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Student who told Jeb Bush 'Your brother created Isis' speaks out about incident

By Alan Yuhas

Ivy Ziedrich challenged the likely presidential candidate after he blamed the militant group’s formation on Barack Obama for withdrawing troops from Iraq.

A college student who confronted Jeb Bush about the Iraq war has spoken out about the incident, which made headlines around the world, saying of the former Florida governor’s position: “It was like somebody crashing their car and blaming the passenger.”

Ivy Ziedrich, a 19-year-old University of Nevada student, addressed the likely presidential candidate after he spoke at town hall event in Reno, telling him: “Your brother created Isis.”

She questioned him amid a flock of reporters about his assertion that the jihadi group developed because Barack Obama had overseen the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.

“You stated that Isis was created because we don’t have enough presence and we’ve been pulling out of the Middle East,” Ziedrich said, shifting blame instead on to the consequences of George W Bush’s invasion of Iraq. “The threat of Isis was created by the Iraqi coalition authority, which ousted the entire government of Iraq.

“It was when 30,000 individuals who are part of the Iraqi military – they were forced out. They had no employment, they had no income, yet they were left with access to all the same arms and weapons. Your brother created Isis!”

Bush patted her on the arm and asked: “Is that a question?”

“You don’t need to be pedantic to me, sir,” Ziedrich shot back. “You could just answer my question.”

“Pedantic? Wow,” Bush replied, taken aback by the rebuke.

“When we sent young men to die for the idea of American exceptionalism,” Ziedrich asked, “why are you spouting nationalist rhetoric to get us involved in more wars?”

“We respectfully disagree,” Bush answered. “We had an agreement that the president could’ve signed that would’ve kept 10,000 troops, less than what we have in Korea, and could’ve created the stability that would’ve allowed Iraq to progress. The result was the opposite occurred because the void was immediately filled.”

The likely candidate for the 2016 presidential campaign told Ziedrich: “We can rewrite history all you want, but the simple fact is we’re in a much more unstable place because America pulled back.”

Ziedrich is a political science major and member of the Young Democrats at her university, was a nationally ranked debater in high school and has campaigned against an open-carry gun law for college campuses. She told ABC News, which captured the confrontation on camera, that she did not mean to sound hostile.

“I think he’s telling the truth as he understands it,” Ziedrich said. “I see his response as a lack of perspective. We deserve more than this as voters.”

Ziedrich has emphasized that she wants more accountability from leaders and to get them to interact with a wider range of voters, tweeting that day about the ways “candidates for presidency talk at small ticketed events instead of speaking to university students and getting them involved”.

“It’s frustrating to see politicians ignore the origins of our conflicts abroad and use current foes as excuses for creating new ones,” she added.

“A Bush was trying to blame Isis on Obama’s foreign policy,” Ziedrich told the New York Times. “It was like somebody crashing their car and blaming the passenger.”

“I think it’s important when we have people in positions of authority, we demand a dialogue and accountability.”

Bush has struggled with his brother’s legacy in recent days, particularly with regard to the former president’s hugely unpopular war in Iraq. He first drew criticism by telling Fox News that he would have invaded Iraq even knowing what Americans know today – that there were no weapons of mass destruction and that Iraqis and Americans would pay enormous costs in lives and treasure.

After criticism from the left and the right, Bush then tried to backtrack, saying that he misheard the question as “knowing what you knew then” and that “given the power of looking back, of course anybody would’ve made different decisions”.

Finally on Thursday he said that with knowledge of Saddam Hussein’s weapons programs: “I would have not gone into Iraq.”

Should Bush declare his candidacy as expected, Ziedrich’s question is probably a foreshadowing of one of the former governor’s greatest challenges: the deep disillusionment and simmering anger of many Democrats and Republicanssurrounding the invasion and occupation of Iraq, which seems inextricably tied to the Bush name.

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Boston Marathon bomber Tsarnaev sentenced to death for 2013 attack

Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death by a U.S. jury on Friday for helping carry out the 2013 attack that killed three people and wounded 264 others in the crowds at the race's finish line.

After deliberating for 15 hours, the federal jury chose death by lethal injection for Tsarnaev, 21, over its only other option: life in prison without possibility of release.

The same jury found Tsarnaev guilty last month of placing a pair of homemade pressure-cooker bombs on April 15, 2013, as well as fatally shooting a policeman. The bombing was one of the highest-profile attacks on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001.

