Raza Rumi’s commendable article on Shia genocide
Editor’s note: LUBP has in the past criticized Mr. Raza Rumi’s previous articles and statements in which Shia genocide at the hands of State-sponsored Jihadi-sectarian Deobandi militants was, perhaps inadvertently, reported as Sunni-Shia sectarian or Hazara specific ethnic violence. However, in his recent op-ed in Express Tribune, Mr. Rumi has offered an honest, accurate analysis of Shia massacres in the country, describing them as nothing less than a genocide unfolding before us. We commend Mr. Rumi on his bold stance and hope his article will also encourage other Pakistani columnists and anchors to break their silence on Shia genocide at the hands of Takfiri Deobandi terrorists in Pakistan who are also killing Sunni Barelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus and modeate Deobandis. We are cross-posting his column with thanks to ET
Two days after Pakistan’s powerful army chief made some startling observations in his address to the Pakistan Military Academy, the militants attacked a key strategic installation — the Kamra airbase. That the attack took place on the revered night of 27th of Ramazan is not without symbolism. For the brand of ‘Islam’ practised by the militants of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) violence precedes other imperatives of faith. General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani took a bold public position in his address by saying: “Any person who believes his opinion to be the final verdict, is an extremist…. A human claim to be the final word in judging right from wrong, is tantamount to a claim to divine attributes”.
The lethal by-products of our strategic ‘games’ — the TTP — are not amenable to such a worldview. In Kamra, they battled the military for more than five hours. The foreign media highlighted the nebulous connection between the airbase and the country’s nuclear assets; but both the Pakistani and American authorities later affirmed that Pakistan’s nuclear programme was safe.
Much has been said about the impending operation by the Pakistani military in North Waziristan. The attack on Kamra has been construed as a reaction to the military’s resolve to clean up North Waziristan ostensibly under mounting US pressure. But there is a need to pause and re-read what General Kayani told his colleagues on Independence Day: “The war against extremism and terrorism is not only the army’s war, but that of the whole nation. We as a nation must stand united against this threat. The army’s success is dependent on the will and support of the people”. While an admission by Pakistan’s most powerful official of the ‘threat’ is welcome on the day when we celebrate our nationhood and Islamic republic status, perhaps it might be coming a bit late in the day.
For the past decade — and this is a long-term period — our domestic policy discourse has been the opposite. While hundreds of army soldiers have been killed by militants and thousands of civilians killed in terror attacks across the country, we continue to say that this is not our war. Public opinion constructed by the vernacular press, the religious lobbies and even the political parties has been critical of the overstated threat that General Kayani has clearly articulated. Pakistan’s strategy of ‘measured’ support to the US and Nato involvement in Afghanistan and drumming up of anti-Americanism has been counterproductive. A more creative approach could have been to oppose US excesses but not deny the home-grown militant outfits and arrest their direct and indirect patronage.
A recent (local) poll, notwithstanding its methodological limitations, says that 49 per cent of Pakistanis consider America an enemy while 26 per cent think India is the enemy. Slowly, the tables have turned since we constructed our faux identity as ‘not Indian’. This healthy view of the subcontinent by Pakistanis comes as a refreshing development but creates a bigger dilemma. The global construction of US as an enemy of Muslims by al Qaeda is gaining traction especially in the urban middle classes, the youth (which are the biggest segment of our population). Where would this lead us? By no means we should continue our policy to be US’s chief lackey in the region or be dependent on the civil-military handouts, but is drumming up hysteria against a global power a wise approach in our own interest?
Such has been the level of indoctrination that many Pakistanis are unwilling to accept that Muslims can kill Muslims or that we have internal enemies. The first reaction of otherwise sensible people to a terror attack is that Blackwater and other US contractors have hired the assassins killing Pakistanis. The material evidence on the other hand negates this impression. But no one wishes to hear ‘facts’ as they challenge the ideological fortress of denial that we have built around us. The perennial fear of India has been replaced by the US machinations to destroy us by taking our nukes out. The attackers of GHQ, PNS Mehran and Kamra were not American, Indian or Israeli agents but jihadists ostensibly working in league with radical elements within the state.
Perhaps the most dangerous kind of militancy concerns the growth and consolidation of the anti-Shia extremist groups, which reportedly are in league with the TTP. A few hours after the Kamra incident, two separate incidents of killings of Shias took place. One attack happened in Naran where at least 20 Shia passengers were dragged out of buses and killed on the spot. In Quetta, on the same day, three Hazara Shias were also killed. These are not stand-alone attacks. In recent years, hundreds of Shias have been killed and the murderers remain at large, too powerful to be nabbed by the executive or the judiciary. The chilling video circulated after the Naran incident showed terrorists chanting “Shia Kafir,” as if this were a horrific bloodletting ritual. This is nothing but genocide unfolding before us.
The latest Pew poll indicates that nearly half the Sunni population thinks that Shias are not Muslim. The accuracy of this poll is debatable, but even if the numbers were lower, the Wahabisation project initiated by General Ziaul Haq is now becoming an existential danger. And this radicalisation has not been imposed by anyone, despite the Saudi influence, but a cynical and disastrous choice by Pakistan’s military junta in the 1980s and later. Political parties will need another decade of hard core reform consensus to fix the education system and other drivers of extremist ideology.
