excellent news. pakis putting theory expounded here into practice.Peregrine wrote:72
Cheers
an explosive innings where a paki greenest scored 72 for just one wicket in just one ball
excellent news. pakis putting theory expounded here into practice.Peregrine wrote:72
Cheers
The intelligence agencies have arrested 13 more accomplices of detained Research and Analysis Wings (RAW) agent Kulbhushan Yadav.
Sources said that the nabbed suspects are involved in terrorism, sectarian clashes and target killing; therefore, their arrest is being kept confidential. During investigation, it was revealed that as many as 500 Indian trained terrorists, posing as Muslims, have entered Pakistan.{AoA} In coming days, more arrests are likely to be made, added sources.
Meanwhile, the team investigating Kulbhushan Yadav has presented its report. As per report, the RAW agent has confessed that Indian government had deployed him in Pakistan. Moreover, the report also stated that Yadav was involved in funding for terrorism, separatism and sectarianism. Besides this his accomplices are still present in Karachi and Balochistan. Yadav was captured from the southern part of the province and was sponsoring terrorist activities. According to a Pakistani security official, the Indian national was involved in acts of sectarian terrorism and attacks in Karachi. Yadav has been moved to Islamabad using a special flight for interrogation. A Foreign Ministry’s statement described the incident as the “illegal entry into Pakistan by a RAW officer and his involvement in subversive activities in Balochistan and Karachi”. Last year, Pakistan’s permanent representative at the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi had handed over evidences of Indian interference in Balochistan and other parts of Pakistan to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Balochistan has been battling terrorism for past years while the army has repeatedly claimed that it is promoted by states hostile to Pakistan.
it is clear that Christians were targeted. Bakistani law discriminates agains non-muslims. One has to declare his/her religion on passport. And if it is Sunni muslim its ok, otherwise welcome to real hell. Having said that I personally find it in bad taste to celebrate death of 72 person (most of those are children). May I request Admins to issue some guideline for such events. There has to be some difference between these animals and us. Thanksdnivas wrote:excellent news. pakis putting theory expounded here into practice.Peregrine wrote:72
Cheers
an explosive innings where a paki greenest scored 72 for just one wicket in just one ball
No facilitation of Pathankot probe by Pakistani team: Indian defence ministerThe site of the attack has been handed over to the NIA and they will decide who should be allowed, the Defence Minister said.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Monday that no permission was granted to the Pakistani joint investigation team to visit the Pathankot airbase, which was attacked by terrorists in January.
Answering a question at a press conference at the DefExpo 2016, he said the Ministry had denied the team permission to go anywhere in the airbase. The site where the attack took place had been handed over to the National Investigation Agency, and “it was up to them [the NIA] to decide who should be allowed and who should not.”'
“The Defence Ministry has issued instructions that the spot where the crime had taken place should be barricaded and no visual allowed. The area has already been separated from the airbase, and is non-functional. Therefore, whether the joint investigation team will be taken to the crime scene or not is to be answered by the NIA. As far as our Ministry is concerned, we have issued directions that the crime scene be barricaded and visually obstructed and external entry given to the NIA alone. If I do not permit them this freedom to investigate, any failure of the investigation will be blamed on us,” he said.
Mr. Parrikar said the Pakistani team was denied permission to land at the airbase, to use defence vehicles and speak to defence personnel. “Now what the NIA shares with the investigation team and where it takes it is their decision,” he said.
This was the right move by GOI;even if permission was ever granted, the Pakis could not have been trusted to bring the jihadists to ultimate justice; on one pretext, or the other ("more evidence needed" excuse ), the process would have been stalled !The defence minister also said the area has been completely barricaded on his orders and any questions regarding access to the area should be directed towards NIA. “Whom to bring, when to bring is their [NIA] responsibility till they complete the investigation.”
He went on to say, “If I don’t permit them [NIA] this crime investigation freedom, then the crime investigation failure would be blamed on the Defence Ministry. We have isolated the area completely.”
