KARACHI, Oct 31: Iqbal Haider, secretary-general of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), condemning the Bajaur incident, has said that the authorities, it seems, are determined to carry on with their violent policies against citizens of the state, not stopping short even of mass murder.

“The attack on a seminary in the Bajaur agency, in which at least 80 people, many of them teenaged boys, were killed, is the latest manifestation of this evil intent.

The widespread belief among local people in the area that the attack was in fact carried out by US drones only raises further questions about the sovereign status of Pakistan and exposes the lack of credibility of the government as a result of its strategies of secrecy and deception,” he said in a statement issued to the press on Tuesday.

“HRCP condemns the atrocity committed against so many young people, and expresses the deepest sorrow over the manner in which their deaths were brought about,” he said.

“Whereas there can be no two views about the urgent need to curb terrorism given the tragic toll it has taken over the last decades on innocent people, it is quite obvious that the means being currently employed will only fan further hatred and militancy.

“The battle against terror can be fought only by winning the hearts of people and not by bombing or gunning down the so-called militants.

“This requires wide ranging policies that, within the country, address the growing socio-economic problems of people and at the international level, aim to end the injustice in the Middle East which acts to spur on global terror,” he said.

Mr Haider said he feared that if the latest action by those in charge of the country would only contribute to the violent trends that had grown so rapidly over the recent years and result in greater tensions within a country where social and political discord had already created deep fissures that cut through society. —Online