Tragedy Again in Pakistan
January 5, 1999 - 0:0
In Pakistan, bloodshed due to ethnic, sectarian and religious clashes is not something new. And, again, yesterday it was reported that 16 people were killed and 25 injured because an insane person surely such a person is nothing but insane opened fire on a congregation in a mosque, near the central Pakistani city of Multan. Those 16 people who lost their lives and the other 25 injured were human beings in the first place, created by the Almighty God. And besides that, they were Muslims no matter Shia or Sunni. One of the basic objectives of the Islamic Revolution was and still is to support the oppressed no matter which religion or belief they adhere to.
This tragedy occurred while Pakistani Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmad was in Tehran with a message from Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif to President Seyed Mohammad Khatami. During his meeting with Shamshad Ahmad, Khatami in a very clear wording denounced the terrorism surfacing in the region because of radical and extremist elements, who have been trained in Afghanistan to create havoc here and there.
These extremists and radicals are a potential danger to the stability and security in Pakistan as well besides other countries in the region or elsewhere. And, unfortunately, such acts of terrorism are conducted in the name of Islam. It is the utmost duty of Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism and also the terrorism fostered inside that country. To achieve this end, the Pakistani government has to tame Taleban. In fact a footage shown yesterday by the BBC in which the family members of the victim were crying desperately hurt all those whose conscience is still alive.
Surely the Almighty has damned those insane and irrational criminals who kill others just because they have different beliefs. Surprisingly, according to the BBC, no arrests had been made in connection with the recent killings by the time this paper went to the press. If the culprits continue to remain at large, as witnessed in some previous cases, it will be a fiasco for the government of Mian Sahab, who came into power a second time on a platform of enforcing law and order.
It is very unfortunate that some 662 individuals fell victim to sectarian violence in Punjab, home province of Mian Nawaz Sharif, in the year 1998 alone.
This tragedy occurred while Pakistani Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmad was in Tehran with a message from Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif to President Seyed Mohammad Khatami. During his meeting with Shamshad Ahmad, Khatami in a very clear wording denounced the terrorism surfacing in the region because of radical and extremist elements, who have been trained in Afghanistan to create havoc here and there.
These extremists and radicals are a potential danger to the stability and security in Pakistan as well besides other countries in the region or elsewhere. And, unfortunately, such acts of terrorism are conducted in the name of Islam. It is the utmost duty of Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism and also the terrorism fostered inside that country. To achieve this end, the Pakistani government has to tame Taleban. In fact a footage shown yesterday by the BBC in which the family members of the victim were crying desperately hurt all those whose conscience is still alive.
Surely the Almighty has damned those insane and irrational criminals who kill others just because they have different beliefs. Surprisingly, according to the BBC, no arrests had been made in connection with the recent killings by the time this paper went to the press. If the culprits continue to remain at large, as witnessed in some previous cases, it will be a fiasco for the government of Mian Sahab, who came into power a second time on a platform of enforcing law and order.
It is very unfortunate that some 662 individuals fell victim to sectarian violence in Punjab, home province of Mian Nawaz Sharif, in the year 1998 alone.