New Delhi grants visa to Pakistan-based JIT for Pathankot attack probe
Parrikar said the crime scene was least sensitive and a non-functional area, except for a hostel for foreign cadres and mess.
“This [Pathankot attack] area is isolated and taken out from airbase till the investigation is completed. Permission to land at airbase has been refused; permission to use any of the defence instruments like vehicles has been refused. Permission to speak to any defence personnel has been refused,” he added.
+1rsingh wrote: it is clear that Christians were targeted. Bakistani law discriminates agains non-muslims. One has to declare his/her religion on passport. And if it is Sunni muslim its ok, otherwise welcome to real hell. Having said that I personally find it in bad taste to celebrate death of 72 person (most of those are children). May I request Admins to issue some guideline for such events. There has to be some difference between these animals and us. Thanks
In recent weeks, Pakistan's Islamist parties have threatened demonstrations to protest what they say is the Prime Minister's pro-Western stance
Thousands of protesters have clashed with police in Islamabad in the second day of protests over blasphemy laws in Pakistan.
Demonstrators gathered outside Parliament and other key buildings to demanding authorities implement Sharia, or Islamic law.
As many as 25,000 protesters occupied the high-security zone in Islamabad to press their demands, with some setting fire to cars. The army was deployed on Sunday to contain the rioters.
Demonstrators marched from the garrison town of Rawalpindi to Islamabad in protest at the execution of Mumtaz Qadri, who some hard-line Muslims consider a hero for murdering Punjab province governor Salman Taseer.
No grand strategy, he has lost the plot and so has Doval. I am shocked at this stupidity. How did Parrikar agree ? And Raha ?CRamS wrote:Meanwhile, we have this pathetic spectacle of the perpetrators of Patankot, the Paki ISI, being allowed to visit the AFB to supposedly investigate. I really feel sorry for ModiJi. He probably does have some grand strategy, whatever that might be, but here is a guy who spoke tough and now we have ISI making a complete arse of him and entire India. But leaving aside the optics, can the gurus tell me what each side is trying to achieve out of this circus? I mean for sure Pakis are in this for some good PR. Or do they have something else up their sleeve? Then what about India? I mean if this things end up as we expect, namely, TSP did not find enough "evidence" to do yada yada but does some window dressing by arresting some low level pigLeT, will that be enough for ModiJi to claim "victory".
Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have used the growing threat to argue that the West must better conform its policies to Turkey’s desires. In the wake of the Brussels attacks, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu chided Europe. “Europe has no partner other than Turkey to provide its regional security,” he declared, adding a subtle threat: “They should see this reality and act accordingly.” Meanwhile President Obama will welcome Erdoğan to Washington this week for a strategy meeting about countering the ISIS.
The reality Davutoğlu deliberately ignores, however, is his own country’s role in allowing ISIS to develop and metastasize. The Turkish government is adept at pulling the wool over Western officials’ eyes. Erdoğan pays lip service in meetings with European and American officials to the importance of both democracy and the Turkish partnership with the West, for example, declaring, “Secularism is the protector of all beliefs and religions.” He speaks differently to his Turkish audience. As mayor of Istanbul, he described himself as “the imam of Istanbul” and ...
More than 30,000 foreign fighters from as many as 100 countries now fight with the Islamic State. The bulk of these soldiers—perhaps 90 percent—crossed into the Islamic State from Turkey. Turkish visa policy contributes to the problem. A direct correlation can be drawn between foreign fighters serving ISIS and those nationalities from which Turkish authorities require no visa or provide waivers: Several thousand more Moroccans and Tunisians, who need no visas to transit Turkey, fight with ISIS in Syria and Iraq than Algerians and Libyans, who do. If Erdoğan simply required visas in advance for those under the age of 40 coming from countries like Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, and Jordan—or, for that matter, from Russia, the United Kingdom, and Australia—the flood of recruits into the Islamic State would slow to a trickle.
ISIS terrorists regularly traverse the Turkish border, not only for medical care but also for rest and relaxation. Some merchants in Istanbul openly sell ISIS propaganda and promise that proceeds from their sale will benefit the group’s fight in Syria and Iraq. Smugglers peddling contraband oil to fund ISIS rely on Turkey to bring the oil to market, paying off local and perhaps even national officials of the AKP, Turkey’s governing party, along the way.
