Adil Najam
(Editor’s note: Beware, the pictures here may be graphic and disturbing for some readers. Although, no more disturbing than the reality of murder and inhumanity that they depict.)
It was just weeks ago that we were humming along with Arif Lohar about selling wangaaN (bangles) at Data Sahib (the shrine of Data Ganj Bakhsh Hajveri) in Lahore. Today, brutal murderers ruthlessly butchered at least 40 innocent Pakistanis and injured another 170 in a heinous and dastardly suicide attack on Data Durbar that specifically targeted the vulnerable, the poor, the religious, the helpless in their ongoing war against Pakistan. This is one more in a string of attacks in and around Lahore which seem to have picked up just as momentum gathers for an operation against militants and extremists in the Punjab in the aftermath of the attack on Ahmedi worshipers in Lahore.
That Lahore’s single most iconic and revered location has been attacked – and on a jumaraat, which many consider to be sacred – reeks with symbolism and speaks volumes about the depth of hatred that these murderers have for all things Pakistan. Yes, I take this personally. Just as I have taken every murder of innocent Pakistanis anywhere in Pakistan, personally. Anyone who loves Lahore cannot hear of this and not have a shiver go down the spine; as it went mine. But that shiver is now a nearly daily occurrence. Whatever the symbolism of Data Sahib may be, it is paled by the outrage at the murder – yet again – of innocent people: the begunah, the masoom!
I would like to find the words to express that outrage, to express what Data Darbar means to so many, to describe the pain that pounds me once again as it has each time these murderers have hit Pakistanis anywhere. I would like to do that but – quite literally – my hands are trembling, my eyes have swelled up, and that shiver up my spine has gripped my entire body. Maybe later I will find the words to say what I need to say, but right now I ponder only on the darkness that resides in the hearts of the men who commit these acts, those who plan them, and those who choose to justify them.
For now, all I can do is to give you the essential details, as reported in Dawn:
LAHORE: In the first terrorist attack of its kind in the Punjab capital, two alleged suicide bombers blew themselves up at the Data Ganj Bakhsh shrine on Thursday night, killing at least 40 people and injuring 170 others. The first explosion took place in the basement reserved for ablution and the second in front of the shrine’s main building where a large number of people from across the province gather for worship on Thursdays.
At first, police announced that some crackers had exploded near the shrine. The two bombers entered the shrine and exploded themselves three minutes apart. Surveillance cameras, walkthrough gates and metal detectors turned out to be ineffective. Around 100 volunteers and several policemen were present in and around the shrine, searching visitors thoroughly.
Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Chaudhry Shafiq Ahmad told Dawn that two suicide attacks had been carried out and investigators had found the bombers’ skulls and limbs. He said ball-bearings and other material used in the blasts had also been collected. Lahore Commissioner Khusro Pervaiz Bakhtiar told journalists at the spot that the bombers had blown themselves up during a large congregation. In reply to a question about involvement of a foreign hand in the attack, he said the strike was a horrible conspiracy but “our own people become instruments in the hands of othersâ€.
The official said an investigation had been launched about the breach in security measures. According to witnesses, the explosions were so powerful that a large number of people fell down and several of them were injured in a stampede. The shrine’s administration announced seconds after the first blast that a generator had exploded in the basement and they might continue their activities. The bomb disposal squad estimated that 10-15kgs of explosives had been used in each suicide jacket.
Ambulances of Rescue 1122 and the Edhi Foundation took the bodies and injured people to hospitals. According to a devotee, two gates on the north and south side of the shrine, which usually remain closed, were open on Thursday. He suspected that the bombers had entered through those gates. Scores of enraged people gathered outside the shrine and protested against terror attacks. They also damaged public and private property. There were reports that a cracker was exploded before the suicide blasts to create a panic.
Police evacuated Data Darbar to collect evidence and carry out rescue work. All commercial and residential buildings adjoining the shrine were also searched for suspects. Following the blasts, an extensive crackdown was launched across the city and several people were detained for interrogation. A suspect was also taken into custody near the Darbar. Rumours of terror attacks on other shrines in the city panicked devotees and police also launched a search operation there. Security was beefed up in and around all shrines and religious places.
