In the following op-ed in Urdu daily Express, veteran columnist Nusrat Javed shames those (Imran Khan, Munawar Hasan, Nawaz Sharif, Hafiz Saeed, Ahmed Ludhianvi, Hakeemullah Mehsud etc) who are issuing statements and/or organizing protests in support of Muslims of Burma (Myanmar) but are silent on (or complicit to) the ongoing genocide of the lesser Muslims of Pakistan, i.e., Shia Muslims.

Nusrat Javed also reminds Ansar Burney (and other human rights activists and civil society leaders) that while visa to Burma may be denied, a visit to Parachinar and Quetta would not require a visa.

Unlike certain other dishonest journalists who circulate ISI-HDP propaganda to misrepresent Shia genocide in Quetta as an ethnic, Hazara specific issue, Nusrat Javed rightly acknowledges that Shias of all ethnic backgrounds (Hazara, Punjabi, Pashtun, Baloch etc) are being killed in Quetta and vicinity.

He also highlights the pro-Jihadist, pro-Salafist tendencies of two TV channels Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya which are quick to broadcast audio- or video-messages of the Taliban, Al Qaeda, Free Syrian Army etc but remain silent not only on the situation in Bumra but also on the persecution of Shia Muslims in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and Shia genocide in Pakistan at the hands of the Taliban, AQ and sister militant organizations (ASWJ,LEJ etc).

Interestingly, not a single time in Nusrat Javed’s article, the word ‘Shia’ has been used (he uses the word “Muslim” in inverted commas) which is consistent with Pakistani State’s and media’s policy of ignoring, suppressing and censoring the faith identity of Pakistan’s Shia Muslims.

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