I thought that this was it.
The brave Hazara protestors by sitting silently on Alamdar road, without firing a single shot, without burning a single building had brought down one of the most corrupt and inept governments in six decades of Pakistan’s existence.
I thought that a new day has begun, the overwhelming support for the Hazara community and the rejection of all forms of sectarian violence was heartwarming. We Are All Hazara, Justice For Hazara and Quetta Sit-in hash tags flooded twitter, in the end, the government decided that ignoring the issue was no longer an option and caved in.
Peaceful struggle had won.
But then, on the evening of this Tuesday, another tragedy struck. This time in Alam Gudar, KPK, where 15 tribesmen were reported, shot dead by ‘unknown’ persons, which tribesmen claim were security forces and which the security forces claim were the militants of Mangal Bagh.They rose up in protest, bodies were lain down in front of KPK Governor, Syed Masood Kausar’s house, a delegation sent to present demands, negotiations were reported to be successful, the delegation returned to the protestors, but they did not accept the offer. Their demand was that the government should end operation in the tribal area.
The delegation had failed them.
They protested on, Senator Hameedullah Jan Afridi, attempted to speak with the tribesmen, but the enraged tribesmen hurled shoes and stones at him, police came in, tear gas shells were fired, protestors were beaten, dispersed and the dead bodies hauled over trucks and moved to cold storage.
This happened in the province of a democratically elected government of Awami National Party.Regardless of who killed the tribes people, whether it were Mangal Bagh henchmen in FC disguise or whether it was the security forces who shot the civilians, in the end it mattered how a democratic government who’s steeped in the ethos of non-violence promulgated by Bacha Khan, ended up dealing with the protestors.
It was a sensitive issue dealt with all the sensitivity of a blunt knife. If that’s the way the KPK government chooses to end protests of Tribesmen, then their reconciliation approaches in the war-ravaged areas of FATA must be questioned.
I ask the KPK government, did the protestors set fire to any government building?
Did they destroy any public property?
Were they a threat to the security of KPK?
Were their hurled shoes similar in threat to rockets and shells?
The protest was overall peaceful; the 12-member delegation that was sent couldn’t effectively fight the tribesmen case and hence enraged the tribesmen. However, the tribesmen didn’t go on a rampage, they chose to sit in. If they chose a peaceful method of protest in the hope of being given the same justice as the Hazara community and have their grievances addressed, then it was the government’s responsibility to reply in a similar manner.
Another important thing that strikes me in this tragedy is the deafening media silence on the issue. How many channels covered the sit in? But perhaps the important question here is how many Pakistanis actually chose to give an ear and an eye to the sit in?
Let’s ask ourselves truthfully; weren’t we looking for more entertainment provided by a Canadian national hiding behind bulletproof glass?Let us answer honestly; aren’t we desensitized over daily killings in FATA?
The details of the massacre are wooly and the nation needs to ask questions. Who did the killings? Why is it so that those killings come days after Lashkar e Islam Chief Mangal Baghthreatened violence against Khasadars, and for the first time in three years, Tribal Militia was redeployed in Bara to counter that threat. Who were those people that were gunned down? Were they related to the Khasadars? Answers must be given, perpetrators must be brought to book. The KPK government must be made to apologize for using force against the protestors !But no, perhaps the answers to these questions, the solution to our problems lies in the hollow harangues of a certain Shaikh Ul Islam. I blame you Pakistanis.
