Kill the sectarian killers: Why can’t Pakistan do the same?
Related article:
Rigi’s execution in Iran: Why can’t Pakistan do this?
Despite our reservations about an authoritarian, theocratic regime in Iran, the country offers a worthy example by punishing rogue elements (sectarian terrorists of Jundullah and Sipah-e-Sahaba) who have crept into Baloch nationalist movement in Iran and Pakistan.
This swift action by the Iranian government (police, army and judiciary) in arresting and punishing those responsible for suicide attacks is a useful example, something which is currently lacking in the state of Pakistan where the ISI is known for its support to jihadi-sectarian groups and the judiciary remains infested with the pro-Jamaat-e-Islami (pro-Taliban) judges.
Here is the news item:
Iran hangs 11 extremist Deobandi/Wahhabi terrorists, urges Pakistan to act
Mon Dec 20, 2010
* Jundollah claimed Dec. 15 suicide bombs that killed 39
* Iran says rebels take refuge over Pakistan border
* Army official says Rev Guards able to deal with themBy Mitra Amiri
TEHRAN, Dec 20 (Reuters) – Iran hanged 11 people linked to the Deobanid/Wahhabi terrorist group that killed 39 people in a mosque bombing, the Justice Ministry said on Monday, and an army official urged Pakistan to root out the “terrorists” across the border.
“The people of Sistan-Baluchestan province, in their continuing campaign against the elements of cruelty and insecurity, hanged 11 people at Zahedan prison,” the ministry said in a statement on the semi-official Fars news agency.
“These corrupt and Mohareb [an enemy of God] elements have been identified and arrested by security and intelligence forces,” Ebrahim Hamidi, the head of the provincial justice department, said.
The Irna news agency quoted him as saying: “The sentence was carried out after receiving confirmation from the country’s senior judicial bodies.”
It said those executed were all supporters of Jundollah, the group that Iran says is linked to al Qaeda and which claimed a double suicide bombing of Shi’ite worshippers in the southeastern province bordering Pakistan on Dec. 15.
Iran hoped it had neutralised Jundollah when it executed its leader, Abdolmalek Rigi, in June. But the mosque bombing in the town of Chabahar, which wounded more than 100 people, was the latest action by the group to show it is fighting back.
Jundollah says it fights for the rights of the Baluch people, an ethnic minority it says faces “genocide”.
The families of the bombing victims sent a letter to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari calling for “serious measures” against Jundollah and other “terrorist” groups, echoing a call from some Iranian officials.
“These anti-revolutionary groups which have been given shelter in neighbouring countries like Pakistan and are being supported there should be pursued and suppressed on Pakistani soil,” Qolamali Rashid, a senior military official, said according to Fars.
“The land forces of the Revolutionary Guard have the ability to do this,” he said, referring to Iran’s elite military force.
A member of parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee said on Sunday that “Pakistan should be served notice” to destroy what he called terrorist training camps.
“If the Pakistan government refused to take measures to destroy the terrorist centres in that country, then the Islamic Republic would have the right to take steps and make the atmosphere unsafe for the terrorists in defence of its own nationals,” Kazem Jalali told the semi-official Mehr news agency.
“If Pakistan fails to control and prevent terrorist measures at its borders … we will make use of our legitimate rights,” the armed forces chief of staff, General Hassan Firouzabadi, said.
Relatives of some of the 39 people killed in last week’s mosque bombing, in the port city of Chabahar, have also asked Pakistan to crack down on the group.
The Chabahar attack happened during a religious ceremony on the eve of Ashoura, Iran’s biggest Shia religious holiday. Security officials said there was evidence the bombers were “supported by regional intelligence services”.
Jundollah has a long history of targeting civilians. Often said by Tehran to be secretly backed by the US, Britain or Israel, it has reportedly used bases in Pakistan to mount operations in Sistan-Baluchistan, which has an ethnic Baluchi Sunni majority.
The US and Britain both consider it to be a terrorist organisation.
Jundollah’s last big bomb attack was on a Zahedan mosque in July, on another Shia religious holiday. The bombing, described as retaliation for the execution of the group’s captured leader, Abdolmalek Rigi, killed 28 people, including members of the Revolutionary Guard.
