Adil Najam and Owais Mughal
The forces of hate are attacking Pakistan again.
This time targeting Ahmadi worshipers in two separate locations in Lahore, killing over 70 people, injuring more than 100, taking others hostage, and spreading their terrorizing message of hate in society.
There can be nothing but rage and loathing for those who kill for the pleasure of killing. Who kill for the purpose of spreading terror and mayhem. Who kill to hide their own inadequacies of faith. Who breed in the fires of hate and kill as an expression of hate. These are the enemies of Pakistan. The enemies of the very religion they think they are safeguarding with venomous hate. They are, indeed, the enemies of humanity.
Ultimately, the person who is killed is not a Pakistani or Indian or American or even Muslim or Jew or Christian or even Barelvi or Ahmadi or Wahabi. Ultimately, the person killed is just another human. And the person who kills, is not. Because in the very act of killing for hate he has stripped himself of that distinction, of his own humanity.
Words escape us, once again. What can we say that we did not say about Karachi, about Quetta, about Swat, about Peshawar, about Islamabad, about Kohat – indeed about Lahore itself, again and again.
What can one add except to wipe the tears from ones eyes, to say a silent prayer – a silent prayer that society’s silence over these atrocities may break. Because when the good amongst us go silent, then only the hate of the bad resounds.
Here are the details as reported by Dawn:
Gunmen attacked worshippers from the Ahmadi community in two worship places of Lahore on Friday, taking hostages and killing at least 70 people, officials said. The gunmen opened fire shortly after Friday prayers and threw what could have been grenades at two Ahmadi worship places in residential neighbourhoods in Pakistan’s cultural capital.
Sajjad Bhutta, deputy commissioner of Lahore, said at least 70 people had been killed in the twin attacks on worship places in Garhi Shahu and Model Town. A total of 78 were injured. The death toll at Garhi Shahu was higher, Bhutta said, because three attackers blew themselves up with suicide vests packed with explosives when police tried to enter the building. Police are still searching the area as two attackers were still at large.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the attacks, expressing “deep sorrow and grief over the loss of precious livesâ€. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said the incidents would generate greater resolve to combat extremism. “It’s a reminder to the nation that Pakistan will achieve its destiny only after we get rid of the worst type of extremism and fundamentalism,†he told a news conference. “The entire nation will fight this evil.†He said one attacker had been arrested. Police in Model Town confirmed one gunmen had been arrested and another killed.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but suspicion quickly fell on the Pakistani Taliban. “It’s too early to say who is behind these attacks,†said a Lahore-based security official. “But my guess is that like most other attacks, there would be some link to the Taliban or their associated militants.†Punjab’s Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said the arrested attacker was a teenage Pashtun. This, he said, indicated a link to the tribal area of Waziristan and strongly hinted at a Taliban link.
“The prayer leader was giving a sermon when we heard firing and blasts. Everybody stood up and then two gunmen barged into the place of worship and sprayed bullets,†Fateh Sharif, a 19-year-old student, told Reuters from Model Town. “They had long beards. They were carrying rucksacks.†Bhutta said a suicide vest laden with explosives was recovered from the Model Town worship place, where some attackers escaped. One fired at a television van before the area was made safe. “He was young, clean-shaven. He sprayed bullets at our van while fleeing the scene,†Rabia Mehmood, a reporter told Reuters.
ATTACKS LAUNCHED AFTER PRAYERS
Witnesses said the assaults were launched shortly after prayers. “I saw some gunmen run towards the Ahmadis’ place of worship and then I heard blasts and gunfire,†Mohammad Nawaz, a resident, told Reuters. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said it had warned of threats against the Ahmadi community centre in Lahore for more than a year and demanded “foolproof security and protection†from the government. It expressed concern over “the increasing sectarian dimension†of militancy in Pakistan, which it called “a big security threat to the entire societyâ€.
Friday’s shootings were the worst attacks in Pakistan since March 12 suicide attacks seconds apart killed 57 people in Lahore while targeting the Pakistani military. Nine attacks have now killed more than 220 people in Lahore over the past year, a historical city, playground for the elite and home to many top brass in Pakistan military and intelligence establishment.
