Lahore, July 1, 2013: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has strongly condemned the killing of citizens in several bombings over the weekend, including one in Quetta where at least 30 people were killed when an imambargah in a Hazara-concentrated locality was attacked.

The Commission said in a press statement, “HRCP is extremely concerned and utterly dismayed to again find itself condemning another massacre in Quetta. The Commission wishes to categorically point out that the attack was neither unexpected nor unavoidable. The outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militant group has claimed responsibility. No surprises there either. The only question is what else would it take for the state to pursue the killers with anything resembling single-minded focus. Is there a red line that the killers are yet to cross which would force the authorities into action? Or is it just that peaceful citizens being mowed stops being a travesty if the recurring massacres are spaced a few weeks apart? How much longer should we tolerate the ostensibly outlawed Lashkar-e-Jahngvi striking almost every week, unless someone wants to consciously look away as the group causes havoc?

HRCP also condemns an attack on a paramilitary convoy in Peshawar, in which at least 18 people have been killed. HRCP does not claim much expertise in security matters but it believes that reacting to mayhem after it has unfolded would not work. The fact that weapons large and small, including explosives and bomb-making skills, are so easily available all over the country should lead to appropriate counter-measures. HRCP is of the view that a coherent plan that also relies on smart intelligence gathering might start to show results straight away. What would certainly take longer to address is the pervasive and growing intolerance in society that unfortunately means that the killing of innocent citizens is not unequivocally condemned as the contemptible crime that it is. Sustainable headway cannot be made until these attacks are seen and condemned unreservedly as the disgraceful atrocities that they are. HRCP also calls upon civil society organisations and all citizens to voice their outrage against the killings and demand of the government to put an end to the repeated blood-letting.”

Zohra Yusuf

Chairperson