Sources:
سارے اسلامی ممالک ،سعودی عرب ،ایران ،مصر ،متحدہ عرب امارت ،ملائیشیا اور بنگلادیش وغیرہ میں حکومت، اسلامی شدت پسند دہشتگردوں سے سختی سے نمٹتی ہے اور اپنے اپنے ممالک میں ان شدّت پسندوں کے لیہ کوئی جگہ نہیں رکھتے اور نہ ہی ان کے میڈیا میں کوئی دہشتگردوں کی حمایت کر سکتا ہے .
پاکستان وہ ملک ہے جہاں دہشتگرد بلکل آزاد ہیں بلکے ہیرو بنے ہوئے ہیں اور میڈیا میں ان کے حمایتی ہر روز ان کا دفع کر رہے ہوتے ہیں
It has many aspects, the impression about our law enforcement and security agencies, the skeptical view of the current legal system having clear inclination towards religious right, which is evident from the number of terrorists released in… the recent years by higher and lower courts for whatever reasons. When someone point towards execution of peoples involved in terrorist activities,
It is to draw attention towards our inability to deal these monsters legally.
Another is the the common man’s perception which has appreciation for the Saudi style of justice, public beheading or Iran style of public hanging or execution. It indeed is problematic.
As only a psychologically sick mind can adore.
Excellent points, Ali.
IMHO the focus of this post is not so much on debating the pros and cons of capital punishment or public executions per se, the focus is on demonstrating the lack of transparency and willingness on the part of the Pakistani state (and its various institutions) to arrest and punish the jihadi/sectarian killers.
Pakistan must also hang Shia Extremists.
will Iran also stop sponsoring terrorism in Iraq and lebanon? The sad reality is that almost every muslim country is selectively tough on terrorists that harm its domestic interests while happy to promote terrorism abroad. Iran is no different, in fact it, along with Saudi Arabia, is one of the worst.
I agree with Rabia, Iran is not a good example to follow.
They have a horrible human rights record.
Pakistani judges are too afraid to convict the terrorists.Government cannot guarantee the safety of judges and their families.It is a very sad situation.
Perhaps Iran is a bad example to follow, responsible for “terrorism in Iraq and Lebanon” and have a “horrible human rights record” (the usual charges against Iran in the Western media), let us follow a country which does not fail on these accounts.
Can we follow the US example of punishing those who committed terrorism against its citizens? Examples of Yousuf Ramzi, Aimal Kansi, Khaled Shaikh Mohammad and Aafia Siddiqi come to mind.
“the usual charges against Iran by the Western media”
TEHRAN: Celebrated Iranian filmmaker and vocal backer of the opposition movement, Jafar Panahi, has been handed six years in jail and banned from making films and leaving Iran for 20 years, his lawyer said Monday
http://www.dawn.com/2010/12/21/iran-filmmaker-panahi-gets-six-years-in-jail-lawyer.html
zia m
The above news item is sourced from Agence France-Presse. Please read the last sentence in the Dawn article.
What do you think about the US example of punishing terrorists?
Abdul Nishapuri
Are you claiming the news is propaganda?
What do you mean by US example i don’t understand your logic.
Can we follow the US example of punishing those who committed terrorism against its citizens? Examples of Yousuf Ramzi, Aimal Kansi, Khaled Shaikh Mohammad and Aafia Siddiqi come to mind.
Every State has its own set of allies and opposition, depending upon nature of the state, it draw legitimacy from. Iran has a Govt with sectarian affiliations and draws its legitimacy from religious doctrines of their own. When it punishes the sectarian terrorists, it does not mean it has a good justice system, As Iran’ own operatus of law enforcement is a tyranny. We can not in any way be fascinated with their actions.
Pakistani state has its own set of enemies and allies, the way it persecutes the minorities or execute political workers and leadership in Balochistan can set a precedence for anyone though they did it efficiently as per their own consideration.
Abdul Nishapuri
Why not? As long they are tried in a court of law.
“As long they are tried in a court of law”
I agree.
Riggi may be handed over to Iran soon
Saturday, December 25, 2010
By Amir Mir
LAHORE: Jundallah chief Abdul Rauf Riggi, who was tracked down by Pakistani authorities through his wireless set while he was making a call to a London-based newspaper from his Pak-Iran border area hideout in Balochistan, may soon be handed over to the Iranian authorities after interrogation by Pakistani security agencies.
