Yet another sectarian carnage

This year's Ashura passed peacefully, generating a general sense of relief, which proved to be short-lived. Sectarian terrorists struck in Khanpur with wanton brutality on Sunday exploding a bomb as mourners were leaving an Imambargah to join the main Chehlum procession, killing 18 people, including five children and their mother, and causing serious injuries to more than 20 others. As is the wont of people on such occasions, they vented their rage by attacking everything in sight, including a police station, shops and vehicles forcing the local administration to seek the help of Rangers. Their anger was justified since the government had failed to provide them security in the face of an imminent threat. Notably, Interior Minister Rehman Malik had taken credit for the maintenance of peace during Ashura, thanking the Taliban for co-operation. He had rightly drawn severe criticism for expressing gratitude to those subjecting innocent people to ruthless violence. His reaction to the latest carnage is unclear; others concerned seemed to want to shift the blame. The DCO said it was the responsibility of the police, in particular the Special Branch, to ensure security. True, acts of terrorism perpetrated by determined religious fanatics cannot be prevented through administrative measures alone. But scores of policemen performing security duty have also lost their lives while trying to prevent suicide bombers from accomplishing their nefarious missions. An effective counter-terrorism strategy requires a holistic approach of which good intelligence work is a vital component, indeed. There is need also to put an in place a sound witness protection system. As it is, even when perpetrators are arrested and tried in anti-terrorism courts, more often than not they go scot-free because witnesses are too scared for their own safety to come forward and provide evidence against them. Another issue is that the police reports in such cases are too weak, and lack the evidence that can stand in a court of law. The courts, of course, have to act strictly within the legal bounds, and cannot nay must not, punish anyone on the basis of insufficient proof. Clearly, the government ought to undertake necessary steps to address these two vital issues. Unabated sectarian violence is an unintended outcome of an ill-conceived policy that unleashed dark forces beyond the control of that policy's architects. The menace has been endangering public security for more than two decades now, weakening the government's ability to enforce its writ in certain areas. What happened in Khanpur is a horrific reminder of the urgency to rid this society of the menace of violent sectarianism. Copyright Business Recorder, 2012