Pakistan’s religious harmony under attack

“You are free; you are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the State.” Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Pakistan was created with an idea of a welfare state, which would serve all its citizens on equal basis irrespective of their religious beliefs.But soon after its creation it lost the plot when the religious fundamentalism started to gain roots in the country. No one could have ever imagined that Pakistan will be facing the most dangerous threats from the religious terrorism in the future. Ironically, Pakistan has suffered almost every kind of wound by the hands of terrorists in the last decade, whether it’s an attack on school bus or a security breach in the army headquarters, terrorists have always kept an upper hand in this cat n mouse game of terror.  Terrorists haven’t spared the minorities as well, they kept on attacking them once and again in order to sabotage peace and instigate religious and sectarian clashes in the country. Pakistan’s religious harmony received another brutal jolt on Sunday Sept. 22nd when a pair of suicide bombers detonated their explosives outside a century old historic All Saints Church in Peshawar, killing over 85 people in the deadliest-ever attack on the country’s Christian minority. This bombing in Peshawar, which wounded another 140 people, underlines the threat posed by Islamic extremists as the government seeks a peace deal with domestic Taliban militants.

Imran Khan the chairman of ruling party in the KPK, PTI tried to misguide the masses soon after the carnage by saying that; the attacks on the Church is “a plot against the peace talks” only to bring shame for himself when “Jandullah” a faction of TTP accepted the responsibility for the cowardly attacks on innocent Pakistani Christians. This is not the first time that Khan has tried to act as a spokesman for TTP, his soft corner for TTP and apologetic remarks have also earned him the title of “Taliban Khan” in general public. Imran’s recent statement after the inhumane attacks on the church in Peshawar, in which he asked the federal government for allowing TTP (a banned terrorist outfit) to open their offices across the country made people to chew their fingers.  His childish advice has been widely criticized by the masses, especially by the families of the TTP madness victims.

On the other hand all the political parties; except the pro peace talks right hand JI, JUI(F) and PTI; have strongly condemned these suicide attacks and declared them as a crime against humanity. In the wake of these brutal attacks, which claimed more than 85 precious human lives, MQM once again took the most firm stand and its Chairman AltafHussain was the first national leader to take notice of this horrifying act of terror. He didn’t only condemn these devastating attacks with full ferocity but also called them a conspiracy by the TTP to harm and sabotage the religious harmony in the country.The decision makers of the party declared three day mourning for the victims, in which all the parliamentarians of MQM visited the churches in their constituencies and met with the Christian community members to show solidarity with them. A Peace vigil was also organized at MQM headquarters 90 for the victims of Peshawar church blast. People from all walks of lives participated and showed solidarity with the Christian community, which is an integral part of Pakistani society.

The basic purpose of giving details about the contrast stances of PTI and MQM is to show the true picture to the masses. On one hand Imran Khan who pretends to be the most popular leader in PTI ruled KPK seems to be trying his best to demoralize the people and the security agencies by saying that TTP should be allowed to open their offices across Pakistan.  On the other hand MQM chief AltafHussain and his party have opted for a quite brave and clear stand on the Taliban issue. MQM, which itself have suffered a lot of deaths of party workers for their anti Talibanization stand, has never surrendered their strong view point. AltafHussain has time and again said very clearly that peace talks can be started only after the unconditional surrender by the TTP and their road map would be decided by all the political stakeholders rather than 1 or 2 individuals.