Another sad day for Pakistan. Another day when hatred overwhelms tolerance. Another day when we will cry. But a day when we should really be thinking. And thinking hard – and not just about those who will commit such evil, but about ourselves and about our having tolerated a society which would tolerate such hatred.
This poem by Ahmad Faraz, which we have used a few times before, was written for a different context. But it was written for the same context. Do please listen. Do please think:
Aashna hath he aksar mairi janab lapkay
Mairay seenay meiN sada appna he khanjar utra
I am not surprised this has become a place where qadianis have assembled to gain some political mileage out of the sad incident in Lahore.
I condemn that as a human, Pakistani and Muslim. Yet, in my mind there is NO confusion that they are not Muslims. Sorry but there is no compromise on the finality of Prophethood.
Can the Qadianis here explain this???
http://www.flickr.com/photos/75782188@N00/26574284 99/in/set-72157602322342761/
Thanks.
TO THOSE WHO SUPPORT 2ND CONSTITUTIONAL AMMENDMENT, BECAUSE LAW WAS PASSED BY GOVERNMENT AND NATIONS ELECTED POLITICIANS.
I guess you SUPPORT SWISS government for banning minarets in mosques.
I guess you SUPPORT BELGIUM government for banning veil/niqab/burqa.
I guess you SUPPORT FRENCH government for banning Hijab
AND I GUESS YOU WILL SUPPORT DANISH GOVERNEMENT FOR BANNING HOLY QURAN OR AT LEAST SOME OF ITS VERSES AND CHAPTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
These condolences will not do any good to Ahmadi’s. The issue is to stop hate speech against Ahmadis and brain washing of the Madras students to kill Ahmadis. Target killing of Ahmadis has been going on for 2 decades now and in most of the cases killers have not been captured. These killing are done because some ignorant Mullah brain wash his students and provoke them to kill innocent Ahmadis…
Well, the responsibility of the Media and blog like these is to report these incidents because if you are not reporting such incidents you are actually participating in it.
Pakistani community has zero tolerance level. I can count dozens of time when i have been distributed pamphlets containing hate speech against Ahmadis. These hate speech are included in the racist remarks against any community and I think like in most of the civilized countries it is a crime to provoke people to kill anyone without any reason……
So, the basic point is to clear the misconception about Ahmadis and give them at least equal right that have been given to other minorities..
‘Ultimately, the person who is killed is not a Pakistani or Indian or American or even Muslim or Jew or Christian or even Barelvi or Ahmadi or Wahabi.’
Of course. But the agenda followed by your blog should be of Pakistaniat. Qadiyanis have become ‘active’ in recent days promoting their brand of Islam on buses etc in Europe and America. We should all remain loyal towards Pakistan instead irrespective of belief.
BHUTTO DIDN’T MAKE ANY MISTAKE
The recent killings of AHMADIS, a minority religion in Pakistan is surely very bad and every citizen of Pakistan condemns this. The Punjab government has definitely raised the spirits of the terrorists especially “SIPAAH-E-SAHABAH”. But it is strange that media has played its “EXTRA POSITIVE ROLE” in this situation and this “EXTRA POSITIVE ROLE” has become “EXTREME NEGATIVE” role from the prospective of our religion and from the prospective of our love to PROPHET MUHAMMAD (S.A.W.W).
I am also strange that media persons criticized ZULFIQAR ALI BHUTTO and even strange that in LUBP also, some people have said that it are the “GRAVE MISTAKE” of ZULFIQAR ALI BHUTTO to declare AHMADIS the non-Muslims. Some say that it is the ERROR, FAULT or WRONG DEED of ZULFIQAR ALI BHUTTO to make AHMADIS non-Muslims according to constitution 1973.
It is true that terrorism is the root of the evil and every person, every sect and every RELIGION has freedom to adopt its own theories, believes or religious doctrines but after all we are Pakistani and Muslims. We are the sole nuclear power in whole Islamic world. We have conducted the single most successful OIC conference in Pakistan (Lahore) in Bhutto’s regime in 1974. Israel thinks Pakistan to be the biggest threat for it and JEWS even bigger than IRAN & ARABIAN GULF countries. We are proud of it today and it is mostly because of the efforts of ZULFIQAR ALI BHUTTO.
