Suicide Attacks on Religious Processions
By Syed Kamran Hashmi
Westfield, IN

Every year, Pakistani shiites risk their lives in Muharram when they take out processions commemorating the martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Hussein (RA), a centuries old religious tradition which helps them understand that death can sire eternity if one sacrifices his life for a divine mission, a cause that can inspirie generations to stand up against tyranny.

Every year, the government reassures them about the preventive measures it has taken to ensure their safety and vows to enact a fool-proof security system that will thwart any assault on the pilgrims.

These ‘fool-proof’ measures are typically limited to blocking the mobile services throughout the province for a day or so, implementing a ban on motor cycles with double passengers, and negotiating the route for the procession with the religious authorities. In addition, a police patrol stands near them to illustrate the commitment of the administration and in case of an unfortunate event, to put blame on the most ill organized law enforcing agency of the state. In short, no serious plans are made to maintain peace, instead the administration relies upon its centuries-old non-innovative techniques to manage the crowd -nothing else.

As such, every year suicide bombers find their way to launch a deadly attack on the peaceful congregations. This time though, the terrorists have struck not once but twice, first in Baluchistan by attacking a mosque killing ten people followed by another blast in Sindh the next day where the death toll rose above twenty. You can see the streets filled with pools of blood yourself in the pictures printed on the tenth day of Moharram -the day when Imam Hussein was martyred - the walls sprayed maroon red, the road strewn with small pieces of human flesh.

By taking the lives of innocent people who are fulfilling their sacred duty, the attackers repeat what happened to shiites centuries ago in Karbala. His sacrifice, we can agree, irrespective of one sectarian preferences, promotes one thing above all: it separates good from evil, innocent from guilty, prey from a predator. Representing the good, there was the family of the Prophet (PBUH), a small circle of men, women and children. And on the side of evil, there was a group of ruthless beasts who wanted to kill everyone who could challenge their authority, even the neonates.

Now, do I have to tell you who is who in the current suicide attacks? We all know that the innocents follow the footsteps of the grandson of the Prophet. They join his brigade by laying their lives; but whose brigade do the perpetrators and the conspirators of these attacks join? I also want to ask ourselves whose battalion do we belong to, the indifferent majority who does nothing to protect its minorities.

On the one hand, when it comes to financial corruption we don't find ourselves to be dispassionate or indifferent at all. Outraged by their offense, we claim to bring every single penny from the Swiss accounts of the corrupt politicians and the bureaucrats. Hang them, throw them in the dungeons, harass them or torture them, we are open to all the ideas to get our stolen wealth back. Yet, at the same time, when human beings are torn into pieces for attending a religious ritual, our heart does not flutter. It just keeps us numb, mute or may be blind, unable to see that we may be next in the line.

To me, it seems that we either have accepted defeat as a nation from a few hundred extremists who have seized control on our religious narrative determining what is permissible in the religion and what is not. They issue religious decrees declaring someone as an infidel while proclaiming others as Muslims. They decide about the size of your beard, the length of your pants, the fitting of your trousers and the color of your caps.

Or we have surrendered to the idea that this is the price we will have to pay in order to establish a favorable government in the neighboring state of Afghanistan. If it’s true, then tell me how are we different today from the Yazeedi forces back then? All he wanted to do was to establish his rule throughout the empire and like us, he opted to pay ‘a little’ price’ for the security. Does it not shake your soul?

People will tell you how hard it is to control sectarianism. That the animosity between Shias and Sunnis runs throughout the world and it has done so for ages. That the Mullahs do not want to unite the sects, they kindle the fire everywhere. And that foreign countries are also involved in such actions. Don't fall in this trap.

Explain to them that law and order is a political issue, like financial corruption, not a religious one. So, the politicians have to come out of their closets and take the bull by the horn; they can’t escape responsibility. Just issuing a press release condemning violence will not work, nor would it help to send a tweet or update the Facebook page. They will have to make it a priority like PTI made one of election rigging, the Muslim League made of electricity shortage and the People’s Party made of the policy of reconciliation.

Second, every single Sunni needs to get up and stand as the human shield to safeguard the procession despite his personal disagreements with the way Shias beat their chests or wail in public. It really does not matter anymore what Shias think of Sunnis or what Sunnis think of Shias, what matters is that both can live together with their disagreements.

And last, we will have to make the people in power accountable for their inaction against the sectarian outfits, the failure of their fool-proof systems, their lack of intelligence efforts. We can’t let them not do their jobs.