Deputy Superintendent Bahadur Khan was shot dead by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Peshawar on Wednesday. Most recently in Karachi, there was a bloodbath. Peshawar and Karachi are strongholds of insurgents, little did we realize that they would become the twin cities of terror. DSP Bahadur Khan was on his way to drop his daughter to school, when motorcycle-riding gunmen opened fire on him. His daughter survives him, but the fact is that ordinary life in Pakistan has been hijacked by terrorism. Victims don’t even have to unequivocally offend religion to die now, it could be anything, so as citizens, we cannot protect ourselves anymore; we are at the mercy of these men on bikes with guns. Coincidentally, DSP Bin Qasim Abdul Fateh Sangri was shot dead in Karachi, on May 1, again by the TTP. “DSP Fateh was number 37 on our hit-list,” was the statement by the TTP spokesperson, Muhammad Khorasani.
How long is this hit-list and who else is on it, only time will tell. But lets look at what ensued after the December 16 APS attack. Nine Military Courts were set up to function for two years by passing the 21st Amendment to the 1973 Constitution and amending the 1952 Army Act. They were seen as a dangerous option, with the risk of miscarriage of justice. But while analysis of the courts was in depth, and rightly so, there was no significant public pressure for action to be taken against militants like Hafiz Saeed (who has a bounty on his head and is still allowed rally’s and conferences), and his allied brethren Ludhianvi of Ahle-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) (proscribed under Pakistani law for spreading sectarian hatred against Shia Muslims), and Lakhvi (of Mumbai attack fame). Yet we are apologists for madrassas, for the violence of the TTP and its like and continue to blame the US and RAW for the acts of these people. When it was suggested that `a fifth military coup’ may have silently taken place with the unanimous consent of the National Assembly at the time Military courts were established, religious parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JuI) chimed in! Maulana Fazlur Rehman denigrated the government’s “non-serious attempt to convert an Islamic state into a secular one”. Because that is our biggest problem, that we are becoming secular! Is that why there are hit-lists? Is that why the TTP and Jundallah are racing to taking responsibility for any killing they can use for their fear-machine?
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