These tragic events go to show the impotence of our government and other major institutions. The state structure has virtually collapsed and it is simply a game of survival now. Almost everybody is clueless about a solution and people are waiting for a miracle and a messiah. It never happens. The down-slide will continue until people rise which does not appear to be the case in the near future.
The outside powers are disinterested, including even India.
August 15: Sectarian killing sparks violence in Gulbahar
The city of Gulbahar experienced a resurge in sectarianism when a shia man was shot dead after a few weeks of peace and quiet. Two suspects on a motor bike opened fire on Sajid Hussain, 38, resulting in a bullet being lodged in the victim’s head causing instant death. The victim was a member of the Qayam-i-Vilayat, the welfare wing of the Majlis Wahdat-i- Muslimeen, as revealed by a spokesman for the organisation. Soon after the killing, violence erupted in the adjoining localities, where shops were forced to close and fire arms were used openly. One of the four people injured in different incidents of firing died in hospital. Mr. Hussain’s killing was described as motivated by sectarianism.
August 16: School bombed in Shabqadar
A private school was damaged when militants detonated explosives planted close to its boundary wall in the Shaeedabad area of Shabqadar. The boundary wall and a classroom of the Doaba School System were partially damaged and the windowpanes were smashed due to the blast. The militants against literacy had used a low intensity bomb that went off at night when the area was deserted.
August 16: Another school destroyed in Mardan
Unidentified miscreants blew up the building of a government school in the Katbano village of Mardan District. The miscreants had attached explosives to the building of the school and detonated it with a remote control. The structure and outer wall of the building were damaged, however, no causality was reported.
August 16: 25 Shias pulled off buses and executed in Kohistan
Terrorists ambushed four buses in the Babusar Top area of Mansehra. They pulled out passengers from the vehicles and shot dead 25 people from the Shia community. In major parts of Gilgit city, shops were closed and traffic remained thin. A large number of people poured onto the streets to protest against the killings before staging a sit-in at Benazir Chowk. Gilgit Baltistan Legislative Assembly members Didar Ali and Raziuddin Rizvi led the protest. They criticised the government for failing to protect the life and property of the people, especially those of religious minorities and said that the state policies had led to an increase in acts of terrorism.
August 17: Police remove Quranic verses from Ahmadi graeves to ‘avert clashes’
An application was moved to the area police stating Kassoki villagers’ demands of the removal of Quranic verses and religious text from Ahmadi graves in the graveyard on Hafizabad-Sheikhupura Road. The applicants threatened of religious clashes and bloodshed if their demands were not met. The SHO asked the Ahmadi community for the removal of religious inscriptions, adding that if they did not do so themselves, the police would take measures for removing them in order to maintain peace and tranquility in the area. When the community disagreed the police went on with the operation, forcefully entering the graveyard and whitewashing all religious text from the graves.
August 17: Blast outside school in Charsadda
A bomb exploded outside a government school in the Shabqadar Tehsil without causing any human or material damage. The militants had planted explosives outside the Government High School No1 for Boys that went off early in the day.
August 17: Shia bus attacked in Karachi
Two people lost their lives and 18 others sustained injuries after a roadside bomb went off near the transport of participants, on their way to Youm-e-Quds rally near Safari Park on University Road. It was a remote-controlled device that was also carrying ball bearings.
Police investigators suspected the involvement of militant organisations, especially the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in the incident. A large number of Imamia Students Organisation volunteers gathered at Numaish Chowrangi and staged a sit-in to protest against the incident. The protesters burnt tyres and blocked the road for traffic for hours.
August 18: Mentally challenged Christian girl jailed for blasphemy in Islamabad
An 11-year-old Christian girl, suffering from Down’s Syndrome, was arrested on blasphemy charges after being accused of burning passages of the Holy Quran. Rifta Masih was jailed by the police in the Mehrabadi village, after being severely beaten up by locals for allegedly burning and dumping 10 pages of the Noorani Qaida into a bin. Locals blocked the Kashmir Highway for hours and surrounded the Ramna police station in G-11 when the police initially showed reluctance to register a case against the young girl.
Filed under: Pakistan Under President Zardari, Terrorism in Pakistan Tagged: | Pakistan, Pakistan under PM Gilani, Pakistani Politics, Terrorism in Pakistan
We are only waiting for “when-will-it-happen”, although like a loving citizen, we would never wish for this BUT we know that there is No Way Out.