Turkey has done more than lend passive support to Islamist radicals. In his 13 years in power, Erdoğan has transformed Turkey from a Western-leaning democracy into Pakistan-on-the-Mediterranean. There was, for example, the leak of documents from the Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı (MİT), Turkey’s intelligence service, showing Turkish support of the Nusra Front, an al Qaeda affiliate operating in Syria. And, rather than give medals to the Turkish soldiers who intercepted truckloads of weaponry destined for Syrian radicals, Erdoğan ordered their arrest.
Likewise, when Turkish journalists exposed—with photographic evidence—the transfer of munitions and other supplies from the Turkish border to ISIS, Erdoğan’s response was not to applaud the media but to seize the newspaper and arrest its editors and many of its reporters.
There is also evidence that, as Kurds fighting ISIS in Kobani in 2014 began to turn the tide against the radical group, Erdoğan and Turkish intelligence officials allowed ISIS fighters to pass through Turkey and attack Kobani from across the border, a flank the town’s largely Kurdish residents assumed was secure.
From the beginning, Erdoğan has looked at the Syrian refugee crisis not as a humanitarian tragedy but an arrow in his quiver. Inside Turkey, he has offered Sunni refugees Turkish citizenship if they settle in Turkish provinces currently dominated by the Shi‘ite offshoot Alevi sect. And, whereas the world condemns ISIS “genocide” against the Yezidi, the Yezidi who sheltered in Turkey were then victimized, again, by local AKP-run municipalities who refused to provide services offered to Sunni refugees.
Allowing Turkey to choose which refugees to send to Europe and promising to eliminate visa restrictions for Turks only rewards Erdoğan for his behavior and gives him additional leverage in his dealings with the West. Nor is this the type of policy Erdoğan’s neighbors would support. Earlier this year, King Abdullah II of Jordan told Congress, “The fact that terrorists are going to Europe is part of Turkish policy and Turkey keeps on getting a slap on the hand, but they are let off the hook.” He added that, “radicalization was being manufactured in Turkey.”
Abdullah’s message fell on deaf in ears in Washington, Brussels, Paris, and Berlin. It is Erdoğan who has the initiative as he pursues the Islamicization of Turkey and neo-Ottoman imperialism. He has built a Pakistan on the Mediterranean: an incubator of terror that markets itself as the only available partner of the West, with tragic results.
A suicide bomber linked to the Taliban has killed at least 70 people and wounded more than 300 others outside a park in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore.
The area was crowded at the time because Christians were gathering to celebrate the Easter holiday.
The Taliban faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar said it carried out the attack, adding that it was targeting Pakistan's Christian minority.
CheersSuperintendent Mustansar Feroz said most of the dead are women and children.
Parikkar didn't agree. See my post in the Pathankot thread. LinkAkshay Kapoor wrote:How did Parrikar agree ? And Raha ?
PATHANKOT (Staff Report) – Pakistan’s investigation team on Tuesday arrived in Pathankot to investigate the site of terrorist attack that occurred at the airbase on January 2 this year.
Reports said that the team was given a limited access to the airbase. The team was not even allowed to enter through the main gate. Strict security arrangements were made at the airbase during team’s stay.
Do you guys, three long-time posters as far as I can see, even read the posts before whining??!!!! Look at SSridhar's post: Clearly says they haven't been allowed on the base.CRamS wrote:Meanwhile, we have this pathetic spectacle of the perpetrators of Patankot, the Paki ISI, being allowed to visit the AFB to supposedly investigate. I really feel sorry for ModiJi. He probably does have some grand strategy, whatever that might be, but here is a guy who spoke tough and now we have ISI making a complete arse of him and entire India. But leaving aside the optics, can the gurus tell me what each side is trying to achieve out of this circus? I mean for sure Pakis are in this for some good PR. Or do they have something else up their sleeve? Then what about India? I mean if this things end up as we expect, namely, TSP did not find enough "evidence" to do yada yada but does some window dressing by arresting some low level pigLeT, will that be enough for ModiJi to claim "victory".