Tsarnaev, dressed in a dark sport coat and light-colored shirt, stood quietly as the sentence was read, remaining expressionless as he had throughout most of the trial.

During 10 weeks of testimony, jurors heard from about 150 witnesses, including people whose legs were torn off by the shrapnel-filled bombs. William Richard, the father of bombing victim Martin Richard, described the decision to leave his 8-year-old son to die of his wounds so that he could save the life of his daughter, Jane, who lost a leg but survived.

Prosecutors described Tsarnaev, who is an ethnic Chechen, as an adherent of al Qaeda's militant Islamist views who carried out the attack as an act of retribution for U.S. military campaigns in Muslim-majority countries.

The jury's decision does not mean Tsarnaev will face imminent death. Defense attorneys are likely to appeal the sentence, a process that can stretch out for many years.

"I know that there is still a long road ahead," said survivor Karen Brassard, whose left leg was badly injured in the attack. "There are going to be many, many dates ahead. But today we can take a breath, and actually breathe again," she told reporters.

An appeal could focus on a number of issues, including the court's denial of a defense plea to move the trial out of Boston or refusal to challenge the graphic photos and videos that the jury saw of the bombs' detonation and the severe wounds they inflicted.

"Prosecutors do have a burden of proof to show that people died, but the appeal argument would be that there is a balance to be struck and they went over that line," said David Weinstein, an attorney in private practice who in prior jobs as a state and federal prosecutor brought death-penalty cases.

DEATH PENALTY CONTROVERSIAL IN MASSACHUSETTS

The death penalty remains highly controversial in Massachusetts, which has not put anyone to death in almost 70 years and which abolished capital punishment for state crimes in 1984. Tsarnaev was tried under federal law, which allows for lethal injection as a punishment.

Polls had shown that a majority of Boston-area residents opposed executing Tsarnaev.

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Pakistan - Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo wants Ramzan Package money be disbursed through BISP‏

https://ppppunjab.wordpress.com


The track record of Punjab government of walking the talk has been abjectly poor whether it is the control of load shedding of electricity, providing relief to the poor, fulfilling the promise of providing subsidy to rice growers or bringing the less developed areas of the province at par with the developed ones, said Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, President PPP Central Punjab in a statement issued from here today.
He welcomed the Ramzan packages of Rs. three billions announced yesterday by Punjab government adding these programmes unfortunately had not accrued matching relief to the needy people in the past thus ruining the very purpose of such packages at the expense of the poor of the province.
He observed that the Ramzan Package of Rs, three billions announced yesterday should also not meet the same ill- fate as salesmen at the subsidized outlets possibly would not entertain the poor on the pretext of “out of stock” because the hoarders and the profiteers had already taken away the items in collusion with the officials.
The Chief Minister of Punjab should not be contended with issuing frequent statements giving instructions to the administrative machinery to ensure the availability of food items to the poor and those who were found responsible for syphoning off the goods should be given exemplary punishment. Such platitudes would not deter the criminals who operate with impunity, he added.
He said that it would be test of the efficacy of the Punjab government to ensure the aviliabity of the subsidized items in the designated outlets only as their sale in the open market would tarnish the image of the good governance of this government.
He suggested that the Ramzan Package amount instead should be disbursed through framework of the Benazir Income Support Programme(BISP) among the recipients of BISP because the list of the deserving families under the programme had been prepared very carefully, and audited by the third party. The outreach of BISP among the most vulnerable sections of the society had earned acclaims at the international level, he argued.
He maintained that the BISP was solely meant for the poor people and it had no political overtones adding it also served as an effective instrument for empowerment of women because the women head of the family was entitled to receive the financial assistance.
The money thus given will serve the purpose of the Ramzan Package better because it would reach in the hands of those who are the poorest of the poor, he maintained.

#ShiaGenocide - Why terrorists are targeting Pakistan’s Ismaili community

By Jake Flanagin 

Gunmen boarded a bus in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, on May 13. They separated the children from the adults before opening fire on the 60 or so riders, a survivor told Vice News. Reuters reports that at least 43 have been killed and 13 wounded.

The bus was carrying members of Karachi’s Ismaili community—a religious minority in Pakistan. Jundullah, a branch of the Pakistani Taliban that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in Nov. 2014, has claimed responsibility.

“These killed people were Ismaili and we consider them kafir,” Ahmed Marwat, a spokesperson for Jundullah, told Reuters. “Kafir” means “unbeliever” or “infidel” in Arabic. “In the coming days we will attack Ismailis, Shiites, and Christians,” he warned.

