Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: April 4, 2011
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/328926/Wages-of-Pakistan's-sins.html
Jihadis now target their patrons
Given Pakistan's recent track record in assassinations,
suicide bombings and deadly shootings, there is little news on these lines
that, sadly, still manages to elicit a sense of shock or even surprise. Already
the world has seen Pakistani politicians - from the powerful Governor of Punjab
Salman Taseer to the inconsequential Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz
Bhatti - being assassinated for their less-than radical views. Nobody was
taken aback when the average Pakistani cheered Taseer's cold-blooded murder.
Nor was anybody amazed when the Government of Pakistan shied away from unequivocally
condeming the killing of Shahbaz Bhatti, whose funeral saw few prominent Pakistanis
turning up for the last prayers. That's today's Pakistan where few seem to
be worried about their country's free fall into chaos, disorder and jihadi
violence. The so-called civilian Government is weak. Funded and armed by America,
the military runs the show from the shadows while a deeply entrenched terror
network functions completely outside the pale of the law, such as it exists.
Reports of suicide bombings have become so commonplace that they barely qualify
as being newsworthy. Given this stark reality, it is only natural that last
week's repeated attempts to assassinate the ultra-conservative hardline leader
of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam should have gone largely unnoticed and unreported.
On March 30, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a political rally organised
by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam where its chief, Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, was to
address the gathering. The maulana escaped unhurt but at least 10 people were
killed. The next day another suicide bomber targetted his motorcade and killed
13 people. The attacks point to the terrifying heights that radical Islamism
has scaled in Pakistan.
There is little doubt that Maulana Rehman
was attacked because on March 5 he told the National Assembly that he was
open to discussing the "perceived misuse" of Pakistan's draconian
anti-blasphemy laws. Unlike Taseer or Bhatti, Maulana Rehman is by no means
a vocal opponent of these laws. Yet his comments are considered blasphemous
enough to warrant his assassination. Diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks
that have revealed that the staunchly pro-Taliban maulana was willing to share
information about the militants in exchange for greater political clout has
only complicated matters. A popular figure in his constituency in Balochistan
and equally influential in neighbouring Waziristan - both Taliban hotbeds
- the revelations have angered Maulana Rehman's radical supporters and now
threaten his life. So, forget about minorities and liberals in Pakistan, now
even the fundamentalists are not safe in that country. Such are the wages
of Pakistan's sins.