SSridhar wrote:Parikkar didn't agree. See my post in the Pathankot thread. LinkAkshay Kapoor wrote:How did Parrikar agree ? And Raha ?
STFU-TSP Govt airs video of Indian spy admitting involvement in Balochistan insurgency - DAWNInter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt-Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa and Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervez Rashid addressed a joint press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday.
The ISPR director general kicked off the joint presser by playing a 6-minute video of a RAW agent, who had been detained last week by law enforcement agencies in Balochistan. The video contained a confessional statement of Indian spy, Kul Bhushan Yadav, who is a serving Indian naval officer.
Earlier, there were reports that both will address a joint press conference. The announcement of the presser came a day after Pakistan Army launched a special paramilitary crackdown in Punjab, following an Easter Day bombing in the provincial capital of Lahore.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) head Lt Gen Asim Bajwa while addressing a joint press conference alongside Federal Information Minister Pervez Rashid on Tuesday termed the arrest of Indian spy and former Indian Navy officer Kulbushan Yadav a 'big achievement'.
Yadav was directly handled by the RAW chief, the Indian National Security Adviser and the joint secretary, Bajwa said.
"His goal was to disrupt development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with Gwadar port as a special target," Bajwa said, adding, "This is nothing short of state-sponsored terrorism... There can be no clearer evidence of Indian interference in Pakistan."
"If an intelligence or an armed forces officer of this rank is arrested in another country, it is a big achievement," Bajwa said, before going on to play a video of Yadav confessing to Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) involvement in Balochistan separatist activities in Pakistan.
In the video, Yadav, who hails from Mumbai, said he had joined India's National Defence Academy in 1987 before going on to join the Indian Navy in 1991.
"I am still a serving officer in the Indian Navy and will be due for retirement in 2022... After having completed 14 years of service." he said.
"By 2002, I commenced intelligence operations. In 2003, I established a small business in Chabahar in Iran. As I was able to achieve undetected existence and visits to Karachi in 2003 and 2004 and, having done some basic assignments within India for RAW, I was picked up by RAW in 2013 end," Yadav said.
Since then, he said he has been directing various activities in Karachi and Balochistan "at the behest of RAW", adding that he had played a role in the deteriorating law and order situation in Karachi.
"I am basically the man for Mr Anil Kumar Gupta who is the joint secretary of RAW and his contacts in Pakistan," he said, "especially in the Baloch student organisation". His purpose was to meet Baloch insurgents and carry out "activities with their collaboration", he explained.
"These activities have been of a criminal nature, they have been of an anti-national or terrorist nature," he said, as they resulted in the "killing or maiming of Pakistani citizens".
Can you confirm this with a credible news report? All reports I see they have been allowed inside the base although not to all areas.rajithn wrote: Do you guys, three long-time posters as far as I can see, even read the posts before whining??!!!! Look at SSridhar's post: Clearly says they haven't been allowed on the base.
They were allowed to the 'crime scene' which has been, for all intentions and purposes (visually & otherwise), segregated from the rest of the base. They were taken to the 'crime scene' through a separate access. << I am quoting all of these from publicly available news sources and not because of access to any "chaiwallahs".CRamS wrote:Can you confirm this with a credible news report? All reports I see they have been allowed inside the base although not to all areas.rajithn wrote: Do you guys, three long-time posters as far as I can see, even read the posts before whining??!!!! Look at SSridhar's post: Clearly says they haven't been allowed on the base.
But lets cut through the chase. Whom are we trying to kid over here. The mass murderers and perpetrators of terror against India are now "investigators" and allowed inside an elite air force base? Give me a break. You don't even need elementary TSP 101 to see the game TSP is playing, its a no brainer. And to witness this kind of a tragic climb down from "you do another Mumbai, you lose Baluchistan" looks so hollow and a cruel joke. Enough said. Lets just hope that Talibunnies next time at least strike closer to Pakijabis. Thats our best bet.
