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
A Taliban apologist perspective on the Ahmedi massacre in Lahore
http://criticalppp.org/lubp/archives/11739
@ M Amjad rasid, @ a muslim, @ L abdedin, @mango man
@ all who for whome this incident is a place to debate whether “ahmedis are msulim or not, what literature thet are distributing in USA and EU, and whether there place is a mosque or not”
People like you represent a sizeable class of Pakistanis whose values have been systematically changed and the class you belong to has little compassion, little respect for human life and your biggest GOD is your dogma, your insistence that your set of beliefs are the right. In fact you are the very people who would justify anything in the name of your GOD. for you beliefs and dogmas, quran and haadis, are the end in itself. The greatest problem with people like you is that islam is the end in itself for you. it is the value in itself. This is why everything has to be subservient to this dogma of islam and quran and hadis.
Now there is a slowly evolving class of people like me also, our hearts cry when any human life is lost and we see no ahmedi, christian and sunni, shia in that loss. why though i am not ahmedi, i am disgusted by your veiws? cause there is a difference between your class and my class.
BUT WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PEOPLE LIKE ME, WHAT IS THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN MUSLIMS LIKE YOU AND MUSLIMS LIKE ME.
first i will tell you what is the difference and then i will tell you the secret that why this difference is there.
The WHAT part:
the difference is
1. i have no qualms accepting ahmedis as muslims cz for muslims like me it the matter between allah and his people. God forbid i dont falsely presume the job of a prophet or wali to police faith of his creation.
2. i dont fret in rage, and my ego does not bleed when swiss ban minerates, cz for me allah is in heart, and mosques and minatres are symbol of religious pride that feeds our ego and service our arrogance moreso than allah. those who fret on churches, and synagogues, and masjids do so for their egos than for ALLAH, or Jesus, or David or whosoever they pledge their allegiance with.
3. I have no problem for french and belgium banning hijab. cause it is their country and they have the right to make laws. like we force foreigner to cover heads and legs and arms in saudia arabia and iran and so many other muslims countries, like we force others to bow to our culture, like we are intolerant of others way of life, like we are not generous to grant freedom to others to live the way they like, IN THE EXACT SAME SPIRIT, we should be ready to play by others rule when we go to others’ land. Hence, those who cant take their hijaab’s off should gracefully leave, like we expect those foreigners who cant wear hijaab to leave our holy and pure lands. Also, i see covering face like ninjas no part of islam. so i have least sympathy with this particular freedom (to be not a human but mere sign of man’s lust) taken away, somebody needs to tell these ninjas that it is 21st century and the only crime in showing your face is the embracing of a fact that you are human first and foremost, woman second, and object of lust never. Wearinh hijaab in france is for me merely a political statement that i am an orthodox muslims, and i dont care about your country and culture, and i will rather bend you to my culture than yours. cause hijaab in france does not make you less conspicous (the very objective of paardah) but in fact makes you object of everyone’s attention.
4. I have never apologized for taliban, and their pawns such as faisal shazad, afia siddiqui, and etc etc.
5. i have also not boycott facebook for a silly page.
6, 7,….the list goes on.
Now WHY the difference part
the difference is that for people like me islam is not the “ultimate value”, for people like me “quran is not the end in itself”, for people like me “haadis or sunnah is not the final destiny”. for people like me the ultimate value is humanity and respect for life, ethics, fairness and justice. and this is what our beliefs are supposed to teach and this is the merit with which we even judge god, allah, quran, tafseer, fatwa, ijtihaad, and dogmas.
this is no trivial difference though. this very difference in our ultimate value makes the two classes different. one class of muslim becomes a dogmatic fanatic, irrational opinion makers, and the other a tolerant human beings able of self-reflection, self-criticism, capable of questioning and weighing everything on some universal values of humanity and justice. this very difference make people like you come here and mercilessly talk down about ahmedies and their conspiracies in the day of this mayhem and it enables people like to never lose sight of humanity.
for when humanity is the ultimate value one is saved from the steely clenches of dogma and blinding rage of ego. cause when one is free of dogma one can be honest to see facts in a balanced way, assume responsibility for failures, be willing to give what he demands, and be courageous to be fair and just.
and in coming days the battle would be between people like you and people like us. cause the divide is growing and our battle is between precedence of humanity over dogma, the battle between islam and freedom and peace.
we will see who wins this battle but if people like you win, there would be nothing to celebrate cause Pakistan will lay in burnt ashes of dogma, ego, oppressive islamists, and blind intolerance. If people like me win, there will be some hope for a future where the ultimate supermacy is of a human life cause for this very value all religions were sent and all prophets toiled their lives away.
The war has just begun!!!!!
Check this picture.
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/7606/107663069.jp g
Terror in Lahore
Dawn Editorial
Saturday, 29 May, 2010
If television crews can reach the scene of an attack before police reinforcements, what does that say about the administration’s state of preparedness? –
Yet another attack in Lahore has killed scores of people and left over 100 injured. Poor security has plagued the city for a couple of years now. The same grim questions arise. Why were the attackers able to enter the premises so easily, especially at sites known to be targets? The Ahmadi community was commemorating the death anniversary of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad earlier this week, so surely more security was warranted for houses of prayer. More generally, reports from Lahore suggest that banners denouncing religions other than Islam had appeared in parts of the city recently. This should have in any case put the authorities on a heightened state of alert.
What have the Punjab police done to improve their operation procedures to respond to an attack? Yesterday, angry scenes at the assault sites were reminiscent of previous attacks in Lahore — ordinary, helpless people unable to understand why they the victims were left at the mercy of militants. If television crews can reach the scene of an attack before police reinforcements, what does that say about the administration’s state of preparedness?
There have been wholesale changes, summary dismissals and major reshuffles in most other departments of the Punjab government. But the police seem immune, despite their poor track record. Simply dismissing or suspending officers is obviously not enough, and in any case due process needs to be followed. The real question is: why this lax attitude towards the one department, the police, that is responsible for protecting the lives and property of the citizens of Lahore?
Finally, why is it that nothing ever seems to come of the arrests made, of the gunmen themselves but also their accomplices? Convictions secured in anti-terrorism courts are often overturned on appeal by the superior judiciary. Sometimes it’s the evidence that isn’t collected with care, other times statements are recorded improperly. Surely, the Punjab government — though this isn’t a problem confined to just this province — needs to at least provide some justice and closure to the victims and their families. Anyway you look at it, it’s a wretched picture, past, present and future.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-l ibrary/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/21-terror-in-l ahore-950-sk-08
Taliban claim responsibility for Lahore attacks Staff Report Sunday, May 30, 2010
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010 5\30\story_30-5-2010_pg1_3
PESHAWAR: The Taliban on Saturday claimed responsibility for attacks on Ahmedis’ prayer facilities in Lahore that left over 90 people dead on Friday.
“Congratulations to the whole nation on what the brave mujahideen did yesterday in Garhi Shahu and Model Town, Lahore,” Taliban spokesman Muhammad Omar said in a statement. He said, “On the whole, we do like to encourage the nation for increasing such activities, like targeted killings of qadianis, shias, the political parties that support them, as well as law enforcement agencies, the Pakistan Army and other racist parties.” He also warned the Muttahida Qaumi Movement of attacks, calling it a “terrorist wing of qadianis and Jews”. “They are responsible for destruction of the country and the nation. We are encouraging assassination attacks on everyone who is with the MQM,” the Taliban statement said.