Ram Puniyani on how divide-and-rule dynamics can be slowly erased in South Asia
LIFE IS full of paradoxes, and not all of them are upsetting. Some of them give a pleasant cozy feeling too. Recently, on March 25, 2012, people saw the Pakistan Deputy Attorney General Muhammad Khurshid Khan polishing the shoes of devotees in Gurudwara Rakabganj, Delhi. This work is part of seva (service) in gurudwaras. This particular tradition is part of Sikh gurudwaras. Kurshid was doing this to atone for the sins of the Taliban, who have tormented the Sikhs in many ways. He also was doing it to heal the wounds of minorities who have suffered the violence. The Taliban had abducted three Sikhs, demanding ransom. One of the Sikhs was killed. Khurshid felt the Taliban had done something inhuman, which is against Islam. Pained by this, he started this mission of bring peace and amity amongst religious communities....Continue Reading....
Friday, March 30, 2012
Our sectarian monster
By Editorial
Published: March 29, 2012
It is most tragic that the Hazaras are now being made to feel like strangers in their own land . PHOTO: AFP/ FILE
Five more people, including a woman were killed in a drive-by shooting in Quetta on March 29, in what the provincial government described as “an incident of sectarian targeted killing” while two NGO workers were shot dead the same day by unknown assailants in Mastung. There has been a manifold increase in sectarian attacks in Balochistan recently, and it seems as though the Hazara community is specifically being targeted. In addition to yesterday’s attack, there have been numerous other incidents of violence against the Hazara community. Last September, a bus full of Shias were murdered near Quetta, while a few weeks before that there was an Eid massacre of Shias in Balochistan. Amidst the military’s offensive against separatists, we tend to forget that there is another war being fought targeting the most vulnerable community in the province.
The roots of the sectarian violence, like most discrimination against minority communities, can be traced back to the military dictatorship of Ziaul Haq. In his eagerness to impose a hardline Sunni interpretation of Islam in the country, Zia created and strengthened militant groups that initially fought in Afghanistan and Kashmir, but later turned their guns on the Shia community at home. Unfortunately, successive governments in the 1990s did nothing to throttle these militant groups and the situation kept getting worse over time.
Even before that, however, the Hazara community has been singled out by those who condemn them as imposters and infidels. The Taliban regime in Afghanistan was vicious against them. In Pakistan, it was the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi that first started issuing edicts against the Hazaras. For a community that is over half a million strong, it is most tragic that the Hazaras are now being made to feel like strangers in their own land. Although efforts are being made by the government to beef up security in the city as Frontier Corps and the police have jointly launched a search operation in different areas of Quetta and arrested suspects, more needs to be done to ensure that no more lives are lost.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 30th, 2012.
Published: March 29, 2012
Five more people, including a woman were killed in a drive-by shooting in Quetta on March 29, in what the provincial government described as “an incident of sectarian targeted killing” while two NGO workers were shot dead the same day by unknown assailants in Mastung. There has been a manifold increase in sectarian attacks in Balochistan recently, and it seems as though the Hazara community is specifically being targeted. In addition to yesterday’s attack, there have been numerous other incidents of violence against the Hazara community. Last September, a bus full of Shias were murdered near Quetta, while a few weeks before that there was an Eid massacre of Shias in Balochistan. Amidst the military’s offensive against separatists, we tend to forget that there is another war being fought targeting the most vulnerable community in the province.
The roots of the sectarian violence, like most discrimination against minority communities, can be traced back to the military dictatorship of Ziaul Haq. In his eagerness to impose a hardline Sunni interpretation of Islam in the country, Zia created and strengthened militant groups that initially fought in Afghanistan and Kashmir, but later turned their guns on the Shia community at home. Unfortunately, successive governments in the 1990s did nothing to throttle these militant groups and the situation kept getting worse over time.
Even before that, however, the Hazara community has been singled out by those who condemn them as imposters and infidels. The Taliban regime in Afghanistan was vicious against them. In Pakistan, it was the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi that first started issuing edicts against the Hazaras. For a community that is over half a million strong, it is most tragic that the Hazaras are now being made to feel like strangers in their own land. Although efforts are being made by the government to beef up security in the city as Frontier Corps and the police have jointly launched a search operation in different areas of Quetta and arrested suspects, more needs to be done to ensure that no more lives are lost.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 30th, 2012.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Gunmen reportedly kill 6 in Pakistan including UN official
Published March 29, 2012
| Associated Press
AP
March 29, 2012: Pakistani protesters shout slogans against government to condemn killings in Quetta, Pakistan after an attack by a gunman who appeared to target local employees of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, officials said.
QUETTA, Pakistan – Gunmen killed six people Thursday in a pair of attacks in southwestern Pakistan, one of which targeted local employees of a U.N. agency, officials said.
The assailants opened fire on the staff of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization as they were riding in a car through Baluchistan province's Mastung district, killing two people, said police officer Rustam Khan.
A member of the group's project staff and a hired driver were the two people killed, said a U.N. official on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. Another staff member was wounded, he said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Baluchistan has experienced a decades-long insurgency by nationalists who demand greater autonomy and a larger share of the province's natural resources. Baluch nationalists have targeted Pakistani security forces and officials in the past, as well as aid workers helping the government.
The province is also home to many Taliban militants, allegedly including the group's leader, Mullah Omar.
Earlier Thursday, gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on a passenger van in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, killing four Shiite Muslims in an apparent sectarian attack, police officer Shaukat Khan said.
Ahmad Marwat, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban's Jundullah faction, claimed responsibility for the shooting.
"They were Shiite infidels," Marwat told The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location. "We will kill them wherever we find them."
Sunni militants with links to Al Qaeda and the Taliban have carried out scores of bombings and shootings across the country against minority Shiites in recent years, especially in Baluchistan.
The Sunni-Shiite schism over the true heir to Islam's Prophet Muhammad dates back to the seventh century.
Fox News
| Associated Press
March 29, 2012: Pakistani protesters shout slogans against government to condemn killings in Quetta, Pakistan after an attack by a gunman who appeared to target local employees of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, officials said.
QUETTA, Pakistan – Gunmen killed six people Thursday in a pair of attacks in southwestern Pakistan, one of which targeted local employees of a U.N. agency, officials said.
The assailants opened fire on the staff of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization as they were riding in a car through Baluchistan province's Mastung district, killing two people, said police officer Rustam Khan.
A member of the group's project staff and a hired driver were the two people killed, said a U.N. official on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. Another staff member was wounded, he said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Baluchistan has experienced a decades-long insurgency by nationalists who demand greater autonomy and a larger share of the province's natural resources. Baluch nationalists have targeted Pakistani security forces and officials in the past, as well as aid workers helping the government.
The province is also home to many Taliban militants, allegedly including the group's leader, Mullah Omar.
Earlier Thursday, gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on a passenger van in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, killing four Shiite Muslims in an apparent sectarian attack, police officer Shaukat Khan said.
Ahmad Marwat, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban's Jundullah faction, claimed responsibility for the shooting.
"They were Shiite infidels," Marwat told The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location. "We will kill them wherever we find them."
Sunni militants with links to Al Qaeda and the Taliban have carried out scores of bombings and shootings across the country against minority Shiites in recent years, especially in Baluchistan.
The Sunni-Shiite schism over the true heir to Islam's Prophet Muhammad dates back to the seventh century.
Fox News
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