According to well-informed security officials in Islamabad, the Pakistani agencies had been making frantic efforts to track down Riggi, especially after the December 15 killing of 40 people in a deadly suicide bombing in the Iranian city of Chabahar, when the most wanted Jundallah chief appeared on their radar on December 21, making a call on his wireless set to the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat, a leading international Arabic newspaper.
As the call had given the Pakistani authorities a fair idea about Riggi’s whereabouts on the Pakistani side of the Iranian border, they moved quickly and detained him in the next 24 hours following a brief commando operation.
Interestingly, the arrest came the day the Pakistani and the Iranian presidents were in Istanbul at the Economic Cooperation Organisation’s summit. Riggi will be handed over to Iran shortly after being interrogated by the Pakistani security and intelligence agencies.
Abdul Rauf Riggi had actually succeeded his elder brother Abdolmalek Riggi as the Jundallah chief following his arrest and subsequent execution in Iran. The elder Riggi was captured in February 2010 in a dramatic operation by the Iranian authorities while he was spotted on a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan. The Iranian warplanes subsequently forced the commercial aircraft to land in Iran.
It is widely believed that the “Get Riggi” operation could not have been possible without the help of the Pakistani agencies, which had passed on vital information about his travel plans as soon as he had left an American military base in Afghanistan after holding a clandestine meeting with the Nato military chief there. After a quick trial, Abdolmalek Riggi was sent to the gallows on terrorism charges on June 20, 2010.
Jundallah is a Baluchi insurgent group that operates in the Sistan-Baluchistan province of Iran and has substantial presence in the Pak-Iran border belt of Balochistan. The Sunni majority of Sistan-Baluchistan has had tense relations with Iran’s central government since long and the Jundallah leadership claims it is fighting for the interests of Sistan-Baluchistan’s large ethnic Baluch community.
Jundallah or the Army of God claims to represent the rebel Sunni community of the Iranian Baluch. One of the brothers — Abdolgafoor Riggi — had executed a suicide car bombing on December 28, 2008, targeting the headquarters of Iran’s joint police and anti-narcotics unit in Saravan city.
Since then, Jundallah has carried out several deadly suicide bombings in Iran, the latest being the December 15 suicide bombings in the Iranian city of Chabahar. In a telephone call hardly 24 hours after the Chabahar attack, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had lodged a protest with his Pakistani counterpart President Zardari and asked him to order his security forces to quickly arrest ‘known terrorists’ and hand them over to Iran.
President Zardari assured the Iranian president that Pakistan would not withhold any help in uprooting terrorism. On December 20, a few days after Ahmadinejad and Zardari had spoken, the Iranian government hanged 11 members of Jundallah who were convicted of bombings in Iran that killed 15 policemen and 12 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
The next day, on December 21, a furious Abdulrauf Riggi made a phone call to the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper and threatened Tehran that an official of the Iranian nuclear plant, who was kidnapped by Jundallah in October this year, would be executed shortly if the group’s demands for the release of over 200 militants and political prisoners being held in the Iranian jails were not met.
Riggi had added that the likely execution of the Iranian official should also be taken as a reaction to the execution of 11 Baluch in Iran, who he said were innocent civilians and had nothing to do with Jundallah. While releasing his interview 24 hours before his arrest, the newspaper said that Rigi was speaking on the phone from ‘somewhere inside Balochistan mountains.’
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=2904&Cat=13
Kamran Shafi writes:
terrorists, allegedly belonging to the murderous Jundullah, who were standing trial for bombing the Ashura procession in Karachi last December, were freed by six allegedly fellow terrorists from the Karachi courts in an armed attack in which hand-grenades were used.
On June 21, Iran hanged the Pakistan ID card-carrying Abdul Malek Rigi, the head of Jundallah — not to be confused with the group mentioned earlier — for various acts of terror including the killing of six senior commanders of Iran`s Revolutionary Guards.
Please recall that in late February this year, Iranian air force warplanes forced the aircraft carrying Rigi from the UAE to Kyrgyzstan to the ground in Iran whereupon he was arrested. There you go, gentlemen juxtapose Iran, a country that knows how to identify, apprehend and punish those who would do it harm with the Land of the Pure where all manner of horrendous monsters hold sway and swagger about with impunity due to `lack of evidence`.
http://beta.dawn.com/news/542905/the-looming-catastrophe