According to the US Department of State, an estimated 25% of Pakistani’s Muslim population adhere to Shia Islam (75% are Sunnis). Of that 25%, the majority are Ismailis, the second-largest branch of Shia Islam after the Twelvers, who hold sway in nearby Iran.

Ismailis are seen as a reformist sect and more liberal in their interpretations of the Quran than other strains of Islam. In some ways, they are: the 48th Ismaili imam, Aga Khan III, made it optional for women to cover their hair in public. The vast majority of Ismaili women do not wear a hijab.

Some attribute these liberalisms to a philosophical commitment to modernity and pluralism. Ismailis have a religious mandate to pursue knowledge and fulfill traditions of tolerance by actively working toward harmonious, pluralistic societies. This requires ever-evolving interpretations of Quranic doctrine.

Essentially, it’s an obligation to adapt to the times—an idea that stands in stark contrast to fundamentalist politics of all sorts. The Ismailis are a natural target for groups like Jundullah, whose ideological bread and butter is the intimidation (if not extermination) of progressive Pakistanis.

While not necessarily accurate, Ismailis seem to be perceived by certain critics as Westernized. A cursory Google search of Ismailism brings up a slew of message-board postings asking rhetorical questions like, “Why do Ismaili women dress so slutty?” Commenters speculate that all Ismailis drink like fish (the Quran forbids imbibing); that they hold the opinion of the Aga Khan above the teachings of Muhammad; that they are all rich and politically influential and enamored with “Western lifestyles.”

It’s possible the lifestyle of one leading Ismaili—the current Aga Khan—has been projected onto the entire community. Prince Shah Karim al-Hussaini Aga Khan IV is a Swiss-born British subject. He heads the Aga Khan Foundation, an NGO awash with cash that combats poverty and promotes public health in the poorest parts of Africa and Asia. He was educated at Harvard, has a net worth of more than $800 million, owns a private island in the Bahamas, and currently lives in a chateau in northern France.

But the Ismailis killed in Karachi were not much like the privileged prince—at least not in terms of net worth or lifestyle. They were residents of the al-Azhar Garden Colony, an Ismaili housing project; and most of them were commuting to work and school when they were attacked.

Did the Jundullah militants have a clear idea of who these Ismailis were, or of the Aga Khan and his connections with various players in Western political establishments? Or were they just another minority group in a long list to be targeted? In either case, the violence against them, as against all religious minorities in Pakistan, would seem to lie in ignorance and the spread of misinformation.

Pakistan - Karachi’s Deadly Unrest

By Kiyya Baloch

A deadly bus attack underscores the tensions roiling Pakistan’s largest city.

Despite considerable rhetoric and months of effort, the operations Pakistani paramilitary forces have been carrying out in Karachi still appear to be far short of bring peace to the port city. On Wednesday, six gunmen armed with sophisticated weapons gunned down at least 43 people and wounded 13 others in a busy market in the city. The attackers were able to flee unhurt from the scene.

The attackers opened fire inside a bus carrying members of the Ismaili community, a sub-sect of Shiite Muslims known for their liberal views. In the wake of the attack came chaos, as mobs took out their anger on local police.

Hundreds of men, women and children took to the streets, blaming Pakistan’s paramilitary forces and police for not targeting Jundullah, which claimed responsibility for the deadly attack. Jundullah is a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, allegedly based in a Pakistani tribal area and Quetta. According to senior Pakistani journalist Umar Farooq, Jundullah has very strong links with the Islamic State (IS), pledging allegiance in a November 2014 video message.

Asked about the attack, Gulam Haider Jamali, Sindh Police Chief said, “We are in the process of investigation, if it was a security lapse we will act against police officers within the parameters of the Constitution. I have personally directed Additional Inspector General Police Sindh (DIG) Ghulam Qadir Thebo to immediately submit a preliminary report in this regard.”

Ismaili Shiites are renowned for their progressive Islamic views. Their spiritual leader Prince Karim Aga Khan is a globally renowned philanthropist and business magnate. Over the last decade, Shiites have become a soft target for Islamist militants in Pakistan. As many as 1,000 Shiites have been killed in the past two years, Most of the attacks were claimed by the hardline Sunni group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), which views Shiite Muslims as heretics.

