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making Pakistan unlivable as anyone else.”
December 3: HRCP called the destruction of over 100 tombstones at a
graveyard for Ahmadis in Lahore an unmistakable act of intimidation and
escalation in the campaign of hate and violence against the Ahmadi community.
The attack in Lahore was shocking because it did not occur in a remote village
but in the heart of the country’s second largest city. The commission said:
“The trauma such an incident has caused to an increasingly persecuted
community should not be very difficult to imagine. The attackers’ success in
overpowering several persons at the graveyard and completing the destruction
in half an hour shows that the incident was well-planned. It seems that the
identity of the perpetrators might not be quite so obscure even though the
attackers themselves wore masks. The police should have some strong leads
to work on already… The message that the attackers wanted to convey was
simple: that they could act with impunity and without fear of any repercussions
if Ahmadis were at the receiving end. If the authorities want to send a different
message, the time to act is now.”
December 31: HRCP said it was unfortunate that on the last day of 2012
HRCP once again found itself sympathying with families mourning the coldblooded
murder of Shia pilgrims in an attack on Iran-bound buses in Mastung.
The only reason these men were attacked was that they subscribed to the Shia
belief. This was not the first time in 2012 that the Iran-bound buses of Shia
pilgrims were attacked in Mastung, nor the first time during the year that the
UN Secretary General had expressed concern over killings of Shia citizens in
Pakistan. The targeted buses had security escorts, but those did not prevent
the attack. HRCP said that it had no claim to expertise on security issues but it
must unambiguously emphasize that many measures could have been taken to
prevent this latest bloodshed; it could not be prevented because none of those
steps were taken. More than anything else, ending sectarian violence in Pakistan
was a question of priority and commitment. Neither had been in evidence.
“Without taking the hate campaigns head on, putting an end to impunity for
the perpetrators of these attacks and denying them space to operate, the security
escorts for pilgrims’ buses are little more than vehicles waiting to take dead
bodies to morgues after every attack. It would be naïve to think that those
behind the killing sprees, and those acquiescing by refusing to take action,
would voluntarily stop the pursuit of bloodshed. It is also about time to
investigate and expose any and all support the death-mongers enjoy inside the
security agencies.”
Health
July 2: HRCP noted with concern the suffering heaped on the people by
the prolonged strike of doctors in the Punjab and the provincial government’s
failure to amicably resolve the matter even after months of wrangling. It said
that protests and strikes by doctors were not unheard of in Pakistan but they
had never led to suspension of emergency care. HRCP believed that doctors
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State of Human Rights in 2012