No to extremism: Citizens protest against imambargah bombing

LAHORE:

Civil society members on Sunday staged a protest demonstration at Liberty Roundabout against the bombing of an imambargah in Shikarpur.

The protesters carried placards with messages ‘Stop Sectarian Violence, Stop Shia Genocide’ and ‘Regulate Religious Establishment’. They chanted slogans against terrorism.

A vigil was also arranged for the bombing victims.

Rights activist Khawar Mehmood Khatana told the protesters that terrorism was the result of the country’s Afghan policy in the 1980s.

“It is time to make an effective policy against terrorism.” He said the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had a confused stance against the Taliban. He said military courts were need of the hour.

Ahsan Javeed, one of the protesters, said such protests would not bring about any immediate change but these reflected the efforts that civil society gad been making for the purpose.

South Asia Partnership Pakistan national manager Shabnam Bashir said Shia genocide must stop. She said the government should show a serious resolve against anti-state elements.

“It is time to root out extremism from the country instead of putting the onus for the current situation on others.”

Bashir called for regulating madrassahs. Police had made stringent security arrangements for the demonstration.

Seminar

The consensus on military courts by political parties is important for the fight against terrorism, speakers at a discussion on the 21st Amendment said on Sunday.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Muhammad Mehdi had organised the discussion.

Salman Abid, the Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO) regional head, said that the military needed popular support to fight the war against terrorism. “The political leadership has to stand behind the military. There should be a citizens’ consensus about this war,” he said.

“Extremism leads to terrorism. Political parties apparently are not serious in countering extremism,” he said.

Journalist Wajahat Masood said that the army needed political support to eliminate terrorism. “It seems several political parties only supported the establishment of the military courts in official meetings with the military leadership. Later, they started expressing their reservations. The courts have not started functioning yet as well,” he said.

Columnist Ataur Rehman said that it had to be accepted that it was Pakistan and America’s joint war. “Intelligence-sharing needs to be improved to eliminate terrorism from the country. Those who planned the attack on former president Pervez Musharraf have been hanged. In another case, the Supreme Court had stated that those convicted of planing a murder could only be hanged if they confessed to their crime or the intended target was hurt in the attack,” he said.

Journalists Gohar Butt, Salman Ghani, Sajid Mir and Khalid Farooqi also spoke at the discussion.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2rd, 2015.