Taliban in Karachi

A pamphlet found at the site of the deadly attack suggests that the Islamic State had a hand in the killings and has threatened more attacks.

Karachi has become a hotbed of militancy, targeted attacks, and sectarianism in recent years. In particular, it has seen a surge in attacks on Shiites, the worst taking place in January 30 this year when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque in the southern Shikarpur district of Karachi, killing 61.

Similarly, on the evening of April 25, the director of The Second Floor (T2F), Sabeen Mahmud was gunned down by masked men in a highly guarded area of Karachi. The police were quick to point the finger at religious extremist groups active in Karachi, although Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) denied involvement. Still, while Karachi’s problems remain largely ethnic and political,  it is clear that the Taliban has a presence in the city.

In March 10 this year, security forces claimed to have shot dead a top Taliban commander along with three of his companions. Yet a huge swathe of Pakhtun neighborhoods in western and eastern Karachi, including some areas of District Malir are reported to be under the influence of Pakistani Taliban.

A reliable source says Taliban leaders are living quite freely in Karachi, but because they have nothing to do with the government they are left alone. To date, neither intelligence reports nor the media have been able to confirm the suspect presence. Yet the TTP has managed a number of attacks in the city, targeting polio workers, politicians, and top police officer Chaudhry Aslam.

Political Tensions

Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city and its financial capital. On the surface, much of the city seems calm, but underlying tensions persist. Residents fear a major military operation against the city’s most powerful and influential party. That would be the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a secular party that has been blamed by government agencies and rival groups for the unrest in the commercial hub. Most MQM members belong to middle-class families with a strong educational background. More than 90 percent of the members of the party are Urdu-speaking Muhajirs, descendants of migrants from India after partition in 1947.

MQM has been accused of being the force behind Karachi’s recent unrest. In fact, anxiety about the MQM is not restricted to Pakistan: Canada has designated it a terrorist organization. MGM chief Altaf Hussain has beenimplicated in the murder of one of the party’s founding members, Imran Farooq in London. MQM has been accused of using its political strength to bully and even kill opponents in Karachi.

Members of the Pakistan People’s Party, a rival for political power in Karachi, accuse MQM of fueling unrest in the port city through a “deep conspiracy.” PPP leader Zulfiqar Mirza, former home minister of Sindh, has accused MQM of creating unrest and carrying out assassinations in Karachi. He claims to have arrested gunmen belonging to MQM during his days in the Sindh government.

For its part, MQM leadership rejects all the charges, calling it a massive campaign against the party. MQM blames the Awami National Party (ANP), a Pashtun party, for hurting and damaging peace prospects in Karachi by killing innocent Muhajirs. A huge number of Pashtun migrants settled in Karachi after fleeing from the North-West Frontier Province following operations against the Taliban there.

A senior journalist from Karachi who wished to remain anonymous told The Diplomat that Pakistan’s political parties, including MQM, PPP, ANP, and Sunni Tehrik (ST), are at war with each other. He says that Karachi is divided into areas that are controlled by PPP, MQM and ANP. “An Urdu speaker can’t go to Lyari and a Lyrian cannot go to Nine Zero that’s controlled by MQM.” The journalist says that the militant wings of political parties and other groups were involved in target killings in Karachi. “Baloch gangsters and criminals in Lyari have been using the flag of PPP. Those involved in extortion in downtown Karachi are provided with a safe hideout by MQM, while the rest of the criminal activities and targeted attacks on ethnic Urdu speakers are carried out by Pashtun and Baloch who are supported by ANP.” He added that “All militants and criminals are sheltered in camps run by political and ethnic parties. They use their flags and cards to commit crimes.”

The parties deny the existence of militant wings and have disowned criminals arrested by law enforcers. Yet Pakistan civilian and intelligence agencies have claimed to have arrested some 5,882 suspected criminals since the launch of the Karachi operation in September 2013, of which 55 percent are believed to be associated with political parties.

A recent media briefing by senior police official Anwar Rao, in which he accused MQM of maintaining connections with India’s spy agency, was widely seen as a deliberate attempt to pave the way for another crackdown against the party.

Certainly party leaders thought so, and have claimed that MGM has been the target of a heavy crackdown in a months-long military operation. In March, Pakistan Rangers raided MQM headquarters, arresting more than three dozen people, including a party leader. That wasn’t the first such raid, and it has been accompanied by a war of words between the party and the Rangers. MQM leader Haider Abbas Rizvi has said that the raids and allegations directed at his party are part of a large-scale campaign designed to remove the MQM presence from Karachi.

