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WaitingforJusticeintheLandofthePure

BySabaEitezaz

08June,2012

Theyonlycametopray.Theypaidwiththeirlives.FridayPrayerson28thMay2010fortheAhmadisofLahorewillalwaysberememberedinbloodandtears.Itwassupposedtobeadaylikeanyother.TheFridaycongregationofthecommunitygatheredasusualtooffertheirdevotion.Immaculatelydressed,headsbowedbeforeGod,serenityintheair.Thenterrorstruck.ArmedmenwithsuicidevestsandgrenadesdescendedlikedemonsontwoofthemajorAhmediyyamosquesinthecity,proceedingtosystematicallytargetandkillthosepresentataleisurelypaceoverthenextfewhours.CCTVfootageshowedthepolicemeninstalledforsecurityfleeingthescene.PunjabPolicecontingentsarrivedandstoodby.

Asthehellishafternoondarkenedintotwilight,theprayerroomsofthemosqueatModeltownandGarhiShahu'sDar-ul-Zikrechoedwiththesilenceofthedeadandthemoansofthedying.86worshippershadbeenkilled,morethan100injured.Outofthe7terroriststhathadtargetedthemosques,2wereoverpoweredbysomeoftheyoungerworshippersandhandedovertothepolice.Anattempttocaptureanotherendedinmoredeathasheactivatedhissuicidejacket.Thosearrestedhavenotyetevenseentheinsideofacourtroom.

Twoyearslater,lifegoesoninLahore,butthosewhosurvivedthatfatefuldaycan'tforgettheonesthatdidn't.Theystillremembertheirloss.Theystillwaitforjustice.

ThemainstreammediaofPakistanseemedcuriouslysilentonwhathasbeendeemedthe"worstmassacreinLahoresincethePartitionofIndia"

28thMay2012markedMemorialDayfortheAhmediyyacommunityinPakistan.Themassacreof2010wasoneofthetoptrendingtopicsinPakistanonTwitterthatday.ButotherthanafewarticlesandafilteredTVshowortwo,themainstreammediaofPakistanseemedcuriouslysilentonwhathasbeendeemedthe"worstmassacreinLahoresincethePartitionofIndia"byBradleyCooper,theAsiaDirect

orofHumanRightsWatch.ItremindedmeofthedayoftheterribleincidentwhenIwasanchoringandwitnessingtheeventlivefromthestudiosofamajorPakistaninewschannel.Mymostvividmemoryisthevoiceofcautioninthemidstofthecalamitybyoneofthenewsproducers.AsIwastryingtotranslatetheterribletragedyunfoldingbeforemeintoresponsiblereporting,tryingtoputanumberontherapidlyincreasingcasualties,Iwasrepeatedlytold"Donotrefertotheattackedstructuresasmosques,refertothemas'placesofworship'".FrommentioningtheAhmedisunderattack,ourterminologywascheckedandtrimmeduntilwewereonlyreferringtothemasa"minoritycommunityofPakistan".Reporterscoveringtheincidentfromthefieldunderextremelydangerouscircumstancesweretoldthesame.

Iwasrepeatedlytold"Donotrefertotheattackedstructuresasmosques,refer

tothemas'placesofworship'..."

"Wewereoperatingwithaknifeonourthroatsthatday,"oneofthepanelproducersconfessedwhilerecollecting28thMay2010."Therewasconstantmonitoringonwhatwasbeingshownandcommunicatedontheairwaves."Shefeltthatasthedaycontinued,themainstreamTVchannels"wentonthebackfoot."

Thefollow-upwassporadictonon-existent.Notmanylocalnewsbulletinscontainedsubsequentstoriesaboutthetribulationsofthesurvivorsorraisedmanyquestionsasdayspassedintomonthsandnoheadwayseemedvisibleinpoliceinves

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tigations.Agroupcalledthe'PunjabiTaliban'withallegedlinkstotheTTPhadtakenresponsibilityfortheattacks,2terroristshadbeenarrestedred-handedand6morearrestsweremadeinJuly,withvaguereferencestolinkswiththe28thMayattacks.Therewerenofurtherreportsonprosecutionandtrialofanyoftheallegedculprits.DeclanWalsh,theGuardiancorrespondentatthetime,commented,"UsuallyvocalTVcommentatorscondemnedtheviolencebutfewdaredvoicesupportfortheAhmediyyacommunityitself."

Saleem-ud-Din,thespokespersonforthecommunity,agreeswiththisobservation."Oursentimentsandperspectivewerenotrepresentedbythemedia.Weheldapressconferencetwodaysaftertheattacks.AllthemajorTVchannelscoveredit.Theyaskedquestions.Itwasnotbroadcastonanychannelexceptonewhichshoweda20secondclip."

Themediaisbutamirroroftheprejudicesandanxietiesthathaveenvelopedthissociety,especiallywhenitcomesthepersecutionandmarginalizationoftheAhmediyyacommunity,particularlysinceGeneralZiaulHaq'sOrdinance20of1984.BiasanddiscriminationagainsttheAhmadishaspermeatedacrosssocioeconomicandpoliticalstrata.

Themediaisbutamirroroftheprejudicesandanxietiesthathaveenvelopedthissociety

"Ifoundoutabouttheattacksthroughatextmessage.Itsaid:'Hey,yourmosqu

ehasbeenattacked.HaHaHa!'"saysF,aquiet,thoughtfulstudentataprogressivecollege.Thesenderwassupposedtobeaclosefriend.Reelingfromthenews,hesteppedintothecommonroomandfoundseveralofhispeerswatchingthedramaunfoldonTVlikea"cricketmatch".Peoplewereeitherlaughingorindifferent.Ashebacktrackedfromtheroompropelledbydespair,aclassmate'swordsranginhisearslikeagunshot."Theydeservetodie."

Sometimesterrorismisnotphysical.Sometimesittargetsthesoul.

Flost6membersofhisfamilythatday.Hewouldhavebeennumber7butadelayedclassprobablysavedhislife.Butsomethingelsewaslost.Thosefewminutesinthecommonroomstolefromhimthelastfewshredsofhope.Hedoesnotbelievethingswilleverchangeforthebetter.Lookingdownintohiscoffeemug,as

iftryingtoseehisfutureinthedepths,hesays,"Wearelivinglikeghostsinourowncountry."Hedoesnotintendtostay.Commentingonthecultureofsilencethatsurroundsthisalienation,hispartingwordsare:"MyfathertoldmesinceIwasachild,evenifyouareintherightaboutsomething,claimtobewrong.Becausenoonewilleverhearyou."

ButthereareothersintheAhmediyyacommunitywhorefusetobesilenced.Theyareengagedinabattletobeheard,abattlewhoseweaponsarepenandpaper.Afterthe28thMayattacks,thecommunityleadersurgedtheyouthtochanneltheirangerintolettersdemandingjusticeforthebloodshed.ThousandsoftheseletterswerewrittenandsenttothePunjabChiefMinister,theChiefJustice,toanyonewhowouldreadthem.Throughstoriesoflossandpainandrejection,theAhmadissharedtheirgriefwiththeworld.Theyweregreetedwithsilenceinthei

rowncountry."Wedon'twanttocomeoutontheroadsandvandalizethestreets,"insistsSaleem-ud-Din,"webelieveinpeacefulprotest."

Survivorsofterroristattacksareoftenleftwiththeburdenofrememberingwhatbefellthem,forthesakeofthosewhodidnotlive,inthehopethattheywillnotbeforgotteninadesensitizedsociety.24-year-oldMtriestocarryoutthistaskbravely,buthiseyesspillwithtearsandhisvoicewaversasherecallstheexperienceofmakingitoutalivefromtheblood-spatteredmosqueinGarhiShahu."Thegunshotscamefirst,"herecalls,"thanthegrenades.Thenweknewwewerenotgoingtogetoutoftherealive."Asheranamongtheotherpanicke

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dworshipperswhowerebeingshotatthroughbrokenwindowsliketrappedanimals,hesawtheMurabbi,thecleric,beinghitbyagrenade.Herememberssmokeanddarknessastheoverheadlightsshatteredonebyone.Hesawpeopletryingtohideunderneathbodies,butthegrenadesalwaysseemedtoknowwheretoland.Hemanagedtogetoutofthemainhallandintothecourtyard.Thekhuddaam,orprivatesecuritypersonnelofthecommunity,weretryingtousherpeopletosafety.Mfoundhimselfhiding,wedgedintoasidestaircasewithalmostahundredothers."Wewerewedgedinsotightly,wecouldnotevenmove.Theseriouslyinjuredwerecallingoutforwaterandwecouldnotgiveittothem."

Manyofthetrappedweretryingtocalllovedonesathome.17-year-oldWaleed,abrightyoungmedicalstudentandanonlysonmadeonesuchcalltohismother."Ammi,pleaseprayforus,"hewhisperedcalmly.Itwasthelasttimesheheardhisvoice.Hewastheyoungesttodieinthemassacre.

Whenthetumulthadended,thebodiesweretakenaway,communityleaderMirzaGhulamAhmedledhispeopleinprayer,inthesameblood-stainedhalloftheprayerroomthathadjustbeenviolated.Nowheisstoicallyapprisingmeoftherescueefforts,ofidentifyingoverflowingbodiesinmorgues,butwhenaskedhowhefeltatthatmoment,hisvoicecollapsesintogrief.

"Iwasleadingprayersformycongregationinaplacewherehoursbefore,86ofourownhadbeenmurderedincoldblood.HowdoyouthinkIfelt?"

Twooftheapprehendedterrorists,AsmatullahandAbdullah,werechargedundertheAnti-TerrorismActandremainincustody,buttherehasbeennoprogressinthecaseandproceedingshavebeenrepeatedlyadjourned.

"Wehandedthemovertothepolicewearingsuicidevests,carryingguns,fromthesceneofthecrime,litteredwithbodies,andtheysaytheywantwitnesses,"sighsSaleem-ud-Din."Wecannotendangermorelivesbyexposingthemthisway."

BradleyCooperofHumanRightsWatchdeemeditobscenethattwoyearsafterthemassacre,thegovernmenthadstillnotbroughttheaccusedtotrial."BypanderingtoextremistswhofomentviolenceagainsttheAhmadis,thegovernmentemboldensmilitantswhotargetthebeleagueredcommunity,andreinforcesfearandinsecurityforallreligiousminorities."

AccordingtoHRW,sincethebloodshedof28thMay2010,therehasbeenanintensificationinthehatecampaignagainstAhmadisinPakistan.

InJune2011,pamphletsweredistributedinFaisalabaddeemingAhmadisliabletobekilled,boldlyprintingthenamesandaddressesof50prominentAhmadis.ItwassignedbythestudentwingoftheKhatam-e-NabbuwatFederation.Theorganizationevenlisteditswebsiteandphonenumbers.Thegovernmentdidnothingtocurbthehatecampaign.AccordingtoDawn,laterthatyear6Ahmadiswereshotdead,includingonewhosenamehadappearedonthelist.

State-directeddiscriminationandapathyhaspoureddownintoeverycrackandcreviceofsociety,eventhewell-educated"liberal"enclaves.Thisbodesdisturbi

ngtimesforPakistan.

Source:http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta3/tft/article.php?issue=20120608&page=28

URL:http://newageislam.com/islam-and-sectarianism/saba-eitezaz/waiting-for-justice-in-the-land-of-the-pure/d/7623

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COMMENTSThelandofthepureispeopledbythemostimpuretopstrataandtherothaspercolateddowntoeveryinstitutionincludingthereligiousbrigadethatthrivesonthefactions!Theproofliesinthefactthatthegovernmenthaslastedforsolongandwillperhapsbereturnedatthenextsocalledelectionswiththehelpofthisbrigade!ByRashid-6/15/20123:35:41AMreportabusePakistanmovedtowardsislamicfundamentalismwhenusastartedusingreligiousextremistforthepoliticalobjectiveofdefeatingrussia.Nowthattheusaitselfdoesnotknowhowtohandlethedeviltheycreated,thingsarecomingoutaboutthesideeffectofencouragingdevilcalledreligiousextremism.Minioritypopulationinpakistanatthetimeofindependenceandtodaywilltellhowthesystemwasrottingforthelastsixtyyearsandhowamericasilentlysupportedthesameastheywantedtoscrewindiawhichsidedwithcommunistrussia.Bysatwagunam-6/14/201210:33:11PMreportabuseSuchbarbarismmustmakeallMuslimsashamedofbeingMuslim.Thepressandpoliticiansarefailingintheirdutyiftheydonotdenouncesuchintoleranceandviolenceanddonotmakeconsistenteffortstoreducehostilityandignorance.