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?
Hey!
Another sad incident, once more am thinking about this hatred among Muslims … I think i shud not use word “Muslim” lets call it Hatred among Shia and Sunni, Deobandis and Bralvis. Some very proud sects of Islam, each sect is callin itself “Followers of True Islam” and for this they are killing members of other sects (coz this is ONLY way to claim ur position in Jannat) Shocking :o
I m Muslim … i dun believe in sects within Islam, my family follows a sect but i dont … Now may b lots of ppl hate me coz of it but i Hate Deobandi, Baralvis, Shia and Sunni. Wat is the problem in callin urself “Muslim” jus “Muslim? Why is it so important to call urself “Deobandi Muslim” “Baralvi Muslim” “Shia Muslim” or “Sunni Muslim”? how this additional word is contributing in spreading Peaceful msg of Islam?
One sect says Prophet Muhammad (SAW) “Is” Noor and alive, another sect says No Prophet (SAW) was Bashar (Human) and He died. Now both of these sects are killin each other coz of this :O they are not listening to the Beautiful msg Prophet Muhammad (SAW) delivered for us, but they wanna get sum kinda gift by proving Prophet Muhammad (SAW) “was” or “is” Bashar or Noor and Alive or not. So they are killin each other and calling demselves “True Muslims” with that extra name “deobandi” “baralvi”.
Same applies on Shia and Sunnis … fighting coz some “Peacefull” ppl are brainwashing dem by tellin dem stories and proving dem with facts and writings of scholars of other sects. Well i heard many such lectures and speeches from both sects, and wow they know how to brainwash somone by using the love for religion.
Believe me its really easy to convince someone to kill some Shia, Sunni, deobandis or baralvis and enjoy his/her place in Jannat. Large part of our population is under influence of these fanatic leaders who are expert in makin sumone angry enough to kill lots of ppl and die with peaceful frame of mind that he is goin in Jannat. This is main function of these Sects AKA Killer Sects.
While spreading hate and makin sumone kill sum Shias, Sunnis, Deobandis or Baralvis, No one look inside their own sect. Why dun you solve problem within ur own sect before killin other sects? Why those leaders forget that there is Allah who is watching all this and if Sum sect or group of ppl is doin unIslamic things, den why dun we let dem face the Allah’s court? why is it important to b God and start killin others coz “ACC TO US” that person or group of ppl are not Muslim?
Call youself Muslim jus Muslim, lets forget all sects, lets make it Truly Peaceful Religion by correcting ourselves first. Before pointing finger to sumone else, lets calculate our own authority to deceide abt sumone else … Lets read Quran with Translation, read teachings of Prophet Muhammad SAW and apply it on ourselves rather den applying dem on others.
Atleast here i dun want any fight between sects coz all of us are mature enough to understand that anyone can pinpoint so many bad points with refs against all sects, so lets jus Follow the teachings of Quran and Our Holy Prophet SAW, Lets jus Love our Prophet Muhammad SAW and make ourselves “Peaceful Muslims”.
A Muslim :)
Mariam umar sorry MU, if those deobandis are spreading haterd then what good are you doing here my friend? apna geriban me jhanko bhai, sab se zyda badboo tumhe apne ander sey he aye gi.
Things seem to only get worse. According to The News:
MU: hear hear. i’m no fan of Musharraf or the role of the army in our internal politics, but the most pressing need today is to deal with these militant parties that act under the name of (their own version of ) Islam. The lashkars, the sipah-sahabas. We all know what sort of hatred these groups have spread amongst the public… you can feel the effects first-hand if you ever go into places like laalookhet (in Karachi). i know it’s controversial, but we need to deal with these parties the way Naseerullah babar dealt with the might of the MQM… remember how in the mid-90s everyday 20 to 30 people would be killed? For 10 years or so, Karachi became unlivable, there were so many riots and strikes and random violence. Even though Karachi is hardly a safe place even now, and is faced by numerous other problems and challenges, at least one power-hungry gang of thugs was destroyed. We need to similarly deal with all the ‘religious’ armed nuts who think blowing up shias or sunnis (or anyone else) is the path to heaven. And we need to be hard on the non-militant MMA politicians who provide this religion-inspired rhetoric that’s slowly but surely seeped into all levels of our society, that gives the platform for the more fanatical mullahs to tug on people’s emotions and lead the poor and impressionable into the path of destruction.
Funny, are we talking of the same scholars who started the sunni/shia divide in the first place by calling each other Kafir and worthy of killing even to the extent of promising paradise in return for killing the opponent? As I recall, Musharraf was still trick-or-treating at the time.
Let’s not forget the role of these Mullahs in sowing the seeds of hatred of all kind in our society over years. We are now reaping the benefits. Time to throw some of the Mullahs into Arabian Sea and ship the rest back to Deoband.