Editorial
Karachi mayhem
We condemn the cowardly act of violence
We strongly condemn the suicide bomb attack on a procession of supporters of Pakistan's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi that left at least 133 people dead and nearly 400 injured. It was a dastardly act orchestrated by some extremist elements who apparently wanted to display their crude strength at the very outset of her reaching home after spending over eight years in exile. In an instant reaction Ms Bhutto has pointed her finger at the failure of the intelligence agencies.
In the violence-ridden and apparently conspiracy-prone political environment of Pakistan one might treat the mindless carnage as the calling card of the opponents telling Benazir Bhutto that her present round in politics would be frequently punctuated by murder and mayhem. The ferocity with which they struck on Thursday only belittles whatever security measures the Pakistani government had taken to ensure her safe return home.
In the chequered history of Pakistan we have observed how the extremist elements proliferated in the country and how these groups had gotten armed to the teeth over the years. Gunfight on a protest rally of lawyers had taken many lives some months back. And the incident of deaths and destruction in Red Mosque in Islamabad further reinforced our belief that democracy will not be safe in Pakistan as long as armed extremist groups will continue to exist in that society.
It was correct for the Bangladesh government along with the world community to condemn in strong words the tragic incident in Karachi. Most world leaders termed the attack as a move to strangle freedom in Pakistan. We, on our part, also think that it is freedom and democratic aspirations of the people that suffer most in such cowardly and covert acts of violence.
We believe Bangladesh has a patent lesson to learn from the tragic incident in Pakistan. We have had our quota of political violence and we have also seen proliferation of obscurantist elements in our society who would strike at the very base of our society, including the free press, at the first opportunity. The good part of the story is we as a nation have the innate endowments to welcome and the strength to practice democracy and create a just society. But democracy can only flourish in an environment free of violence of any kind. Therefore, we shall have to be on guard so that no fringe group can propagate violence, and spread militancy and extremism.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments