{"id":6906,"date":"2013-09-23T05:44:04","date_gmt":"2013-09-23T05:44:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/?p=6906"},"modified":"2021-12-21T05:45:13","modified_gmt":"2021-12-21T05:45:13","slug":"church-attack-an-affront-to-pakistans-ideals-hrcp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/church-attack-an-affront-to-pakistans-ideals-hrcp\/","title":{"rendered":"Church attack an affront to Pakistan\u2019s ideals: HRCP"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lahore, September 23:<\/i><\/b>\u00a0Condemning the suicide bombings at a Peshawar church on Sunday as inhuman and an affront to the values to uphold which Pakistan was established, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called upon the government to share with the people its strategy to overcome the ongoing faith-based and militant-orchestrated attacks on citizens across the country.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued on Monday, the Commission said: \u201cHRCP is sickened by the brutal attack on the churchgoers in\u00a0Peshawar. We share the grief of the aggrieved families and the stricken community and condole the loss of at least 80 precious lives and injuries to many more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe massacre of Christian citizens is an affront to the values that Jinnah\u2019s Pakistan must stand for, an insult to the principles propagated by Islam and a damning indictment of the state for its failure to protect its citizens, especially those from religious minorities, and their religious freedoms. HRCP believes that with the killing of every citizen on account of her or his belief a part of the tolerant tradition inPakistan\u00a0dies too.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it would be inaccurate to say that the targeting of a religious minority came as a surprise, because as long as the masterminds of countless previous killings and their blood thirsty progeny enjoy impunity, no amount of brutality and callousness should surprise us.<\/p>\n

There is certainly a method to the killers\u2019 madness. Whoever dispatched the suicide bombers to the\u00a0Peshawar\u00a0church did not merely want to kill Christian citizens. The aim apparently was to destabilize the state. The attack sends an unmistakable message. The state of\u00a0Pakistan\u00a0cannot afford for its response to the attack to be any less unequivocal. The authorities ordering a state of high alert is simply not an adequate response. The prime minister finally, and correctly, branding those killing in the name of religious belief as enemies of Pakistan, rushing the interior minister to Peshawar and announcing a three-day national mourning are all laudable responses. But one cannot help but notice that all these are steps in response to Sunday\u2019s attack and nothing more. Where are proactive, pre-emptive measures to prevent massacres of citizens in the future?<\/p>\n

It should be explained how holding talks with the Taliban will address all the other challenges that haunt\u00a0Pakistan. For instance, how would such talks help rein in the multiple other actors engaged in a bloody movement by extremist militants at the domestic level?<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Peshawar\u00a0attack and indeed similar attacks in the past are symptomatic of a deeper malady. And that is where one of the most pressing concerns lies; that amid the extremist militants\u2019 onslaught the new government is yet to share with the long-suffering people of\u00a0Pakistan\u00a0its vision and strategy for dealing with the problem of militancy in the name of religion.<\/p>\n

HRCP calls upon the government to explain its plan to confront this menace and take meaningful steps to reassure the non-Muslim citizens of\u00a0Pakistan\u00a0that the government has the will and the ability to protect their lives and religious freedoms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zohra Yusuf<\/b><\/p>\n

Chairperson<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>