Pakistan's Shia Genocide: They meet murder, again

In case anyone laboured under the impression that the constant targeting of Shias – more than 400 were killed in various attacks last year – would cease in the new year they have quickly had their delusions punctured. Following the January 1 attack on a bus carrying pilgrims from the Baloch town of Taftan, yet another bus, this time coming from Iran, was targeted on Tuesday in Mastung. The death toll as these lines are written is 24 and many of the dead are reported to be Hazara – a community struck over and over again. According to reports, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has claimed responsibility. However, such details are irrelevant. We have witnessed yet another sectarian attack. One more act of hatred. The usual condemnations have poured in, from the prime minister, the president and others. Protests have been announced, shock expressed. But where will all this take us? The one thing which should be stressed after this attack is that it would be counterproductive to try and separate it from other militant attacks in the country, be it on anti-polio workers or military targets. The groups may have different names but they operate under the same ideology. Anyone who does not subscribe to their extremely narrow and twisted definition of religion is liable to be killed. Any possible solution to the militant problem, whether through negotiations or military action, must take into account that all these groups will have to be tackled. No negotiated settlement worth its salt will be able to exclude any militant organisation. At the same time, military action must be comprehensive enough to bring everyone into its ambit.

The particular problem with the anti-Shia groups operating in Balochistan is that they are mostly imports from Punjab. They made their bones first taking part in the war in Kashmir and attacking Shias in Punjab and later made their way to Balochistan. We all know what these groups are. The question is why the state is so helpless before them. Even after a spree of violence that has left scores dead within days the state and government seems undecided on how to act. The PML-N government is thought by many to lack credibility in taking on these sectarian groups because the party is perceived to have relied on such groups for support both in the Ziaul Haq era and during the 1990s. Even before the May general elections there were reports that the PML-N was seeking alliances with such groups. Additionally, the Punjab-centric PML-N has less motivation to go after militant outfits now operating in Balochistan and other provinces because its own province has been relatively free of the kind of violence tormenting the rest of the country. In fact, during the tenure of the PPP government, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif once got himself into hot water for asking the Taliban to spare his province since the PML-N weren’t responsible for the military action against them. Now the party has to have a national outlook and take attacks in Balochistan as seriously as those in its own backyard. Excuse-making and apologies for such violence were never acceptable and they are even more shameful now. Urgent action is needed. Whether we opt for some strategy of negotiation or for other means, the killings must stop. They have shattered our society. How this is to be done is now the key challenge for the government.