04-10-2007, 11:46 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Violence in Parachinar
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Sir: According to sources from Parachinar, <b>a sectarian clash causing 65 deaths, 140 injuries and 82 torched </b>shops was due to poor management by the political administration. It is mentioned that the administration was informed that a few miscreants in the procession of Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi were waving anti-Shia slogans and shouting insulting chants. When the administration failed to take appropriate action, a group of enraged Shiites took out a separate procession, which was fired at by paramilitary militia, killing two protesters, thus opening a flood-gate of burning, injuring and killing.
<b>Kurram Agency is the only agency where Al Qaeda or Taliban could not make a firm base due to its significant Shia population</b>. It is well known that a vast majority of Shiites in Pakistan oppose the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Kurram Agency is no exception to Taliban opposition. In the past, there had always been a balanced politico-military administration comprising of Shia and Sunni officers. General Zia had changed that arrangement, creating anxiety among the Shia population who comprise the majority in Upper Kurram. Since then, this agency has become a burning pot of sectarian violence.
I hope that the government will order a judicial inquiry, not only to find out the cause of the present disturbance but also to explore the reasons for the disproportionate administrative set-up, and come up with feasible proposals to permanently rout the sectarian menace from this otherwise peaceful agency.
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Surprising, how we missed this news.
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Sir: According to sources from Parachinar, <b>a sectarian clash causing 65 deaths, 140 injuries and 82 torched </b>shops was due to poor management by the political administration. It is mentioned that the administration was informed that a few miscreants in the procession of Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi were waving anti-Shia slogans and shouting insulting chants. When the administration failed to take appropriate action, a group of enraged Shiites took out a separate procession, which was fired at by paramilitary militia, killing two protesters, thus opening a flood-gate of burning, injuring and killing.
<b>Kurram Agency is the only agency where Al Qaeda or Taliban could not make a firm base due to its significant Shia population</b>. It is well known that a vast majority of Shiites in Pakistan oppose the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Kurram Agency is no exception to Taliban opposition. In the past, there had always been a balanced politico-military administration comprising of Shia and Sunni officers. General Zia had changed that arrangement, creating anxiety among the Shia population who comprise the majority in Upper Kurram. Since then, this agency has become a burning pot of sectarian violence.
I hope that the government will order a judicial inquiry, not only to find out the cause of the present disturbance but also to explore the reasons for the disproportionate administrative set-up, and come up with feasible proposals to permanently rout the sectarian menace from this otherwise peaceful agency.
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Surprising, how we missed this news.