Crushing “All Mafia”

Following the deadly bus attack, military spokesperson Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa said on Twitter that Pakistani military chief General Raheel Sharif had cancelled his scheduled visit to Sri Lanka. During a visit to Karachi in April, Sharif had vowed to crush “all mafia” in Karachi and made it clear that operations in the port city would continue.

Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid says that operations in Karachi had been launched with the consensus of all political parties, with the political and military leadership in accord. He also insists that operations would continue.

However, senior MQM leaders claim that targeted operations by Rangers in Karachi are being conducted against a particular party but not against Islamist militants, criminals, terrorists, or extortionists. But a senior MQM leader claimed that “Raids are being conducted only in areas where the MQM position is strong.  The government has given a completely free hand to law-enforcement agencies to carry out their targeted actions in the city to eliminate MQM.” Clearly, the troubles are far from over.

Pakistan - Christian Women Sprayed with Acid in Quetta

Today in Basit Panchait vegetable market two Christian women and a teenager sustained severe burn injuries after being sprayed with acid.

28 year old Rimsha Masih and 16 year old Hinah Masih were taken to Lady Hospital near the crime scene. They were later shifted to Provincial Sandeman Hospital but due to inadequate facilities had to be taken to Bolan Medical College Teaching Hospital.

MPA Asiya Nisar condemned the attack saying, “I strongly condemn the brutal act of throwing acid on a Christian mother and daughter in Quetta, whoever found guilty should be punished.”

The Quetta police have confirmed that the women have sustained severe burn injuries and they have nominated Vijay Masih for the crime. Vijay is a resident of Brewery road and is also Christian.

Doctors have confirmed that the women are under medical supervision.

Last year at least four women were sprayed with an acid-filled syringe in different parts of Balochistan.

- See more at: http://www.christiansinpakistan.com/christian-women-sprayed-with-acid-in-quetta/#sthash.kxu60Ske.dpuf

Pakistan's Shia Genocide - ANOTHER SHIA POLICE OFFICER SP EJAZ MARTYRED BY SAUDI FUNDED ASWJ TERRORISTS IN KARACHI

Former jail superintendent of Hyderabad police Aijaz Haider was shot martyred on Friday when Saudi funded ASWJ aka IS terrorists opened fire on his car near Karachi's Pehlwan Goth area.

According to Senior Superintendent of Police East, unidentified gunmen ( AhleSunnat-Wal-Jamaat-Farooqi Group) opened fire on Shia Police Officer vehicle near Pehlwan Goth jurisdiction of PS Shahrah-i-Faisal. Subsequently, he was killed whereas his wife sustained injuries in the attack and shifted to nearby hospital Dar us Sehat.

Its pertaining to mention here that few days before these Saudi funded terrorists of AhleSunnat Wal Jamaat shot martyred two Shia  professionals Dr Anwaar Abidi in Nazimabad district Central Of Karachi and DSP Zuliqar Zaidi at Shah Faisal Colony of District East Karachi but not a single terrorists involved in the killings of Shia professionals apprehended by the Law Enforcement Agencies.

The , Today, incident of the target killing of Shia Superintendent of Police (SP) Ejaz Haider was held at same district East where Shia DSP Zulfiqar Zaidi was shot martyred by these terrorists who enjoyed Saudi support and establishment patronage in Pakistan.

http://www.shiitenews.org/index.php/pakistan/item/16064-another-shia-police-officer-sp-ejaz-martyred-by-saudi-funded-aswj-terrorists-in-karachi

Pakistan: April saw 17 Anti-Ahmadi rallies & conferences by extremist elements throughout Punjab

The month of April saw at least 17 anti-Ahmadiyya rallies, seminars and conferences held by 9 separate extremist groups in 11 different town and cities of the Punjab province in Pakistan.

Nearly all of the organizations involved in anti-Ahmadi hate campaigns are known to be patronized by the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz, the ruling political party both in the Punjab, and at the federal level. 

Apparently, according to a report distributed by the Asian Human Rights Commission, the government's newly announced National Action Plan (NAP) against extremist religious elements was essentially run in parallel to the anti-Ahmadi sectarian hate activism by many extremist clerics belonging primarily to Khatima-e Nubuwwat organization and the united Pakistan Clerics Council.

