Pakistan Must Act Decisively to End Massacres of Minorities
By Riaz Haq
CA
Pakistani government leaders, major political parties and the military are busy playing a blame game while the Taliban militants and their sectarian allies such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi are engaged in continuing mass casualty attacks in various parts of the country.
The unfolding tragedy of Hazaras, a small ethnic minority in Pakistan, symbolizes the plight of both ethnic and religious minorities in the country. The failure of the state to protect them undermines the state itself and destabilizes Pakistan.
The media's role in it has not been helpful either. Some of the top talk show hosts and TV anchors are spinning various conspiracy theories and laying the responsibility with foreigners. Some blame America while others point fingers at India, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Here are several questions that come to mind:.
1. Can the problem be solved by blaming each other and foreigners for the mess? Or is this merely an excuse to do nothing?
2. Can the PPP, PML-N, PML (Q), ANP, MQM and PTI have basic consensus to demand that the Pakistani military act against the militants?
3. What can the PML-N in Punjab do to stop the Jhang-based LeJ from carrying out attacks in Quetta, Karachi and other parts of the country?
4. Does the military really need LeJ to deal with Baloch insurgents? What can the military do to make amends for its past dalliances with such militants and crack down hard on them?
5. What can the PPP-led coalition do in terms of legislation and budgeting to strengthen the hands of the police and the courts in fighting militants?
6. What can the media do to develop national consensus to act decisively against the militants who kill and maim innocent civilians?
7. What can the police, the prosecutors and the judges do to protect the people from blowback from military action to remove militants from the streets where they inflict harm on innocent civilians?
8. What else can Pakistanis themselves can do to protect their own people? To get some of the answers, please watch the following video :
How to Stop the Massacres of Hazara Shias in Pakistan? from WBT TV on Vimeo .
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