Daily Times

Carnage, yes more merciless destruction of humanity. There are many more orphans and widows crushed by the loss of their dear ones. There are so many more homeless and traumatised survivors of this brutal savagery in Karachi’s Abbas Town. Another peaceful Shia locality ravaged by savages. Barbarians supported by a dangerously rising tide of bigots and fanatics who believe in the politics of extremism.

This may not quite be classified as genocide yet, but certainly seems to be heading that way. The federal and provincial governments do not look concerned enough; it took two and a half hours for the police or anybody else to get to Abbas Town. The Prime Minister who was in Karachi did not find the misery of the people important enough for him to visit and provide the impetus for much needed relief and lend support to apprehending the murderers. Was that because it was not his constituency or would he lose the sympathies of his Sunni voters? Tell us Raja sahib. Neither have Governor Ebad nor Chief Minister Shah visited in the last three days. Shame on both of them. Is it the present PPP’s practice to leave the populace in the lurch in times of adversity?

The second dastardly attack on the Hazara Shias raised a lot of questions on the government’s inaction after the first attack in January. So this time we were told of an encounter supposedly with the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) when four were killed and some arrested. The law enforcing agencies, both civil and military, had achieved their purpose of getting media headlines and providing a sop to the people in pretending to have done a great job. Can you imagine that we are supposed to believe that an organization like the LeJ, which has been operating for 25 years, has been tackled in one encounter?

It was an eye-wash. These criminals have powerful collaborators. That is why the Karachi massacre happened. If the agencies really wanted to go after the Jhangvis all over the country, this tragedy in Abbas Town could have been averted. The same is true of the governments and their administrations; nobody is willing to act and follow up, and nobody seems to care. It is not funny, people are dying daily, and murderers are on the loose. What kind of human beings are these who wield power that they sit idly and watch such carnage take place? After a day of crocodile tears and hollow statements, everything is forgotten and normal, most of the TV talk shows continue with their inane discussions with clueless politicians, retired officers and ‘senior’ analysts mostly about the same political subjects daily. Now that the latest Gallup polls are here, talk shows gleefully inform us how the assembly seats will be distributed amongst those who have ruined this country! What about our dead and dying Shia brethren?? How about hounding the law enforcers or the PM or CM to put pressure for action? The media’s role cannot be to score headlines and then forget such shameful tragedies as the Quetta and Abbas Town blasts. Somebody responsible needs to be grilled all the time until such time as the criminals are brought to book. The matter must be kept alive.

Shia and Sunni strife was always an issue but low keyed, usually coming to the fore in Muharram. It started to increase during the Zia regime when the wicked general imposed a Wahabi brand of Islam on the country and at the same time gave birth to hate brigades like the Sipah-e-Sahaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, MQM and others for subverting and sabotaging civil society for political and fundamentalist aims internally. While some of these also had external goals in India and Afghanistan, intolerance was let loose, the madrassas taught it and the students practised it…all in the name of Allah. The money came from Saudi Arabia and others to finance the indoctrination of an obscurantist form of Islam. It succeeded in getting adherents in various sections of society, including the establishment-armed forces (due to Zia and Hamid Gul) and the bureaucracy. Also a lot of mullahs joined up partly because of the money and partly due to the power it brought them. Amongst a lot of the illiterate fringe elements animosity towards Shias was encouraged. Some politicians became tainted by fundamentalism during this period also. Recently, through the media, the connections of the PML-N with the Ahle-Sunnat-Wal-Jamaat and the LeJ have come to the fore. It is sad that they have not learnt any lessons from their mentor playing with fire and wreaking havoc since the last 30 years. Fanning hate against the Shia is anyway not difficult as there are historical differences and mistrust between the two sects, therefore, it is relatively easy to cultivate sympathisers and adherents in all strata of society.

The unwillingness and also the inability to curb and stamp out violence from our society, particularly sectarian violence, by the civil and military law enforcing agencies is probably based partly on prejudices held by the officers of the agencies against Shias, partly by the links some officers have with the LeJ and, therefore, act as collaborators for them: warning them off or providing information or explosives (after all where did these murderers get tons of explosives?). Or it could be subversion and sabotage from higher ups, a likeminded group of fanatics in the bureaucracy, military and politicians who operate with a plan and are influential enough to carry out their policies of mayhem? Such collaborators and supporters of these extremists must be numerous, doing their ‘duty’ and fulfilling their perceived religious aims by the elimination of a sect they consider heretic. If this theory is even partly correct and if the happenings of the last two months are the beginnings of an escalation, then we are in for a grave crisis.

What we see now, after almost 30 years, is a strong, well-organised, resourceful and well-placed grouping of fanatics whose hatred for sectarian and religious minorities knows no bounds.

Surely someone somewhere in the power clique must be thinking of how to tackle this situation as it spins out of control. It now seems to be headed in that direction. Strong retaliatory action to stamp out the perpetrators and collaborators permanently is required. Any attempt to cover up matters and allow the issue to fade from the public eye or make a few fake arrests is going to be exposed when such or a much worse tragedy is inflicted. Can the intelligence agencies afford further damage to their already tarnished reputation?

The greatest tragedy is that while our Prophet (PBUH) filled the world with love for all, we are teaching people to hate; while he (PBUH) forgave the sinners and violators, we put to death innocent men, women and children. The heinous culture of hate and revenge that is being forced into our society now actually existed before the advent of Islam. Islam came to change it with love, truth, justice, tolerance, protection for the minorities and the weak, freedom to practice one’s religion, rights for women and many other teachings for a wholesome law-abiding and God-fearing society. What is happening today is a grave sin and a horrible crime, its perpetrators must be stamped out. Those whose duty it is to do so, are committing an even greater sin and a worse crime if they do not eliminate these murderers and their bloodstained collaborators.

The writer is a businessman and a former chairman of the National Textile Foundation. He can be reached at fsumar@cyber.net.pk