Thursday, Sep 26, 2002
Thursday, Sep 26, 2002 |
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By B. Muralidhar Reddy
The killings brought back memories of the manner in which the reporter of the Wall Street Journal, Daniel Pearl, was brutally murdered in the same city some time in January/February this year. It appears all the victims of the latest incident were tied up in chairs with their hands behind their backs and their mouths taped before being shot point-blank in the head. Barring one, all other victims died on the spot. There is one survivor who was beaten but not shot. The shooting, in a third floor of a 13-storeyed building on a busy road, was the latest in a string of violent attacks against Christians and Westerners. After the dramatic arrest of Ramzi, one of the suspected planners behind the September 11 attack, and the subsequent busting of a gang of 24 persons of a militant group, the Pakistan Government had claimed to have broken the "back bone" of the terrorist groups operating in the country. After today's gruesome incident, it appears the claim has proved to be hasty. The killings have once again brought to fore the nature of the challenge faced by the Musharraf regime from the fundamentalist forces, particularly since it chose to join the U.S.-led coalition in the "war against terrorism". Till late on Wednesday evening, authorities had no clue about the identity of the killers. The Pakistan Interior Minister, Moinuddin Haider, told reporters here that it was an act of terrorism by those opposed to Pakistan and it would be a matter of time before the police got them. Today's killings occurred at the third-floor offices of the Institute for Peace and Justice, or Idara-e-Amn-o-Insaf, a Pakistani Christian charity. It is involved in welfare activities for municipal textile workers in the city. The organisation also brings out a journal. Police have said that they have recovered eight empty shell casings, one for each of those shot. Five of the dead were found seated in the main room at the office, and the sixth was tied to a chair in the bathroom. Police are questioning an office assistant who was tied up and beaten by the attackers, but not shot. It appears that the office had an electronic door that could only be opened from the inside. The office assistant has told police there were two gunmen involved in the shooting. Targeted attacks on Christian organisations have killed at least 36 people and injured about 100 since Gen. Musharraf's decision in September last year to join the U.S. war in the neighbouring Afghanistan. Condemning the incident, Zia Ahmed Awan, President of Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA) said that despite the claims of Government the threat from terrorists remained very real across the country. In a statement here he said, "trained terrorists — well armed, well-planned and well-funded have played havoc with the Pakistani society''. According to LHRLA's research, since January 2002, terrorists have killed 25 doctors, nine lawyers and three professionals of NGOs.
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