Good thing that Pakistanis are dying. More Pakistanis die the better for the world
oh yes.. THOSE terrorists who are against pakistani policies should be taught a lesson..
THOSE who try to become more than a “strategic asset” should be eliminated..
THOSE “actors” who have define kufar and muslims in a “non-state” way should be taken off the stage..
only THOSE !!!
otherwise all terrorists are not bad… please don’t give up the hypocrisy on which we have built our country all along .. don’t cut at the roots.. instead reinforce the “foundation” even further !!! nothing stands without a foundation …
if you cut at the roots of our country .. there will be nothing left.. only hatred and hypocrisy can help us keep going.. we only need to CHANNELIZE and better organize it.. let all this bloodshed only be a lesson on how to “tame” the good terrorists..
The heart of Lahore has been attacked. An ISLAMIC center used for PEACEFUL worship has been attacked. A place where hungry and homeless people would stop by for help and sustenance. I have myself shared a few morsels there by breaking bread with the spirtually (and physically) hungry. It’s almost as if someone is trying to make a point of being utterly heartless, barbaric and callous.
Usually I am not shaken so much that I would not offer some analysis of what might be the underlying cause. But the two recent attacks in Lahore only about a month apart in peaceful places of worship have left me speechless. What makes it more painful personally is that I have received news of casualties among close relatives; and that I have worshipped at all three of these mosques — at Datta Darbar, near which I once lived; as well as Daruz Zikar and Baitun Noor, the Ahmadi mosques that were bombed late May.
Please call for all mosques to be protected by police presence, and major “soft targets” with military and comando presence as well, even if it means that every worshipper has to go through metal detectors, or some form of security system.
Let’s pray for the souls of the departed and for strength to the bereaved families. Pakistan is going through a very deep crisis that might undo its creation. We need to band together and stay united – all sects, colours, castes, provinces, faiths, we are all the same.
On the one hand, it was refreshing to see your piece paying tributes to a Pakistani tennis player team up with an Indian one, here we are now when we can’t get along even with our own brethren and are killing our own national spirit. Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Ilaihi Raji’oon.
Do we need any more reasons to completely shut down all seminaries and reverse the hideous process that Zia started? Data Darbar is the heart of Lahore and symbolizes the centuries old culture of the subcontinent. The creatures who planned this attack surely are not looking for support from the common man in Pakistan. Who is it that supports them?
I have decided not to do this in the future, but if you read comments posted by those outside Pakistan on websites like Yahoo and even PBS, they blame the victims–the Pakistani people themselves–for all this chaos. Nay, many of them gloat at innocent deaths and jeer at our pain. We are alone in this, and we must rely on ourselves to root out this satanic evil.
Dear Adil,
Like everyone who has written and commented, it is hard to express the outrage…attack on mosques, places of worship, murder of innocents and innocence…is a complete negation of all ethical norms in all religons, ideologies and ways of being.
Being from Lahore, having a lot of attachment to the Data Darbar, and having spent thursday nights there sometimes also…the reaction was similar to one you described. And it was difficult not to cry…for all the people killed and for what we have let ourselves be.
To do it at Data sb. has a few other angles to it too. It is a place where a lot of needy gather looking for succour. To target a place like that…is odious beyond belief.
But there is a political side to it too. If you wanted to shake up people in Punjab, one way or the other, you could not choose a more symbolic site. Even if the CM house was attacked…it would not mean the same thing for most Lahoris, Punjabis and Pakistanis….it was Data darbar….need one say more. So, a message is being sent. This war now surely needs to be won…and if we continue to think it is our neighbour who is being affected and not us….it will soon be the time when as Maurice Ogden said
“Beneath the beam that blocked the sky
none before stood so alone as I.
The Hangman then strapped me…with no voice there
to cry “Stay!” … for me in the empty square.”
The last few lines of The Hangman
Allah give us all strength to rise up and do what is needed.
Faisal