The report entitled "Persecution of Ahmadis in Pakistan - News Report April 2015," also listed several seminaries (madrasas), including Jamia Ashrafia, Jamia Rahimia, Jamia Usmania, and Jamia Islamia, that held conferences and seminars inciting agitation against the Ahmadiyya community. The list of events and organizations is not complete, the report said.

"In these conferences etc.," the report says, "all was said at full throat that the NAP aims at discouraging."

"Obviously mullas are using the themes of Khatme Nabuwwat, Blasphemy, Shariah Rule etc. to indulge in sectarian and religious extremism that breeds terrorism eventually," it was asserted.

The report authors complained that the authorities look the other when such activism is carried on. "This sort of attitude and policy led to extensive riots, fall of the provincial and the central governments and the imposition of first ever martial law in the country. It happened in 1953."

In Rabwah, a town with ninety-five percent Ahmadi population, Ahmadi are not permitted to hold any religious conference in their town. On the other hand the Punjab government allows ant-Ahmadi hostile groups to hold rallies and conferences every year.

"This goes on even after the implementation of the NAP," the report said.

http://ahmadiyyatimes.blogspot.com/2015/05/pakistan-april-saw-17-anti-ahmadi.html

Pakistan - Literacy Rate Declined In Balochistan Despite Educational Emergency

Literacy rate in Balochistan has declined by 3% despite the imposition of educational emergency by Balochistan Government, revealed a survey on Wednesday.

According to Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (PSLM) conducted byPakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), literacy rate in Balochistan has dropped by 3% in the year 2013-14. Current literacy rate in the province stands at an abysmal 43%, added the survey.

Survey further stated that Male literacy rate in Balochistan is 55% and Female literacy rate is just 25%.

 “Decline in literacy rate proves that there are serious flaws in the approach of Balochistan government to deal with literacy,” Mukhtar Ahmad, an educationist told The Balochistan Point. “Balochistan government is emphasizing on curbing cheating and establishing buildings which will never translate into increasing literacy,” added Mr. Ahmad.

Balochistan government has imposed educational emergency since January 2014 and it has allocated 26% of budget on education.

Abid Raza, a teacher urged the Balochistan government to revisit its approach to educational emergency while talking to The Balochistan Point. He advised that government bureaucracy concerning education needs to be vetted if any educational reforms are to be made successful.

Pakistan - Karachi - After the massacre

We woke up to the tears of the Ismaili community of Karachi on Thursday as they buried the men and women killed by terrorists at Karachi’s Safoora Chowk. Two more of the injured passengers succumbed to their injuries. The government had announced a day of mourning with all flags flying half mast, and round after round of meetings continued on Thursday. While the attack has drawn widespread condemnation from all quarters, it is the way the blame is being shifted around all possible quarters that makes clear that no lessons will be learnt. The Karachi police chief says there are two separate terrorist organisations operating in the city, one targeting police officials; the other members of minority communities. While the foreign secretary has suggested that RAW was behind the attack, the Foreign Office downplayed the possibility of the Islamic State being involved, saying there was no definite proof that the pamphlets found on the scene came from them. And of course, there have been all kinds of other conjecture floating around. The so-called paradigm shift claimed after Operation Zarb-e-Azb was launched was said to have, finally, shifted the primary focus of the state towards internal sources of terrorism. However, faced with the inability to come up to people's expectations over securing their lives against terrorism, the RAW trump card seems to be back in fashion with the leadership. However, for most observers, the attack carries the signature of other major Jundullah attacks: wear paramilitary uniforms, kill everyone and flee. It is – as has always been the case – in the protests organised by the civil society and left-wing political parties where questions have started to be asked over what exactly our security measures have been all about, and which way various operations are headed. 

While no one believes that all terrorism in the country would be solved within a year, who is being targeted and who is not is the key debate that has so far been ignored. In such a context, do we not need to indulge in at least a bit of introspection before jumping on the ‘foreign hand’ theories? Who is to blame for the fact that all six of the assailants got away from the scene? The fact is that this is not the first time this has happened. What is most unfortunate is that it will likely not be the last. Once the burial rites for the dead are over, once the media focus on the killings fades, we will be left with a terrifying situation. For months, it has proved impossible to get to the bottom of who is carrying out the attacks in Karachi and precisely how they should be ended. The Ismaili community itself bravely insists it will not bow under terror, with its board continuing with the examination process even as others halted testing for the day in the wake of the killing. The challenge now is to prevent the next attack. We have failed before as well. There is now no further room left for failure. We simply have to succeed if we are to save ourselves and prevent yet further havoc in our midst. 

