Civil society organisations, networks and individual rights activists across Pakistan on Tuesday condemned the terrorist attack on judges and lawyers at the Islamabad District and Sessions Courts in F-8 Markaz on Monday morning.
In a statement issued jointly by the human rights groups and individuals, the civil society expressed solidarity with the families of the 11 ‘shaheeds’ and 40 plus injured, as well as the entire legal community in this hour of grief, horror and shock.
“We note with outrage the well-planned, coordinated and orchestrated attack, where between 8-10 terrorists, including 2 suicide bombers and sharp-shooters gained entry and went on the rampage with grenades and guns for over 40 minutes, unhindered and unchecked by the police or any form of security inside the supposedly “secured and protected” four-walled premises of the Courts in the F-8 Markaz, and then fled unhindered in their ostentatious vehicles.”
The statement question the TTP’s statement, disclaiming responsibility for the attack during the so-called “ceasefire” and “cessation of war”, as well as the statement by the “Ahrar-ul-Hind”, an off-shoot of the TTP, claiming responsibility.
“We condemn the TTP’s failure to condemn the killings. We reject the conspiracy theorists’ mooting the deliberate red herring of the “third party hidden hand”, as too clichéd and convenient a scapegoat,” states the statement.
The statement also questioned the claims of the present government about the security of Islamabad. “Is this a demonstration of the complete and total fool-proof security for Islamabad — particularly at its high-risk venues — which was assured and guaranteed just last week by the Interior Minister on the floor of the National Assembly in the Parliament? Or should we believe the National Crisis Management Cell’s alarming but realistic threat assessment of Islamabad vis-a-vis sleeper cells of banned organisations, e.g. al-Qaeda, Taliban and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi?”
It mentions that the national has seen 60,000 Shaheed Pakistanis and still counting. “How many more bodies of our loved ones and our compatriots will we need to bury before the cowardly, hypocritical, fearfully self-preservationist politicians/political parties comprehend the reality that Pakistan is truly slipping out of our hands, in front of our very eyes?”
The statement demands the government to immediately come out of its ostrich stance, exert its Constitutional authority, stop making committees and statements of pious intent only, and start taking urgent action.
“We reject condemnable appeasement policies masquerading as ‘peace talks’, which lead to further terrorist attacks and killings. Is the Government aiming for the permanent peace of the cemetery?”
The statement called upon the public and private print and electronic media across Pakistan to stop furthering the appeasement policy by disproportionately projecting the viewpoint and ideology of the Taliban mindset; referring to terrorists as “Commanders” and “Ameers” (sic); and glorifying terrorism by repeatedly showing gruesome images of heavily armed masked criminals as heroes.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Pakistan: Civil society condemns terrorist attack on Islamabad District Courts
Civil society organisations, networks and individual rights activists across Pakistan on Tuesday condemned the terrorist attack on judges and lawyers at the Islamabad District and Sessions Courts in F-8 Markaz on Monday morning.
In a statement issued jointly by the human rights groups and individuals, the civil society expressed solidarity with the families of the 11 ‘shaheeds’ and 40 plus injured, as well as the entire legal community in this hour of grief, horror and shock.
“We note with outrage the well-planned, coordinated and orchestrated attack, where between 8-10 terrorists, including 2 suicide bombers and sharp-shooters gained entry and went on the rampage with grenades and guns for over 40 minutes, unhindered and unchecked by the police or any form of security inside the supposedly “secured and protected” four-walled premises of the Courts in the F-8 Markaz, and then fled unhindered in their ostentatious vehicles.”
The statement question the TTP’s statement, disclaiming responsibility for the attack during the so-called “ceasefire” and “cessation of war”, as well as the statement by the “Ahrar-ul-Hind”, an off-shoot of the TTP, claiming responsibility.
“We condemn the TTP’s failure to condemn the killings. We reject the conspiracy theorists’ mooting the deliberate red herring of the “third party hidden hand”, as too clichéd and convenient a scapegoat,” states the statement.
The statement also questioned the claims of the present government about the security of Islamabad. “Is this a demonstration of the complete and total fool-proof security for Islamabad — particularly at its high-risk venues — which was assured and guaranteed just last week by the Interior Minister on the floor of the National Assembly in the Parliament? Or should we believe the National Crisis Management Cell’s alarming but realistic threat assessment of Islamabad vis-a-vis sleeper cells of banned organisations, e.g. al-Qaeda, Taliban and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi?”
It mentions that the national has seen 60,000 Shaheed Pakistanis and still counting. “How many more bodies of our loved ones and our compatriots will we need to bury before the cowardly, hypocritical, fearfully self-preservationist politicians/political parties comprehend the reality that Pakistan is truly slipping out of our hands, in front of our very eyes?”
The statement demands the government to immediately come out of its ostrich stance, exert its Constitutional authority, stop making committees and statements of pious intent only, and start taking urgent action.
“We reject condemnable appeasement policies masquerading as ‘peace talks’, which lead to further terrorist attacks and killings. Is the Government aiming for the permanent peace of the cemetery?”
The statement called upon the public and private print and electronic media across Pakistan to stop furthering the appeasement policy by disproportionately projecting the viewpoint and ideology of the Taliban mindset; referring to terrorists as “Commanders” and “Ameers” (sic); and glorifying terrorism by repeatedly showing gruesome images of heavily armed masked criminals as heroes.
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