The WAF resolves to continue its struggle against all forms of violence, especially that which targets women
KARACHI: The Women’s Action Forum (WAF), Karachi, is bereaved by the deaths of members of the legal community and journalists who were killed in the bombing in Quetta. Our grief extends to the families of all those who were targeted. As members of the women’s movement, we ask the government the following questions: 1) How does a province where there are layers and layers of security become so vulnerable that not only is the president of the bar killed in a targeted attack, but the hospital where he is rushed to, is bombed as well? 2) Why has the head of a banned militant group, who has sworn to eradicate the Hazara community, been released from detention and how does the Quetta Shura operate with such impunity? 3) Why is it so easy to suppress dissent by students, academics and intellectuals but not by hate-mongering, murderous groups? 4) When the Hazara community was going through systematic persecution, why was that not taken as an indication that mass murders would follow? 5) Is there no normative security apparatus left in Pakistan? The security establishment must carry out an internal reckoning regarding its own role in the history of conflict within Pakistan. A political resolution by the political leadership is needed to secure the lives of our citizens.
The WAF stands in solidarity with the families of those murdered in Quetta, as well as those who have been victims of neglectful policies of the state. The WAF resolves to continue its struggle against all forms of violence, especially that which targets women and the marginalised, and vows to build solidarity and seek justice for them.
Women’s Action Forum
Published in The Express Tribune, August 11th, 2016.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
