Effective steps urged to end sectarian violence - The News International

Karachi

 

With sectarian violence escalating throughout the city, various religious and political parties issued strong statements condemning the murders of Shias and Sunnis in the city and many of them called on the government to adopt urgent measures to control the volatile situation.

 

The Coordination Committee of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement condemned the slaying of people belonging to the Sunni and Shia schools of thought in Karachi. It added that the relentless killing had left the city at the mercy of terrorists and there was nobody to safeguard the lives and property of the people.

 

The Coordination Committee that the savage terrorists involved in the killings of Shia and Sunni and other people wanted to erode sectarian harmony. The party said that the murders in the city were part of a despicable conspiracy to create instability in the country.

 

The Rabita Committee appealed to Sunni and Shia scholars to exercise patience and forbearance. It also asked them to form committees in their respective areas to protect the people and defuse sectarian tension. The party expressed its sorrow over the killings and extended its sympathies to the grieving families and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.

 

It appealed to Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad and Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah to call a meeting of the heads of law-enforcing agencies and take definite steps to end the bloodshed.

 

'36 Shias killed in Nov'

 

The Jaffria Alliance (JA) drew the attention of the authorities to the ongoing wave of sectarian violence and stated that 36 Shias had fallen victim to killings during the month of November.

 

JA spokesman Ali Ahmer, while speaking to The News, said that Shias were being targeted by criminals and not a single one of the killers had been arrested.

 

On the other hand, Jamaat-e-Islami spokesman Sarfraz Ahmed said that there was no tension between Shias and Sunnis and the killings in the city were targeted attacks and not sectarian in nature. He added that the government had failed to apprehend a single target killer. Sunni Tehrik spokesman Fahim Sheikh echoed the views of the JI and said that there was no sectarian violence in the city and that all the killings were targeted attacks,

 

He blamed the reconciliatory policy of the government for the spate of violence and pointed out that people were being murdered on a daily basis despite the notice taken by the Supreme Court.

 

Resignation demanded

 

The Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen has demanded that the Sindh governor and chief minister should resign over their failure to have those killing members of the Shia community arrested.

 

"The government has miserably failed and therefore, the governor and the chief minister should resign," MWM spokesperson Maulana Sadiq Zafar Taqvi told The News on Sunday.

 

PLF

 

The Palestine Foundation of Pakistan (PLF) demanded on Sunday that the government should ensure the immediate arrest of those responsible for the murder of Allama Aftab Haider Jafri.

 

The renowned Shia scholar was a member of the PLF Pakistan's central patrons committee. Addressing a press conference, the office-bearers of the PLF Pakistan lamented that the government and the law enforcement agencies had failed bring the law and order situation under control.