...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
's All Saints Church or the bombings against the Hazara in Quetta, it is also true that the steady drip, drip of assassinations and vigilante 'justice' can be more dangerous. That is because over time they inure people to the discord and violence insidiously seeping into the warp and weft of society. In this context, the statement issued by the HRCP this week was much needed. Taking into account the many ways in which citizens' rights are violated here, it has shone a comprehensive light on the big picture, one that is exceedingly disturbing. For, while the attention of the nation, and its media, has been distracted by the sound and fury of the sit-ins that had been taking place and the series of mass rallies being staged in the country, the abuse of human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
has not only thrived, it has in fact gained in intensity.
The scourge of religious extremism, for one, has begun to manifest itself across a wider canvas, claiming ever more vulnerable victims. Among them is the small community of Zikris in southern Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
and the even tinier one of Sikhs in Peshawar. The beleaguered Shia Hazaras try to barricade themselves within self-contained ghettoes in Quetta for their safety (and even that tactic doesn't always work as the recent suicide kaboom against them illustrated). Pity the Ahmadis, for their murder does not even elicit a murmur of condemnation from officialdom. Meanwhile,
...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter wished he had a cup of coffee. Even instant would do...
sectarian killings in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
continue with barely a pause, claiming lives of ordinary people who have no choice but to go out into the streets for their daily bread. At the same time, raising a voice for victims of intolerance and bigotry has become increasingly challenging in a hostile environment. Blasphemy accused often cannot find lawyers to defend them, and the media, particularly in Balochistan, is menaced by threats from various quarters, including religious holy warriors. Despite the state's realisation, at least in part, of the folly of using religious proxies to further political ends, it appears unwilling, or unable, to take the bull by the horns. It is a mark of shame that those who fuel the flames of intolerance and carry out their blood-soaked agenda do so largely with impunity in Pakistain.