A great example of Sunni Shia unity and humanity in the aftermath of Kohistan massacre
Saudi-funded ASWJ-SSP terrorists do not represent peaceful Sunni Muslims.
Related posts: LUBP archive on Sunni Shia Unity
Kohistan massacre: In the heart of darkness, humanity triumphs
By Shabbir Mir
GILGIT: Even amidst depths of despair, the human spirit can survive.
Following the cold-blooded execution in Kohistan of 16 Shia Muslims travelling home to Gilgit on a bus, panicked residents deserted the roads and markets fearing a backlash in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Reprisal killings of Sunnis at a time emotions ran high would have been easy – and the most likely outcome in Nagar Valley, from where nine of the 16 slain men hailed.
Yet, on the same day, elders of the Shia-dominated Nagar Valley took at least 35 Sunni labourers working in the area into protective custody and quietly shifted them to Gilgit before a possible backlash could cost them their lives.
The Sunni labourers had been working on the Karakoram Highway (KKH) expansion project, undertaken by Chinese engineers. Their presence would have set up an ideal situation to ‘avenge’ the Kohistan killings.
However, the elders decided and acted against such plans, The Express Tribune learnt from various credible sources in the Nagar Diamer Valley.
The next day, the Nagar elders handed over the labourers to the police who escorted them safely to Gilgit.
“We fall short of words in thanking our brothers in Nagar for showing respect to innocent lives,” said a delegation comprising legislators, including Health Minister Gulbar Khan, Parliamentary Secretary Rehmat Khaliq, legislator Maulana Sarwar, Minister for Works Bashir Ahmed and Janbaz Khan of the PML.
Addressing a press conference in Gilgit on Thursday, they said: “We also fall short of words to condemn the barbaric act that deprived the region of 16 precious lives.”
In 2005, about 10 Sunnis were killed in Gilgit in one day to retaliate the murder of a top Shia cleric Agha Ziauddin by armed assailants.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2012.
Protest: ‘Shias and Sunnis have traditionally lived peacefully’
By Our Correspondent
Published: March 1, 2012
Students from the Gilgit-Baltistan Progressive Youth Alliance stage a sit-in outside the Parliament House on Wednesday to protest against the unlawful target killings in Kohistan. MYRA IQBAL
ISLAMABAD:
Youth from Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) on Wednesday held a protest against the recent spate of sectarian violence in Kohistan.
Over a dozen students, from the Student Youth Alliance G-B assembled before the National Press Club and staged a demonstration against the killing of members of Shia passengers in the ambush on Tuesday.
Carrying banners and placards inscribed with anti-government slogans, the protestors condemned the incident and demanded the immediate arrests of the culprits.
Representatives of the Student Youth Alliance criticised the government for what they called “a failure to protect the lives of its citizens”. They condemned the killings and termed the violence a conspiracy to create sectarian tension in G-B.
“The time has now come for the government to take practical steps to protect the lives of its citizens, otherwise students will start countrywide protests,” warned a participant, Kaleemullah.
Student Youth Alliance G-B President Zulfiqar Tatu said that it is unfortunate that terrorists were murdering innocent people, while the government helplessly witnessed the incidents. “The provincial government is completely helpless as it has failed to provide us with any security,” he added.
There was consensus among protesters that hidden forces were behind the incident. They (forces) intend to unnecessarily create a rift between the two sects who have traditionally co-habited peacefully with each other, said a protester.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 1st, 2012.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/343685/protest-shias-and-sunnis-have-traditionally-lived-peacefully/
Kohistan massacre: The guardian angels who saved lives
By Shabbir Mir
Published: March 20, 2012
With tensions still high in G-B, stories of bravery and solidarity are emerging.
GILGIT:
Last month 16 Shias were taken off a bus, lined up and killed in the Kohistan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa while travelling to Gilgit-Baltistan. This horrific fact is well-known.
What has now emerged is that the number could easily have been 18, or more, but was not due to the quick-thinking, bravery and solidarity of anonymous passengers on two buses that day.
As the gunmen were singling out passengers on the basis of their sect before executing them one-by-one, at least two Shia passengers travelling in two separate buses escaped murder. They were saved by some of the Sunni passengers travelling alongside them in the buses which were part of the convoy reportedly stopped by the gunmen.
When the gunmen entered the buses after stopping the convoy, at first nobody knew who they were or their intentions. They had reportedly erected hurdles on the highway and numbered at least 20.
The awful reality of the situation gradually emerged. Realising that the slightest resistance or a perceived act of aggression could result in death, the passengers remained quiet in the tense environment, as each was asked by the masked men to prove his identity.
“He is our colleague and we are a Tabligee Jamaat going to Astore Valley,” said one of the Sunni passengers about a Shia seated next to him, after the masked men demanded all Shia passengers disembark.
The three other Shias in that bus – who had followed orders and got out of the bus – were shot dead outside. Names have been withheld for security reasons.
This was not the only act of impulsive heroism that day. In another bus, also a part of the convoy, a Gilgit resident saved a Shia passenger by telling the gunmen that the man was his brother. “The man who saved the Shia passenger was a Sunni and came from the Kashrote area,” said Shoaib and Aliyaar, the driver and his assistant who witnessed the incident and eventually told their story to a local newspaper.
According to other eyewitnesses, the assailants lobbed a hand grenade from some height after carrying out the execution.
Older residents of the Nagar Valley had set another example of inspiring humanity as they took at least 35 Sunni labourers working in the valley into protective custody soon after the Kohistan tragedy, and quietly shifted them to Gilgit, before a possible backlash could have cost them their lives.
With emotions still running high in G-B, these accounts of mutual trust and respect for other people’s beliefs have bolstered those who wish to fight the forces of sectarianism.
The terror of February 28 should never be forgotten. Neither, though, should the stories of those who stood up against the murderous fascists – and represented the more widespread spirit of those who live in G-B and indeed the whole of Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 20th, 2012.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/352450/kohistan-massacre-the-guardian-angels-who-saved-lives/