ISLAMABAD: A number of people gathered in F-6 Markaz on Saturday to protest the deadly bomb blast on an Imambargah in Shikarpur on Friday.

Addressing the participants, human rights activist Marvi Sirmed commented that the day of the blast, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was busy making jokes in Karachi. While the news channels, i nstead of reporting on the blast, were telecasting the inauguration of a university in Hyderabad for three hours.

The blast occurred at Karbala Mualla Imambargah during Friday prayers and killed 60 people and injured 50 others. Militant organisation, Jundallah, claimed responsibility for the attack.

“More than 10,000 Shias have been killed in Pakistan in the last 24 years by organisations which keep resurfacing with new names. Everyone knows who established Jundallah but the state is not ready to take action,” she said.

She questioned the army’s sincerity in its efforts to eliminate terrorists, commenting that only those who attacked the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi or retired Gen Pervez Musharraf are being hanged.

She said that if the government was serious about fighting terrorism, it would have banned terrorist organisations like it has banned YouTube.

Participants at the protest vowed to file a petition in the Supreme Court to ensure a ban on those militant organisations which continue to work after changing their names.

Human rights activist Tahira Abdullah said the civil society had been organising vigils for the past many years but the wave of terrorism never seems to end.

“We want peace in society. The silent majority should not sit at home and should join us because one day they too will suffer because of terrorism,” she said.

She commented that those who have never succeeded in winning more than three per cent of the electorate are trying to impose their ideology on the rest of Pakistan.

“This is our Pakistan and we will decide its future,” she said.

Civil society activist from Sindh, Lala Hassan, said that the province was a land of peace because the dominant ideology in Sindh was the all embracing message of Sufism. However, extremists have also arrived in Sindh and are killing its people.

“People of Sindh must unite and stop extremists from spreading their message,” he said.

Dr Rakhshanda Parveen, rights activist, said that the ideology of the late dictator Ziaul Haq is alive in Pakistan and creating problems for those who cannot leave the country.

“We have to take a stand against extremism in society and ensure peace for our children,” she said.

Journalist Fouzia Shahid said that the civil society tried to resist when the state was making pro-Taliban policies and establishing Lashkar-i-Jhangvi but no one listened.

“Unfortunately there is no change in policy due to which problems are increasing. However we will continue our struggle for a peaceful Pakistan,” she said.

Published in Dawn February 1st, 2015

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