Not a whine or anything, just a statement of reality. Does ModiJi's and DovalJi's super tough talk in the past measure up to their actions on the ground now? Thats is the real test. The disgusting sordid spectacle of the ISI perpetrators on an Indian air force base supposedly collecting "evidence" is just that, ISI toying with ModiJi Doval combine. And pray, tell what f@cking evidence do they want? All the evidence is in TSP. I mean its one thing TSP to play games, but does India have to play along? That too a nationalist govt? Whatever happened to all that maacho talk about now that a nationalist govt is place, TSP better behave? You try Mumbai, then you lose Baluchistan?rajithn wrote:
Why don't we ever sit back and think through this? This is a long game. We WILL have to do some things that appear (I repeat, APPEAR) to be a 'climb down' (as you and some other respected posters take pains to point out) and all that sort of thing. There are things we will need to be seen doing and there are things we will do unseen. I am not referring to the now infamous "chanakyian" approach that we all seem to love poking fun at.
I am not sure where to put this, mods may delete or take elsewhere.CRamS wrote:.........BTW, this business about long Chanakyan game is in the eyes of the beholder. .............
The idea that there is anything "Chankian" about anything Indian today, is a laughable proposition. The fundamental premise that Chankyanism stands on is a deep love of country, its culture and most of its people, something completely missing in most Indians today. If one does not have deep affection for one's fellow citizen, nothing can be strategised other than treachery, nothing can be planned, other than thievery, nothing can be executed, other than scams, and nothing can be achieved, barring corruption, 10% growth and all, notwithstanding.Baikul wrote:I am not sure where to put this, mods may delete or take elsewhere.CRamS wrote:.........BTW, this business about long Chanakyan game is in the eyes of the beholder. .............
<OT> I do not agree with a lot of things you say, but on this point I am coming to the conclusion that India has no long term 'Chankian' game worth the candle - unless we're willing to define 'Chankian' as broad consensus on economic and social development among our elites (with notable exceptions).
To play Chankian geopolitical games effectively you need a consistent worldview, no matter who leads this nation. But how can Modi play the long game if his decisions are overturned by the next government? What Chankian strategies consistent with Modi's worldview will Rahul baba or Krajiwal or Nitish implement if they come to power?
Now that I think of it, how much political stability did Chanakya get to implement his Chankian strategies?
On the other hand, if we are saying that our bureaucracy, intelligence and military give us the stability to make long term Chankian decisions, then what we're really saying is that politicians can make little difference, Modi or anyone else. Think about it.
It seems to me that the true Chankian players are the Chinese, precisely because of this political consensus. </OT>
Pakistan's video of 'spy confession' a bid to force Nawaz Sharif hand on talks - Bharti Jain, ToIThe Pakistan government on Tuesday released alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav's confessional video in which he is shown owning up to clandestine activities in the country. The Indian government rejected the allegation that Jadhav had acted at its behest and counter-charged that the former navy officer was "tutored" by Pakistanis.
The video was aired during a joint press conference by Pakistan's information minister Pervez Rasheed and Army spokesman Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa in Islamabad.
"Jadhav, a serving Indian Navy officer, was directly handled by the RAW chief, the Indian National Security Adviser and RAW's joint secretary," Bajwa told reporters in Islamabad. "Your monkey is with us," Bajwa said, adding Yadav gave ISI the code to contact RAW that he has been arrested. But, in a statement Tuesday evening, MEA spokesperson demanded Pakistan give India immediate consular access to the person. MEA indicated India's investigations show a different narrative from the one Pakistan is putting out.
"Our enquiries reveal he apparently was being harassed while operating a legitimate business from Iran. While we probe this aspect further, his presence now in Pakistan raises questions, including the possibility of his abduction from Iran," the MEA statement said.
Denying the statements made by Jadhav in the video that he had been instigating Baloch organisations including students for "maiming and killing" Pakistanis, MEA said it denied "this individual was involved in subversive activities in Pakistan at our behest."
