.
DAWN
QUETTA: An inspector of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), a TV artiste and another government official were gunned down near Mecongi Road on Wednesday evening, police said.
The three were going home in a car when assailants on a motorcycle opened fire on them with automatic weapons in a street.
“All of them died on the spot,” hospital sources said.
Police said it appeared to be a case of targeted sectarian killings because the victims — FIA Inspector Walayat Hussain, Quetta television artiste Abid Hussain Nazish and Mohammad Anwar Hussain, an accounts officer at the Balochistan Accountant
General’s office — belonged to the Hazara tribe.
“We are also looking into other aspects of the investigation,” Quetta city police chief Ahsan Mehboob said. He said police were checking vehicles and carrying out raids in different areas to arrest the attackers.
The bodies were taken to the Civil Hospital and handed over to the victims’ families after post-mortems.
In a statement, the Shia Conference Balochistan condemned the killing and said provincial authorities had failed to protect citizens and urged the federal government to ensure an immediate arrest of killers.
DAWN
MIGRATION: Asylum-seekers in Australia suspend hunger strike
BANGKOK, 25 January 2012 (IRIN) - About 150 asylum-seekers in Australia have suspended their hunger strike after accusing the government of reneging on a promise for community detention and bridging visas for long-term detainees who posed no risk, activists confirm.
At least 34 of the participants had been on hunger strike for a week.
"The ball is now in the government's court," Ian Rintoul, a spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition (RAC), told IRIN from Sydney. "I hope this will be followed by action and not just words.".....Continue Reading....
At least 34 of the participants had been on hunger strike for a week.
"The ball is now in the government's court," Ian Rintoul, a spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition (RAC), told IRIN from Sydney. "I hope this will be followed by action and not just words.".....Continue Reading....
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