Sectarianism: a raging fire that is more than just eager to engulf everyone that comes across its path, a monster in its true sense. Targeting a certain community on the basis of its religious beliefs is against the very principles of equality and freedom. As heterogeneous a society as ours must be tolerant enough to take account of others’ religious inclination. An equal responsibility lies on the government as well that has shown a perennial lack of control over state apparatus in handling this sensitive issue.
The silence of our state agencies and LEAs is deafening in more than one way. As many as five innocent Shias were murdered in a blatant disregard to fundamental rights enshrined and guaranteed by our constitution. The way Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has taken responsibility of this attack adds insult to the injury, that the killers are not only scot free but also boasting of their damning deeds. This sort of incidents have taken place along the entire length and breadth of the motherland. Such activities breed nothing but extremism and fanaticism of which we already have had enough. Even the seats of higher learning are not free from this malaise. Karachi University, for instance, has become home to these organisations who are hell bent to manipulate what comes their way. Sectarian literature is being published and distributed under the nose of Rangers, deployed there to prevent such incidents. We sure can’t afford any more dividing factors.
A divided polity is not a good thing, but one that is almost impossible to avoid in this global age. Maintaining a balance is what that really matters. With global alliances taking shift on the same sectarian basis – Saudi Arabia wants to enlist Pakistan’s help in countering Iran’s influence in Gulf countries, and Pakistan’s for-hire mercenaries in Bahrain on Saudi Arabia’s behest – make it even more prudent to have a balanced approach to this fire spewing dragon. Meanwhile, on the home front our security agencies, besides keeping a tab on terrorists, should also keep under vigilance any sectarian activity.