Daily Times Editorial Jan 3, 2014

Shias targeted again If there is one thing that can be said about the sorry state of things in Pakistan, it is that the more things change, the more they remain the same. The suicide car bomb attack on a bus carrying about 50 Shia pilgrims returning from Iran in the Akhterabad area of Quetta on Wednesday refreshed memories of the devastating bombings on January 11 and February 16, 2013, in which over 200 Shia Hazaras were killed. The perpetrators of those attacks are still at large, arguably nestling within the cosy ranks of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), an extreme sectarian terrorist group. The province has also witnessed many attacks of the kind that took place on Wednesday on the buses of Shia pilgrims travelling to or from Iran. In response to these incidents, the security establishment had decided in the tenure of the previous government that all buses bearing pilgrims would be given safe conduct through an adequate police escort. The escort however was unable to prevent the bombing on Wednesday, reportedly despite sporting jammers. It is being speculated that the suicide bomber sitting in a vehicle on the roadside that was packed with about 100 kgs of explosives, blew himself up. That raises the question how the security forces intend to overcome the by now well known phenomenon of the terrorists keeping one step ahead of the law enforcement agencies. It will be interesting to know, although there is considerable scepticism whether anything will come of it, how the security forces explain the ability of the suicide bomber to detonate despite the presence of jammers. Clearly, the far more innovative terrorists have managed to find a way around the jammers technology. Two people on the ill fated bus were killed and about 34 injured, including eight women, five children and four security forces personnel. The death toll may rise since some of the injured are in serious condition in hospital. The ritual condemnation of the heinous incident from high to low, including the president, prime minister, governor and chief minister by now do not even serve as balm on the wounds of the victims or their families. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s response to the incident focused precisely on the need to go beyond such condemnation and act to stop the bloodbath of Shias, which has increasingly taken on the colours of a slow genocide. The Hazara community in Quetta has been particularly hard hit by these bloodthirsty killers, although a more pacific and law abiding community would be difficult to find anywhere in Pakistan. The Majlis Wahdat-ul-Muslimeen, Shia Conference and Hazara Democratic Party have announced three days of mourning and given a call for a shutter down strike on Thursday. A claim of responsibility has surfaced in the media. The perpetrator, Jaish al Islam, says it carried out the attack as revenge against the incident at a madrassa in Rawalpindi on Ashura, an event that seems to have triggered a tit-for-tat killing spree of Shias, first and foremost, and arguably revenge attacks against extremist sectarian Sunni groups on the other. Because the sectarian conflict is a slow burning fuse, there is a danger that complacency will prevent us from seeing that the fuse leads to a powder keg that could yet tear Pakistani society apart at the seams. Considering the claims of responsibility for these dastardly acts by virulently sectarian groups such as LeJ and Jaish al Islam, many of whom are operating openly despite the ‘bans’ on them, often with a change of nomenclature, it is beyond comprehension how LeJ leader Malik Ishaq walks the land a free man. Clearly, there is a paralysis of political will that prevents the state from dealing with these destructive elements in the manner they richly deserve. If the political and security establishments do not wake up to the clear and present danger represented by these obnoxious forces, tomorrow we may have to revise the maxim we began with: in Pakistan, things will no longer remain the same.