AHMADIS have their own 2 big sects and one of its sect was distributing its literature with FOREIGN JEW & CHRISTIAN resources constantly in Pakistan in which it was clearly written that “THE LAST PROPHET OF ALLAH IS HAZRAT MIRZA AHMAD QADIYANI”. For the information of the readers, it was continued from almost 1950 till Bhutto’s government arrived. The students of BZU MULTAN & NISHTAR MEDICAL COLLEGE MULTAN were on the tour of JHANG where AHMADIS gave their literature and written AHMADI DOCTRINE to them. Students refused to take it then AHMADIS tried to give it by force which resulted in a protest of the students where the students were tortured. It was also a big “TERRORISM” of that time.
It was very irritating for the whole public of Pakistan and Pakistani public was blessed with a true leader ZULFIQAR ALI BHUTTO in that time. It was very bad for the Muslims of Pakistan to see the literature and ideologies in which HAZRAT MUHAMMAD (S.A.W.W) was not the last prophet of ALLAH but it was MIRZA AHMAD QADIYANI. It was more irritating that the 12 IMAMS were criticized in that literature along with ALI IBN E ALI TALIB which is thought to be the REAL INSPIRATION in every sect of Muslims.
AHMADIS didn’t apologized on that “TERROR ATTACK” and they continued their work more bravely so it was the need of the time to control the conflict and further battle between MUSLIMS & AHMADIS and it was a great challenge for ZULFIQAR ALI BHUTTO. PPP & whole nation at that time. All political parties, the representatives of all sects and all parties whether religious or not, were being gathered by ZULFIQAR ALI BHUTTO. It was day & night work for them all and finally they achieved a MILESTONE in the history of this world that they made “DEFINITION” of the “MUSLIM”.
The definition is simple and it is proved from the HOLY QURAN. According to Pakistan constitution 1973, the Muslim is that one who believes in the oneness of ALLAH & who believes that PROPHET MUHAMMAD (S.A.W.W) is the last prophet of ALLAH. Which ever sect or party don’t believes that HAZRAT MUHAMMAD (S.A.W.W) is the last prophet of ALLAH is not Muslim no matter whether he believes him (s.a.w.w) as prophet but not the last. So it was the big achievement of the ZULFIQAR ALI BHUTTO indeed not a mistake and this point must be remembered by every writer and reader here.
Here I don’t mean that one should AHMADIS but my point is only that according to the LAW of Pakistan
1) AHMADIS can’t give their AZAAN in loud speaker.
2) AHMADIS can’t declare their “WORSHIP PLACE” as “MOSQUE”.
3) AHMADIS can’t declare themselves as “MUSLIM”.
4) AHMADIS can’t publish their literature publically.
5) AHMADI is a minority religion in Pakistan.
SO my point is only that please don’t say them “AHMADI MUSLIMS” and don’t say their religious places and their worship places as “MOSQUE”. They are victimized by terror attacks and they are innocent in this situation it is true. They are citizens of Pakistan and they have right to have their own faiths and believes. We have AHAMDIS on which we and whole nation is proud like DR. ABDUS SALAM & CH. ZARAR. But it is our responsibility to state the real truth. We should not forget that it is written in the HOLY QURAN about PROPHET MUHAMMAD (S.A.W.W) “THE KHATAM UN NABBIYEEN” i.e. THE LAST PROPHET WHO HAS ENDED THE SERIES OF THE PROPHETS, so we should condemn the terrorism but we should not forget our limits.
We are with our AHMADI brothers in this time of distress for them it was really great shock for whole the nation. Islam never taught this. PUNJAB GOVERNMENT should stop backing the “SIPAAH-E-SAHABA” and it should take strict actions against terrorists and all religions should be safe in Pakistan.
MUHAMMAD AMJAD RASHID
http://www.bhuttowisdom.blogspot.com