Is it the case that Pakistan’s strategic assets of yore are no longer under the control of the state? Or General Kayani’s policy statement is still a top-level diplomatic pronouncement not filtering down to the ranks of intelligence agencies, which have disastrously nurtured the jihadi groups and turned them into our mortal liabilities? The civilian governments — federal and provincial — appear to be clueless and devoid of the political will to counter these trends. Pakistan’s political elites will have to work together to reverse the state patronage to extremists and their networks.
If we have to resist US ‘hegemony’ or the Indian influence in the region, it will not be done through oiling the jihad industry, sloganeering, media twists, and Friday rallies. For Pakistan’s sovereignty, substantial strides have to be made. By reforming our taxation structure, creating jobs, undertaking a massive education reform and building trade ties with the regional powers we could perhaps move towards becoming a strong ‘nation’. Before everything, we need to reset the narrative and explore what ails us. In the absence of such reflection and policy debate, Pakistan’s future remains murky and uncertain.
Video: Shia massacre in Chilas: Are you watching General Kayani?
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Thank you, Raza Rumi, for saying it loud and clear. God bless you.
Great post. Will Nadeem Paracha, Najam Sethi etc care to write on this topic please?
Instead of Mr Rumi, I would give Let Us Build Pakistan and Pakistan Blogzine credit for keeping the issue, the very nomenclature, of Shia Genocide alive on social media despite the taunts of Mr Rumi and his friends. But then it is also commendable that Mr Rumi has finally seen the wisdom of PB and LUBP’s narrative and is using his prominent position to further highlight it.
Some groups involved in Shia Genocide for VOTES,MONEY,POWER,CONTROL Some Condemn it for VOTES,MONEY,POWER,CONTROL and there are some who play on both sides for VOTES,MONEY,POWER,CONTROL.
Action must speak louder than words.
Stop the genocide
By Raza Rumi
Published: February 21, 2013
The writer is Director, Policy & Programmes Jinnah Institute, Islamabad. The views expressed are his own
After five years of inaction, and pursuing a play-it-safe policy, it seems that the civilian government has woken up to the horrific Shia genocide taking place in the country — be it professionals in Karachi and Lahore, young children, or the beleaguered, ghettoised Hazara community of Quetta. It is a measure of the unbecoming state of governance in the country that short of invoking every conspiracy theory under the land, the politicians and the unelected institutions have been scared even to name the militant groups involved.
A children’s library in Islamabad boasts a violent madrassa and it is supported by various organs of the state, but when it comes to pandering to militant forces, everyone unites in their cowardice. Similarly, a water tanker meant to fill in the gap for crumbling service delivery structures, is used as a vehicle to massacre an endangered minority.
Discourses to obfuscate the reality are found aplenty. It is said that foreign agencies want to destabilise Pakistan, or that Iran is fighting a proxy battle. Others say that Pakistan’s joining the US in the war of terror that has landed us into an abysmal state of violence and fear. Despite such conspiracy theories, should we not ask ourselves why we have allowed groups such as the SSP, LeJ and their new avatar, the ASWJ to operate with near complete abandon? Is it not a fact that the Supreme Court of Pakistan freed the head of the LeJ? Is it not a fact that the Punjab government was providing a stipend to the family of an accused? Is it not a fact that all witnesses against Malik Ishaq have been killed with police and intelligence agencies watching, in complicit silence? Is it not a fact that we nurture proxies to pursue our regional ambitions of controlling Afghanistan and liberating Kashmir?
What is even more worrying is how notionally banned sectarian outfits have entered into official partnerships with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and al Qaeda. There is incontrovertible evidence to suggest that the Afghan and Pakistan Taliban are branches of the same movement, working under the broad banner of al Qaeda’s worldview. With thousands of soldiers lost in a war against the Taliban and al Qaeda, what prevents it from taking a clear policy position on these issues? How can we even become a regional power if we are not able to protect our citizens, create a secure environment for businesses to operate and ensure that basic rights of citizens are guaranteed?
Perhaps, there are no simple answers. The civil-military imbalance in Pakistan means that policy and strategic decision making is deeply split. There is a constitutionally legitimate government and an opposition, but they have little control over foreign and security policies. The military continues to pursue its ‘strategic’ goals, apparently with little input from society at large. If the top military leadership has identified the enemy within, then why is the all powerful intelligence apparatus not tracking down the activities, linkages and plans of the militant groups, purportedly in alliance with the “enemy”?
I can understand the anguish of the Hazara community in seeking protection from the army and wanting the city of Quetta to be controlled by them. In the absence of civilian law enforcement, what else can a group of people ask for? Army rule can only be a short-term solution. Unfortunately, it has never solved anything for Pakistan, except causing dissension and every military rule has left a bigger mess for ineffectual civilians to clean up.
In the present scenario, the parliamentary committees must summon the intelligence agencies and question their (lack of) effectiveness in preventing Shia massacres across the country. An operation that has been announced in Quetta must be taken to its logical conclusion. It cannot be limited to Balochistan, because the bases of sectarian outfits are located in Punjab. In the larger national interest, the PML-N will have to think beyond its forthcoming electoral gains and sacrifice a number of seats to enable an effective crackdown against the militants.
The PPP must not be on the back foot, for it has everything to lose if it abandons Shias, minorities and its other supporters. It must enter into an immediate dialogue with the Punjab government and the PML-N to put into place a medium-term plan for tackling sectarian killings. The civilians can no longer let the mayhem continue. By acting as silent spectators of death sport, they are going to ruin their long-term prospects of legitimacy. And if the civilians think they cannot control the khakis, then it is time for some honest confessions and they should take the people into confidence about how they are not in charge.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2013.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/510081/stop-the-genocide/