Ashura tragedy in Karachi

I have been trying to come to terms with what tragedy has transpired in my dear city two days ago. I mentioned in my previous post about how the violent Kharjiites of old remind me of the Taliban of today, having the same misguided principles of La Hukma La Illah, willing to go to great lengths to impose their way of thinking on others, and not hesitating for a second to take innocent lives. As I write this, reports are coming in that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have claimed responsibility for the heinous attack. May God curse them all, and hasten their removal from our country at the hands of our troops. Amen!

It was interesting to see how quickly CNN branded these attacks as having been carried out by Sunni extremits. True, we've witnessed a lot of violence against us in the past courtesy of Sipah e Sahaba and the like, but the fact that they were so quick to label the perpetrators of this crime reekes of something else. BBC were not far behind either, claiming that sectarian strife is extremely high in Karachi since the attack. Clearly, they haven't been looking around the same city I have. Nothing could be further from the truth and let me state it very clearly: There is no shia-sunni split in Karachi right now.

And to all those people questioning the very reason for taking out such processions in times of such distress: My friends, you clearly have no idea how resilient we can be and have clearly not read up on the history of the tragedy of Karbala. We, the azadars, have persevered over the ages in the face of the most violent oppressors. There was a time when going to Karbala or taking out a procession meant certain death, yet people still did it. That spirit will never change. And as proof you shall see the remainder of the processions this year and for years to come in Karachi and across Pakistan. There is no greater honor than to die in the cause of Hussain (A.S).

As I was entering the Ashura procession that day, and being frisked by security I remember thinking about how easy it would be for a suicide bomber to claim 40-50 lives just by detonating right there at the entrance where everyone was being frisked as it was jam-packed at the time. Sadly, this fear is nothing to new for us Shias in Pakistan as several of our masajids and imambargahs have been the target of such attacks in the past, but that does not mean we will stop going to masajids or imambargahs as events that have been inside compounds didn't discourage these animals attacking us.

I also feel bad for the hundreds of scouts and security personnel who were working hard to ensure everything was smooth in and around Nishtar Park, and later in the procession. I would like to pay special tribute to the brave Ranger (Abdul Razzaq) and scout who reportedly stopped the bomber from entering the main procession, eventually saving many lives. A lot of people owe their lives to those guys.

The mood in the city since the attack has been expectedly somber, and there is great anger at the losses suffered by the traders at the hands of miscreants. The need of the hour is action, and swift one at that. It is too soon for us to forget incidents like May 12th, December 27ththat now we have to live with this one as well. We need to ensure that this does not happen again. And the only way that can be done is to capture the people behind it in the short-term, and in the long-term develop a disaster management system that actually works. Also, law-enforcement agencies must cope with such situations right there and then. I would even propose firing warning shots or, as a last resort, shooting people setting public property on fire on such a large scale. This must not be allowed to happen at all.

Lastly, I'd like to pray for the souls martyred in the attack, and the swift recovery of those that were injured. Peace.

Related Links:

Ammar Faheem - Karbala-e-Karachi

Ammar Yasir - Are you ready to surrender your life to Terrorism?