Adil Najam
There was a bomb blast in Islamabad today as a car blew up in the parking lot of the Marriott Hotel. The details are still coming in but the indications at this point are that it is a suicide bombing. According to the news flash in The News:
Islamabad police has declared the blast, which occurred in the backyard car parking of a five star hotel located in the highly sensitive area here, a dastardly suicide bombing, resulting in the death of two persons. SP Islamabad, Sikandar Hayat told that the blast occurred due to suicide bombing killing two persons and injuring five, who were shifted to the polyclinic here. Following the bombing here, security high alert has been declared in Karachi and Peshawar also. Observers told that it was the gravest nature of security breach in the highly sensitive security zone of the capital city, as the President House, Pakistan Secretariat and some other key-buildings were located nearby. Eyewitnesses told Geo that the security guard intercepted the suicide bomber trying to bang into the hotel, when he detonated the bomb and blasted himself.
According to the CNN report:
The blast at around 2:37 p.m. (0935 GMT) was just hours before a Indian High Commission function to celebrate Republic Day was due to be held at the hotel. Police cordoned off the area and sirens wailed through the downtown district, where many government buildings including parliament and the office of the president are located…
“He was on foot. The blast occurred when he tried to enter the hotel,” Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmed, Islamabad police chief, said. A Reuters journalist saw blood and flesh scattered over the tarmac close to a side entrance, where the hotel’s night club and laundry services are located. A motorist, who declined to give his name, described hearing and feeling the explosion as he drove by.
He told Reuters: “As I was driving, I heard a huge blast at my back. The windscreen of my car shattered. When I turned round, I saw flesh scattered on the road.” The bomber’s remains were being examined by forensic experts. “The bomber appears to be in twenties. His face is not recognisable. His skull and lower body parts have been found,” retired Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema, head of the Interior Ministry’s Crisis Management Cell, told Reuters.
Musharraf condemned the attack and vowed to continue fighting terrorism. “President Musharraf reiterated Pakistan’s unwavering commitment in the fight against extremism and terrorism and said that all out efforts be made to unmask and bring to book the perpetrators of this crime,” the official Associated Press of Pakistan quoted him as saying.
The Marriott is one of Islamabad’s main hotels, and is frequented by foreign diplomats and businessmen. The U.S. embassy barred staff from visiting the hotel after a small blast in the lobby in October, 2004…. Otherwise bomb attacks have been rare inside the capital in recent years. Security is tight and easier to enforce in the small, orderly purpose-built capital than it is in Pakistan’s larger crowded, sprawling cities.
Only last night – as I was looking at these pictures (all from Dawn) of hieghtened security because of Ashura and the banning of supposed ‘ulema’ because they might incite sectariat hatered – I was thinking how living under a cloud of constant insecurity and uncertainity has to take a toll on people’s psyche.
Even if we get ‘used’ to this insecurity, we do not really ever get ‘used’ to it. We merely take on a mask of either indiference, or cynicism, or fatalism, etc. about the state we live in. In no case is is a comfortable existence, and in every case it takes a toll on the very fabric of society, how it sees itself, and how it goes about its daily business.
Sometimes one reads of yet another such news and the resolve begins to waver. We have to find a way to live together in peace. There has to be a better way of expressing and resolving our differences? Will the violence end? How?
The recent wars declared on Muslim nations has proven one thing that a western force cannot bring down Muslim nations despite of destroying infra structure/logistics & killing innocent civilians. The only way to strategically contain the Muslim world is via “divide & conquer” strategy. Therefore we see a heightened use of terminologies of “Shia” & “Sunni” in western media including recent Bush address. The only way to bring down Muslims is to “make them” fight against themselves.
Technically the differences between Shia n Sunni are negligible. Muslims (Shia/Sunni) must show unity and stand unified. Avoid using these terms altogether and terms such as ‘us’ & ‘them’ etc. In fact I would even go a step ahead and request that Sunni’s & Shia’s to stop referring themselves as that, just call yourself a Muslim. Dont give a chance to enemies to divide Muslims. Stay together, stay strong, stay smart.
This series of attacks raises a lot of questions. Who are the people behind them (are they local or a part of a global network of international terrorist cells), and importantly, does this have any relationship to the national and foreign policy stances adopted by General Musharraf?
On the national front, General Musharraf seems to have decided to get re-elected as the President without holding the general elections first. While the legality of this is still being debated, I think it has thrown the political opposition into chaos, esp the religious groups that can’t seem to live with or without Musharraf. Is Benazir still on the deck of cards?
On the international front: Farrukh Saleem in The Daily Times writes something quite interesting. The latest bombing at the shia mosque is even more worrisome when seen in this context:
Yes, these are very ominous developments. The Peshawar one is also a direct attack on the provincial government and police. It may not have been intended to be. But now it may trigger a really strong response from the NWFP government (which is MMA by the way). I hope it does create a serious effort from the provincial and Federal government to stop these from happening.
And here is a picture of teh carnage in Peshawar from Daily Times:
Folks, the winds that are blowing are not good ones. First Islamabad and now Peshawar. The Peshawar one especially traggic because of its possible sectarian nature. There is NO EXCUSE for any of these and each is shameful and cowardly and something that all of us Pakistanis should be ashamed of. There are no simple explanations for these things, but nor do simple excuses suffice.
Here are excerpts of a report in The News: