Pakistan: Black Fridays

Editorial

Fridays are a day of prayer but they have also become days of indiscriminate slaughter and untold misery for many. This Friday was no exception. An MQM member of the Sindh Assembly Sajid Qureshi and his son were gunned down as they left a mosque on Friday afternoon. A pedestrian caught in the crossfire also died. The killings could not have been easier. The policeman deputed to guard the MPA had gone for lunch; the three killers simply waited outside the mosque, fled when they had done the deed and it was quickly claimed by the TTP. The MQM immediately announced three days of mourning and shutters quickly came down amidst aerial firing, and by dusk the city was mostly silent apart from other less high-profile murders. School examinations were immediately cancelled. Saturday saw Karachi virtually deserted with most public transport off the streets. As usual a team has been constituted by the police to investigate the killings but no arrests are expected imminently. Once again a mega-city is brought to a standstill by political violence and fear, and there seems to be little by way of robust response by any of the provincial agencies of law and order. While the TTP was quick to own the slaying of the MPA, it was equally quick to disown the bombing of Madressah Arif Hussaini on the Grand Trunk Road close to Peshawar. Fourteen people died and 30 were injured, many of them badly. Three attackers fought with the police guarding the building, one got through and detonated his bomb-vest which weighed possibly 7kg and was loaded with ball-bearings. Two of the attackers escaped and there has been no credible claim of responsibility at the time of writing. According to some reports, two suspects were arrested on Saturday and have been shifted to an undisclosed location. The attack was most likely sectarian in nature with the madressah being one of the principle centres for the Shia community in the Peshawar area. The Karachi and Peshawar attacks happened almost simultaneously but there is no suggestion that they were in any way coordinated. That they happened at all demonstrates once again just how easy it is for terrorists to operate in the country. Slaughters such as these can happen any day and anywhere, no matter what the province. Public confidence in the ability of the state to provide security and protection at provincial or federal levels has all but vanished. Lawmakers inspire little confidence and some at least are clearly sympathetic to the extremist mindset, with a PTI MNA this week calling for the release of the killer of Governor Salmaan Taseer. He is unlikely to be alone in this desire. There are many who conclude that the state has abdicated responsibility for the safety of the common man – a conclusion in which they would be happy to be proved wrong.