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22-11-2024
By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report
PESHAWAR/ ISLAMABAD/ KARACHI/ KURRAM: Neither the local, national and international media reported one of the largest “Shia Target killing Incidents” of the year of 2024 nor none of one political, religious and social leader even any of human rights activists or organization raised any voice or condemned the horrific, barbarian and anti-human terror attack that took place Thursday in northern Pakistan in which 42 Shia Muslims including women and children were brutally murdered but once again, world remained silent over Shia Target Killing in Pakistan.
Protesters in Pakistan’s restive northwest chanted anti-government slogans Friday as funeral prayers were held for 42 Shiite Muslims who were ambushed and martyred by gunmen in one of the deadliest such assaults in recent years.
The victims were traveling in a convoy of several vehicles from the northwestern city of Parachinar to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Survivors said the assailants emerged from a vehicle and sprayed the buses and cars with bullets. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack and police have not identified a motive.
Dozens of senior journalists among hundreds told PMI that they have been reporting of Shia Target Killings since last 20 to 30 years but neither their news include in bulletins nor any other local or national media is allowed to print or on-air a single news while websites have also strictly monitored in this regard.
Thursday’s attack took place in Kurram, an area where Shiite Muslims dominate. Sectarian clashes between the group and Pakistan’s majority Sunni Muslims have killed dozens of people in recent months.
Tribal elder Jalal Bangash said the bodies began arriving in the city Thursday evening. The Shiite community group Anjuman-e-Hussainia Parachinar announced three days of mourning.
Coffins were draped in white cloth that bore red calligraphy. It read “Labbaik Ya Hussein,” a Shiite expression in remembrance of the 7th-century martyrdom of the last Prophet of Islam, Hazrat Muhammad’s (PBUH) grandson, Hazrat Imam Hussain-AS, that gave birth to their faith.
Locals carried the coffins aloft through Parachinar as people thronged the streets. Markets, shops, roads and schools were closed. Locals and relatives of the victims staged a sit-in, demanding action against the perpetrators.
Ali Ghulam lost his nephew in the attack, “he was a very innocent and noble man, only 40 and left behind small kids”, “he was working to feed his children, he never fought with anyone, now we are worried about his family and what we will do for them.”
Protests kicked off in parts of the city, with people chanting anti-government slogans. Some people set alight check posts and the gate at the entrance of the city but elders have called for calm.
Shiite Muslims make up about almost 20% of over 240 million population of Sunni-majority Pakistan, which has a history of sectarian animosity between the communities.
Although the two groups generally live together peacefully, tensions have existed for decades in some areas, especially in parts of Kurram.
Dozens of people from both sides have been killed since July when a dispute erupted in Kurram that later turned into general sectarian violence.
Only Shia organizations and activists arranged peaceful protests and sit-ins across country against Kurram incident while victims leveled severe allegations over LEAs.
They claimed that once again the entire world remained silent over Shia Target Killing in Pakistan like past.
