Peshawar Chruch Attack: ''After the carnage''

A day after the deadly attacks that killed more than 80 people from Pakistan’s Christian community – at a church in Peshawar – the sense of anger rages on. There have been protests in most major cities; Christians were joined by at least some members of the Muslim majority in most places. But it was sad to observe that, on the whole, the turnout of non-Christians was relatively low in many places. Clearly, many of us are still to learn that if we do not act now our country will be destroyed by the hate and fanaticism that have killed thousands of people over the years, most of them Muslims. It is unfortunate that not many in the provincial and federal governments are willing to address the killers by name, speaking only of ‘inhuman elements’ or ‘animals’. It is somewhat hard to understand how they have intended to conduct dialogue with those they themselves say are not human. Condemnations are coming thick and fast with Pope Francis and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon adding their voices to the worldwide outrage. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, moved by the voices of protests, has admitted, en route to the UN General Assembly session in New York, that the attacks have made it impossible to go ahead with the talks with the TTP. For now that is the only course he could have taken. Peace talks are a misnomer when one side is so hell bent on violence. Claims of responsibility have, as expected, come in from the TTP – specifically a new group which, its spokesman reportedly said, had been created to combat ‘foreign elements’. The authenticity of these claims is in some doubt. But what is beyond dispute is that the same extremists who had struck before have acted once again. The TTP has reportedly vowed to continue targeting foreigners and non-Muslims as revenge for drone attacks. What do our Christian and other non-Muslim brothers and sisters have to do with the drone attacks? Howsoever brutal and criminal drone attacks are – and they indeed are – the TTP is only using them as an excuse to continue attacks on any group whose faith they don’t accept. It is a testament to the inherent peaceable nature of the Christian community that the protests all over the country were conducted in justifiable anger – but without violence. Church leaders stepped up and asked the community to demonstrate restraint, and admirably so. Anyone who would complain about protesters blocking roads and burning tires should understand just how traumatic the killings have been to a community that has already felt under siege. Understanding and empathy have certainly been lacking in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government which spent as much time attacking its opponents as it did condemning the attack. The stance taken by PTI chief Imran Khan, whose party rules KP, is mysterious. He has suggested that elements opposed to dialogue had carried out the deadly attack. Various commentators have already asked why hundreds of other attacks have been conducted at times when there were no prospects of negotiations. The JUI-F too has suggested that the attacks were meant to derail peace talks. Do these leaders know something the rest of us do not? They should be able to share it with the families of those whose bodies and bones have littered the streets. Otherwise, they are doing nothing but earning a place in the hall of shame. The Peshawar police have said they will investigate the attack. But bringing the perpetrators to justice will be the tricky part. The federal government has vowed to rebuild the church – a fine gesture but meaningless unless the governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the centre can protect vulnerable groups and refuse to rest until their tormenters have been brought to justice. The country still needs something concrete, a collective effort, to wash this shame off its face.