The Pakistani Spectator

The terrorist targeting of the 10th Muharram procession in Karachi somehow was not unexpected despite the horror that it created - with over 40 innocent mourners and security personnel dying and many more injured. A day earlier there had been a less intense attack on a mourners’ procession, and a similar more devastating act of terror had targeted a Muharram procession in Azad Jammu and Kashmir on the 9th of Muharram. So targeting the 10th Muharram procession where it is perhaps at its largest in the country, that is in Karachi, was not totally unexpected. Could it have been prevented? It hardly seems likely, given the ground realities with thousands of mourners, alams, tazias, zuljannah, matamis, and so on, swelling the crowds as the procession moved along its way. And this is not a procession that simply moves in an orderly fashion - people break into it to touch and pray at the various symbols commemorating the Karbala martyrdoms - so complete security can never happen. The only way to ensure total security is to have a citizenry that is committed to the spirit of the religion it professes to believe in.

Yet, the shame of it is that we call ourselves the “Islamic Republic of Pakistan”, but in truth every time Muslims observe their faith, be it in mosques or processions, they fall prey to acts of terrorism by one of their own. It is simply not enough to find links outside - yes, our enemies outside including our hostile neighbour to the east, have and continue to fund terrorism in Pakistan - but it is our own people who provide them the opportunity and the recruits to carry out their murderous designs. That Muslims can be used against fellow Muslims, especially on deeply religious occasions or in our places of worship, does not speak well of our commitment to our faith and its central pillar of humanity and tolerance. There are vacuums within our polity which are exploited by external forces - both from within the neighbourhood and extra regional powers now having a major presence in this region and within Pakistan - especially our so-called ally in the misguided War on Terror.

Another disturbing fact is Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s knee-jerk reaction almost immediately after the 10th Muharram blasts, declaring that “religious extremists” were responsible for the attack on the mourners’ procession. If ever there was a catalyst for rioting, this was it - given the already-charged and highly distraught Shia mourners.

The vacuums in our polity have meant that the sectarian divides have always been exploited. After all, the whole issue of sectarian terrorism took root in Pakistan from foreign seeds. While sectarian violence was present in the country, it took on a more devastating nature when it altered qualitatively as Pakistan became a proxy battleground for powerful “brotherly” Muslim states. But this was receding as the funding was drying up when 9/11 happened. For almost five years, Pakistan has seen no major sectarian attack after the one in Quetta in March 2004 which was not a suicide attack.

Another factor that should be given serious consideration is the suicide attack on the 9th Muharram procession in Muzaffarabad. This was a first for Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), which has not seen such sectarian violence before. Even in terms of suicide attacks, this was the second that occurred in AJK, the first being the attack against a Pakistan army truck which killed two soldiers, which itself was unusual given how in AJK the army is clearly seen as confronting Indian occupation forces across the LOC.

The tragedy of the 10th Muharram Karachi act of terrorism was compounded by the anger and fury that followed the tragedy which led to arson and destruction of hundreds of shops owned by small traders supporting extended families. The markets that were burnt to cinders also included the cloth market from where export took place. The question here is, how were these fires started so quickly - barely minutes after the terror attack - and so effectively? People were still running helter skelter amidst the huge and now-chaotic crowd, and ambulances were taking the dead and injured away, so who were these people who immediately were able to give organised vent to their anger and set the markets ablaze? Who had come prepared for such an eventuality to begin with? These are questions that need to be examined.

Ironically, at a time when national healing is the need of the hour, our political leadership is busy displaying its parochial and non-statesmanlike credentials. President Zardari’s speech at Garhi Khuda Baksh was full of vitriol, accusations, hysteria and a general display of absurdity unbecoming of a president. Instead of offering succour to a disturbed nation, hit by terrorism and spiralling prices as well as shortages of fuel and food, he lashed out in all directions in a display of political insecurity and fear. The worst was that after seeing enemies all around him, his apologists were busy denying that he was targeting anyone but the “anti-Bhutto forces”. Now, this was a little absurd in the context of Iraq and Afghanistan where there are no Bhutto or anti-Bhutto forces but only the American occupiers and the locals fighting them! The point being that if he has criticised the US and the Pakistan military (of which he is, incidentally, the commander in chief), he should have the courage to stick to his stance instead of getting his apologists to try and do the undoable - damage control when there was no confusion over what had been said in the first place!

With this brand of leadership, and sycophancy and cronyism at its peak, the nation remains rudderless - susceptible to all kinds of external interventions and exploitations. The sectarian divide has been exacerbated; the ethnic/provincial card has already been put in play; state institutions are being pitted one against the other in the vain hope of benefiting the holders of power but to the certain detriment of the country; and the head of state is seeing shadows threatening him from all sides but is unable to realise and rectify his own shortcomings. Was all this a part of the US-brokered NRO also, or is this simply the playing out of the ineptitude of the rulers? As the nation continues down the path of death and deprivation, the state remains in disarray - vulnerable to exploitation by all its detractors.