Carnage in Karachi

The horrifying bombing inside a mosque in Karachi’s historic Sindh Madressatul Islam during prayers on Friday has taken a tragic toll of innocent lives and brought us face to face again with the fires of sectarian hatred stoked by religious extremists and terrorists. At least 14 people died and more than 80 were injured, many critically, when a bomb placed by an unidentified man exploded in the midst of the congregation at the Hyderi mosque. The impact of the blast was so severe that the 40-foot-high ceiling of the mosque was badly damaged and splattered with blood. This is the second deadly attack of its kind in the last two months, the earlier one being a suicide attack on an Ashura congregation in Quetta when 44 lives were lost.

The frequency and lethal nature of recent bombings and sectarian attacks seem to suggest that the law enforcement and intelligence agencies whose job it is to prevent such occurrences are sitting idly on the sidelines doing practically nothing as the incidence of crime and violence mounts. Eery time a bombing takes place and innocent lives are lost, every senior government functionary expresses his resolve to track down the killers and bring them to justice and promises that elements behind such acts will be rooted out. And then all is forgotten about promised preventive and punitive action until another bomb blast occurs or another spree of religious or sectarian violence takes place. Karachi is dotted with security posts and barriers and citizens going on their daily business are checked and harassed, and yet the trouble-makers appear to enjoy the freedom of the city and strike at will.

This kind of approach is inherently flawed and will never lead to a reduction in terrorism because those who carry out such acts will always be a step ahead of the government and its preventive and control agencies. Ministers, or their masters, who keep on telling the public that the law and order situation in the country is under control or that extremism is being dealt with effectively should instead spend their time formulating strategies that succeed in preventing acts of terrorism. To be sure, this is not an easy task, especially when one does not fully understand the forces at work behind suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism, but how many attacks must take place for the government to realize that something is missing in its anti-terrorism strategy? One can understand that once, or perhaps twice, a terrorist attack catches the law enforcement agencies off guard, but for them to be caught unawares most of the time is inexcusable and, when one looks at the cost of such inaction, criminal.

Time and again, the president has reiterated that the government is committed to stamping out religious militancy, extremism and bigotry and wants to eliminate the scourge of sectarianism from Pakistani society. Such words need to be backed up with actions. Administrative measures, mostly taken only after some bombs have exploded and lives lost, are not enough. The government also needs to do something about the nurseries - the madressahs - some of which breed bigotry, intolerance and hatred for those belonging to other faiths and sects and to come down harshly on mosque imams openly preaching sectarian hatred and militancy.

In the longer-term, that is the only way sectarianism and intolerance in society can be curbed and violent acts of terrorism curtailed. It should also be realized that religious intolerance cannot be entirely separated from general intolerance, and that ultimately we have to cut ourselves away from the policies nurtured over the decades that have created our present bigoted state of mind. Meanwhile, although the feelings of anger and frustration generated by the Friday tragedy are understandable, the problem will not go away by random violence on the streets, and everyone should act with restraint.