LAHORE, March 20: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan condemned on Wednesday the new wave of terrorism in the country, especially the attack on the church congregation in Islamabad.

In a statement issued here, the HRCP expressed the view that the menace of terrorism could not be fought through security measures alone and that the task demanded a popularly backed movement to reestablish values of peaceful existence.

It maintained that the attack on the Islamabad church had put the entire nation to shame and it (HRCP) shared the grief of all bereaved families and wished all the injured a speedy recovery.

The statement said the HRCP was equally concerned at indications that the menace of terrorism was not being viewed at the official level in an adequately broad perspective.

Terrorism was not an ordinary law and order problem and could not be tackled by security agencies alone. The terrorists, sectarian or otherwise, had been led to believe over many years that violence in the name of belief was not only legitimate but was also a duty enjoined by faith, the statement said.

It said purging of their minds of such ideas and preventing the youth from joining them will demand, besides strong measures to deal with culprits in separate cases, a review of all policies and structures that fostered exclusivism or legitimize intolerance.

“Even more important is the need to mobilize political and social elements for a movement to reestablish the values of peaceful existence and such a movement is unlikely to materialize unless people are allowed their share in decision-making under a genuinely democratic dispensation,” the statement said.