Killings at mosque shock Pak.

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, MARCH 13.In the continuing spiral of sectarian violence in Pakistan, nine persons including a 12 year old boy were killed in Lahore town on Monday night when unidentified masked men sprayed bullets on them when they were offering prayers at a mosque.

The incident that has sent shock waves all over the country is a grim reminder of the influence and gun power of some of the extremist religious organisations. In the last four weeks, at least 50 people fell victims of sectarian hatred in different parts of Pakistan.

On March 4, 13 persons, including two policemen, were killed in Sheikhpura town in Punjab province in one of the worst incidents of sectarian violence. A few days before in Hangu town in North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) at least 13 people were killed in heavy exchange of fire between the rival factions.

That the incident in Lahore on Monday night should have taken place on a day when the Chief Executive and military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, and the Interior Minister, Lt. Gen. (retd.) Moinuddin Haider, were in town is a reflection of the grim situation.

Hours before the incident, Gen. Musharraf and the Minister had talked about the resolve to come down on organisations preaching hatred and spreading the cult of violence.

Authorities in Pakistan had anticipated sectarian trouble in the wake of the execution of an accused, belonging to an extremist religious group, in the murder of the Iranian diplomat. They had taken hundreds of activists of religious extremist groups into custody in different parts of the country and still could not prevent outbreak of violence within hours after the execution. Shia-Sunni clashes have become a common feature in Pakistan in the last few years. There have been several incidents of clashes between the activists of the two sects in the current year particularly in the provinces of Punjab and Sindh.

The general perception is that the mushroom growth of extremist religious organisations in the 80's and 90's has done enormous damage to the social fabric of the Pakistani society. Much of the blame for the rise of these organisations is put on the erstwhile dictator and military ruler of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq.

The rising graph of sectarian violence is one of the factors that has prompted the military government to announce measures to curb the activities of extremist religious organisations. The ambitious plans of the Musharraf Government to `de-weaponise' society and make the religious and militant outfits respect the law of the land has met with little success so far.

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Section  : International
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