Shikarpur carnage: HRCP urges state apparatus to ‘get its act together’

Commission stresses need to implement strategies to prevent terrorist attacks


Press Release February 03, 2015
The commission stressed the need to formulate and effectively implement better strategies to prevent terrorist attacks. PHOTO: AFP

LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) exhorted the government, law enforcement agencies and the intelligence apparatus on Tuesday to get their act together instead of passing the buck regarding the Shikarpur carnage.

“In the wake of the dastardly attack on the imambargah in Shikarpur probe deeper than who visited the area. It is pertinent to question whether those who kill people will be brought to justice or stopped from striking again,” the commission said in a statement released on Tuesday.

The HRCP said wishing that the massacre had not taken place or moving resolutions against the carnage was futile. The commission said this would do nothing to prevent further terrorist attacks or lessen the pain of bereaved families.

The HRCP said providing aircraft to airlift critical victims to ensure the provision of quality healthcare was important but its importance was relegated to the background in the larger scheme of things. The commission stressed the need to formulate and effectively implement better strategies to prevent terrorist attacks rather than making the transportation of those injured in acts of terror efficient.

The HRCP said the consistent failure of the government to nab those guilty of perpetrating terrorist attacks had aggravated the grievances of the people.

The commission said public sentiment was against terrorism in all its forms and recent actions against anti-state elements had popular support. The HRCP said it was yet to be seen how popular support with regard to this was utilised. The commission said nabbing those responsible for perpetrating terrorist attacks would be the ideal line of action to follow with a commitment to live up to rhetoric that one got see in the wake of every terrorist attack.

The HRCP said it was imperative for the people to be informed regarding what had become of the National Action Plan and if someone had been tasked with ensuring its effective implementation.

The commission said the Shikarpur carnage was a failure of policing, the security agencies and the intelligence apparatus.

The HRCP said political point scoring and scapegoating people was not going to help in any way. The commission said the time was ripe to present a precise vision to deal with this onslaught and specify a deadline to ensure its implementation.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4th, 2015. 

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