The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Thursday slammed the killing of over 100 people, predominantly the Shia Hazara, in a string of bombings in Quetta, Mingora and Karachi, and demanded the government to take immediate steps to clamp down on the murdering mayhem.
In a statement issued on Friday, the commission said that in the first few days of 2013, HRCP found itself lamenting for the second time against large-scale sectarian bloodshed in the country.
The callous targeting of the members of the Hazara community in Quetta in two of the three bombings on Thursday caused the highest death toll in a sectarian attack in a day in Pakistan so far.
The statement said that the lack of any apparent distress at these brutal attacks and absence of urgency to nab the killers prompted human rights organisations in the country and abroad to accuse the state of looking the other way as more and more citizens of the Shia community were being ”mowed down in these appalling attacks”.
“If the government has any trepidation regarding its failure to put an end to sectarian killings, it has certainly done a good job hiding it,” the statement said.
“How can attackers, in a city like Quetta, manage to get through security checkposts and kill innocent Shias?” it said
They said that the bloodshed in Mingora and Karachi on Thursday only demonstrate hastened descent into chaos as the general elections approach.
“The people expect much more from the police and the security forces than mere information on the nature of the explosions that claimed citizens’ lives.
A banned organisation has claimed responsibility for the Quetta bombings,” the statement said.
“The network and sanctuaries of banned outfits must be raided across Pakistan, including Punjab, and the killers should be apprehended and tried,” it said.