Pakistan's Shia Genocide - 'Goodbye, my son!' — After spate of attacks, Shias flee Pakistan

After losing one of his two sons to the worst attack against minority Shias in Pakistan's history, Ali was determined for the other to find a new life abroad.

“Go,” he told Iqbal Hussain, who left his job and family behind after losing his brother Mohammad Hassan to join thousands of others on treacherous waters in search of hope.

In the Shia-dominated Mari Abad quarter of Quetta, each family has tales of death and exile.

Sectarian violence — in particular by hardliners against Shias, who make up roughly 20 per cent of Pakistan's 200 million people — has claimed thousands of lives in the country over the past decade.

In the latest bloodshed, 44 Shias were massacred in Karachi on Wednesday, in the first attack claimed by the Islamic State group in the country. The worst atrocities, however, have struck Balochistan, home to some 200,000 Shias, according to local organisations.

The constant fear of violence is pushing young people towards illegal migration. The worst such attack so far, on January 10, 2013, saw a suicide bomber blow himself up in a small snooker hall.

About ten minutes later, when rescue workers had rushed to the scene, a truck packed with explosives that had been parked near the hall was detonated. The overall toll was close to 100 dead. Among them was Hassan, who had gone to help.

His brother Hussain survived, but with 38 shrapnel wounds which pierced his body.

“After six months, his mother was insisting, 'I have lost my son, I don't want to lose a second',” said Ali, standing in the cemetery Hassan was buried in, where a corridor of photographs of martyrs fix their gazes on passersby.

Ali, who had saved $20,000, sent Hussain and his mother to Karachi, then legally onward to Indonesia.

There, they placed their lives in the hands of people smugglers, and set off on a boat for Australia — the promised land — just before the conservative government there changed the law, and began sending back all new illegal migrants.

“The boat was very dangerous, there were 200 people, among them around 20 people from Quetta. It was very tough, the water was rough, we called for help and were finally picked up by a fishing boat,” Hussain said.

After the journey to a transit camp, the pair made it to Melbourne and today Hussain is learning English.

“There simply isn't any hope in Pakistan for young Shiites,” he said. “Here in Australia we have a new life.”

‘Even today, I am sorry’

Like Hussain, another young man Ali Raza also wanted a new life.

In 2011, Raza, who belongs to the ethnic Hazara community — a predominantly Shia group whose distinct Central Asian features make them easy targets for sectarian militant groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) — lost his best friend Yusuf to an attack in Quetta.

After the attack, he had only one goal: to leave.

His father Syed Qorban, a tyre vendor, helped him move to Malaysia, where he hoped he would set up a business. That plan, however, never materialised. “He called me to tell me he would be leaving for Australia. I told him, 'Don't go, my son',” cried the old man.

Their old boat, which carried 250 illegal migrants, sank in the sea.

Some decomposed corpses were found, while others, including Raza's were taken by the sea — something the family is still coming to terms with.

“Even today, I am sorry. How did I let this happen,” his father said.

Mushtaq, who declined to be identified by his real name, was on the same boat as Raza, but managed to survive three days adrift at sea, without drinking water, being burned mercilessly by the sun.

“When we were found at sea, my lips were cracked and my skin was raw,” he recalled.

Sent back to Indonesia, he tried to make the illegal crossing again. During one part of the journey, “I lost conciousness, I was having flashbacks for the first time,” he said.

“I couldn't sleep, I was afraid of death at every moment,” said Mushtaq, who finally reached Australia, his Eden, to work on a chicken farm.

“If I stayed in Pakistan, I was afraid of being killed. If I took to the sea, I was afraid of dying. Death awaited in both cases — but at least abroad I have hope.”

Hero smugglers?

In Quetta, those Shia Hazaras who remain stick to their own neighbourhoods, without much hope for a future in their homelands of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.

And people smugglers — a dirty profession in most of the world — are highly regarded.

“Human smugglers for ... other people, they might be bad for them. But for us, we give them lot of importance in our society,” said Abdul Khalique Hazara, chief of the nationalist Hazara Democratic Party.

“You give me peace, then I would say they must be [stopped],” he added.

Wandering between the graves of his two brothers, both of whom were killed for their faith, and his son Hassan, the old man Ali's heart remains tied to the country that robbed him of his loved ones.

“If I leave,” he said, “who will weep for them?”