India has acknowledged Jadhav was an Indian citizen and a former naval officer. They have asked for consular access to him, which has been denied by Pakistan. "We have not been given consular access to an Indian national under detention in a foreign country, as is the accepted international practice. We are naturally concerned about his well-being in these circumstances," he said. Commenting on the statements, MEA said, "The video has this individual making statements which have no basis in fact. That the individual claims to make the statements of his own free will not only challenges credulity but clearly indicates tutoring."
The video, which has been edited and spliced, shows Jadhav saying he is a serving naval officer, that he joined the intelligence services since 2003 and has been running a spy operation in Balochistan from Iran with the aim of instigating terrorist incidents there.
Sources said this was Pakistan's way of trying to deflect attention from homegrown terror and pass on blame for all the recent violence in Pakistan on to India. Analysts say this is dangerous in the long run. By staging this charade, Pak authorities are refusing to address their domestic problem and making it impossible for India-Pakistan to ever normalize ties.
The "confession" of Kulbushan Jadhav showing him linking the RAW to the unrest in Balochistan may not be aimed solely at cornering India but rather an attempt by certain elements in the Pakistani security establishment to target their own PM for pushing talks with India.
"Sections within Pakistan are opposed to resumption of the dialogue. The timing of Jadhav's arrest was just ahead of Nawaz Sharif's expected meet with PM Modi in Washington. This is amply clear from the activity on Pakistani social media following Jadhav's arrest. With Sharif now calling off his US visit, the purpose of playing up the arrest appears to have been served," said an intelligence officer.
Sources in the Indian security establishment also see many discrepancies in Jadhav's "confession". His claim that he was treated with "honour and respect" the moment he revealed his identity sounds a bit rich considering that Pakistan is rarely known to "respect" PoWs in line with global conventions.
Another give-away is the alleged reference to Jadhav working under the directions of the RAW chief. Officers say the RAW is certainly not so dumb as to expose its top man to agents working in one of the most difficult regions.
Another give-away is the alleged code cited by Jadhav for a RAW spy being caught. "The script-writer must be commended for his sense of humour in coming up with a code like 'Your monkey is with us'," said an Indian intelligence officer.
Jadhav was into ferrying cargo from Chabahar port in Iran and would probably have strayed in Pak waters. He could have also been abducted once his Indian connection was established. The rest was a familiar script, crudely written and liberally peppered with Jadhav’s ‘confessions’.The sequence of events leading to his capture and the haste with which the Indian high commissioner was summoned by the Pakistan foreign office to hand over a letter of protest over the incident, actually betrays Islamabad’s maturity in framing an Indian. Their shoddy homework will soon get exposed as they agree to give the Indian high commission consular access to Jadhav or allow Indian investigators to interrogate him along with their Pakistani counterparts. That Islamabad would concede for either is highly unlikely.A few points need to be clarified here. RAW chiefs never meet field operatives, never send its officers directly or individually to operate in hostile areas and never issue identity cards or any document that may link the agents with the agency. These are some of the very basic precautions. Islamabad obviously imagines that RAW consists of buffoons and blundering officers. The Indian social media is also outraged that why the ISI can get hold of a naval commander, whereas RAW can’t even capture a captain.We must understand that unlike Pakistan, India does not have the luxury of a vast number of people who are eager to spy against their country. No Pakistani Hindu or Christian will ever dare to work for India. RAW, as a matter of policy, never risks its ordinary people by recruiting them as subversive agents. Pakistani Muslims are never targeted for one is never sure of their links with the army, ISI or terrorist groups in a country where their writ runs large. In such a situation, sending a retired navy officer on a solo terrorist mission to Balochistan in an extremely unfriendly environment is simply ridiculous.The Indian foreign office rightly owned up Kulbhushan as an Indian citizen and sought consular access to swiftly bury the Pakistani mischief. Delhi cannot abandon its nationals, serving or doing business in any part of the world.
I guess they missed out 'dignity'!Sources in the Indian security establishment also see many discrepancies in Jadhav's "confession". His claim that he was treated with "honour and respect" the moment he revealed his identity sounds a bit rich considering that Pakistan is rarely known to "respect" PoWs in line with global conventions.
