And hollow promises of security by the provincial government
The minorities were given assurance by the Quaid-e-Azam that they would enjoy full freedom to practise their religion in the country about to be carved out from British India. What is being allowed to happen in Pakistan is a negation of the founding father’s undertaking given in the historic address to the Constituent Assembly on 11 August, 1947. After the infamous attack on All Saints Church in Peshawar in 2013, two churches were attacked in Lahore on Sunday.
The attack has exposed Punjab government’s claims about having taken the lead on other provinces in implementing the National Action Plan (NAP) for dealing with terrorists. In January Punjab claimed that it had executed a record number of terrorists, arrested hundreds of suspects, conducted thousands of search operation, registered several thousand cases of misuse of loudspeakers and confiscated 1,085 items of hate material. One thing of crucial importance that the Punjab government failed to undertake was improving the performance of its several intelligence bodies. The outcome speaks louder than the claims.
Despite being on the run, the TTP components in Punjab still possess the capacity to conduct devastating terrorist attacks. During the last four months the Jamaatul Ahrar faction of the TTP has targeted common people, policemen and members of the Shia and Christian communities. Four months back, as many as 60 people died in a suicide attack claimed by the network at Wagah. In January the terrorists targeted an imambargah in Rawalpindi killing eight worshippers. In February they again killed eight, including police officers in an attack on Police HQs in Lahore. The two suicide attacks on Lahore churches on Sunday led to the killing of 15 innocent persons and left 30 seriously wounded.
The attacks led to a violent reaction among the beleaguered minority. The enraged youth attacked private vehicles and reportedly killed two suspects. While the government’s negligence to secure the minorities’ places of worship deserves to be condemned, resort to violence by anyone for whatever purpose needs also to be discouraged.