A lot of Christians quoted here towing the TSP Gov line. Reading this would give no one an idea of the depth of fault lines existing in Pakistan because of religion.A year ago, Wasif Masih, 16, had a narrow escape when a suicide bomber from a faction of the Pakistani Taliban blew himself up during Sunday worship outside his church in a Christian neighborhood in the eastern city of Lahore.
This past Easter Sunday, Wasif died when the same Taliban faction, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, sent another suicide bomber to a Lahore park full of families, killing 72 people including at least 29 children.
Wasif was so close to the blast that the bomber’s head fell at his feet, his mother, Zubaida Masih, said as the family mourned at their house in Nishtar Colony, a neighborhood with both Christian and Muslim families.
“It was as if they were following him. He escaped them then but they came after him again, in the park,” Masih said. “If there was better security, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Two days after the attack, a sense of vulnerability is growing among members of the Christian community, who are calling on the government of Muslim-majority Pakistan to do more to protect them. Christians, who number around 2 million in a nation of 190 million people, have been the target of a series of attacks in recent years.
Last March, suicide bombers struck Masih’s Christ Church and another close by, killing at least 14 people. In 2013, a pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up outside a 130-year-old church in Peshawar after Sunday Mass, killing at least 78 people.
Now the Easter attack by Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, which once swore support for Islamic State, has fueled worries that militants in Pakistan are increasingly subscribing to the IS brand of ultra-sectarian violence against those perceived as infidels. “Terrorists didn’t used to be so focused on our community. Now all their attention is on us,” said Irshad Ashnaz, the Christ Church vicar.
“Perhaps it’s time for the government to turn their attention toward us also.” “These people are roaming around freely and no one is stopping them,” Ashnaz said at the church, its windows cemented over after the attack. Pope Francis condemned the attack as “hideous” and demanded that Pakistani authorities protect religious minorities.
“PEOPLE WHO LIVE TO DIE” Since the attack, Pakistan’s deadliest since the 2014 massacre of 134 school children at a military-run academy in Peshawar, authorities have launched a crackdown on Islamist militants in the Punjab province, the country’s richest and most populous and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s political heartland.
On Tuesday, a provincial minister said authorities had detained more than 5,000 militant suspects but later released most of them. Punjab government spokesman Zaeem Qadri said the government had stepped up security at churches after the previous attacks, which was why militants had picked a park this time. He said over the past year, the government had uncovered more than 200 plots and arrested around 15,000 suspects. “Parks are public places. On a public holiday there should have been more vigilance. But there was a gap,” Qadri said.
Christians “are as safe as anyone else. They are as safe as any other Pakistani is.” Irfan Jamil, the bishop of Lahore, said the government was trying its best. “There are people who live to live and there are people who live to die,” Jamil said. “How much protection is enough protection against such people?” But he added, “There is always room for improvement. Many of us don’t feel that we are secure.”
UNKNOWN VICTIM On Tuesday, survivors lined the wards of Jinnah hospital in Lahore. The explosion wounded more than 300 people. Above each bed is a sign that says, ‘blast victim’, followed by the victim’s name. One bed is only marked with the word “unknown.” A three-year-old boy whose lungs were punctured and eyes gouged out is struggling to breathe through a tube. Visitors have placed flowers and juice packs next to his pillow. “We don’t know who he is,” a nurse said as she held his hand. “Two days after the blast, no one has come looking for him.”
Amid the fear, many Christians called for unity and brotherhood. At a vigil on Monday in Gulshan e Iqbal park, where the bomber struck, Father Jamal Albert said the message is “whether you are Christian, Hindu, Jewish or Muslim, you are unsafe and they are trying to break down our nation, destroy our sense of oneness, our sense of being Pakistanis”. He added: “Rest assured we will not be deterred by such episodes. This is our country just as much as anyone else’s. In fact we are more resolved than ever to go on.”
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/pa ... ster-bomb/ | Al-Masdar News