When I returned home this evening, I saw the gruesome pictures showing yet more innocent people killed while preparing to worship in Lahore, Pakistan. The Data Ganj Baksh is one of the most prominent mosques in Pakistan’s second largest city. As a human rights activist, these attacks on innocent civilians provoke the most outrage. Given that it comes just days after the last despicable terrorist attack in Lahore, I’m left asking, when will the horror end? Raza Rumi, a prominent writer on Sufism says it better than I can:
This is a barbaric attack and should serve as a wake up call. Data Saheb’s shrine is not just another crowded place – it represents a millenia of tolerant Sufi Islam which is directly under attack by the puritans.Last year, there were threats and the government had closed the place for a day or two. This time the worst of nightmares has come true.
And when I hear, as was the case in this terrorist attack “the bombers used devices packed with ball-bearings to maximise the impact of their attack” you cannot help but be angry about this attack and to grieve for the families whose lives were snuffed out for no reason. Let’s not spend justify it by blaming “outside forces”, let’s find the perpetrators. We must stand shoulder to shoulder with the victims and their families in seeking justice for this heinous act.
Dear Mr Acharya,
My cordial greetings, my brother.
Respectfully, & with utmost sympathy for your justified outrage at such senseless acts, i still feel the problem in your view is —
You have neither a strategy NOR a tactic.
For you have only ONE aim, the most shortsighted & rhetorical of all — let's find the "perpetrators" of this one deed.
This call has all the mental breadth & width AND OUTCOME of a cowboy posse.
IF you find them — what then ?
Will it stop such attacks ?
Indeed, AS ALWAYS, you stop yourself from going to the root of the problem by saying, let's not blame "outside forces".
You would do anything to halt an investigation of the problemS from touching their root cause : US INTERVENTION & THE CONTINUING AFPAK WAR.
Francis Bacon said error was of 4 kinds:
1. Error stemming from human nature itself.
2. Error due to an individual himself .
3. Error caused by linguistic blurring.
4. Error originating in human systems.
Here, my belief, your error lies less in # 2 than in # 4 , that is—
The SYSTEMIC & systematized "error" ( if deliberate, how long can it be called "error" ? ) of Amnesty International & other Western human rights organizations of focusing on the FRUIT but NOT the ROOT when it comes to your own US / WESTERN systems, of refusing to address the SYSTEMIC problems created & multiplied DAILY, HOURLY & ON A MASS SCALE by US strategy & US military / intelligence intervention in AfPak.
Before your intervention & invasion, there was no rise & unchecked spread of violence, OF Sunni fundamentalism triggerred by the ascent of Christian / Zionist fundamentalism at state AND mass levels.
Normalization within Pakistani society is a process which will only slowly begin AFTER US military WITHDRAWAL from the region.
Not until then.
Not until.
Dear Mr Acharya,
My cordial greetings, my brother.
Respectfully, & with utmost sympathy for your justified outrage at such senseless acts, i still feel the problem in your view is —
You have neither a strategy NOR a tactic.
For you have only ONE aim, the most shortsighted & rhetorical of all — let’s find the “perpetrators” of this one deed.
This call has all the mental breadth & width AND OUTCOME of a cowboy posse.
IF you find them — what then ?
Will it stop such attacks ?
Indeed, AS ALWAYS, you stop yourself from going to the root of the problem by saying, let’s not blame “outside forces”.
You would do anything to halt an investigation of the problemS from touching their root cause : US INTERVENTION & THE CONTINUING AFPAK WAR.
Francis Bacon said error was of 4 kinds:
1. Error stemming from human nature itself.
2. Error due to an individual himself .
3. Error caused by linguistic blurring.
4. Error originating in human systems.
Here, my belief, your error lies less in # 2 than in # 4 , that is—
The SYSTEMIC & systematized “error” ( if deliberate, how long can it be called “error” ? ) of Amnesty International & other Western human rights organizations of focusing on the FRUIT but NOT the ROOT when it comes to your own US / WESTERN systems, of refusing to address the SYSTEMIC problems created & multiplied DAILY, HOURLY & ON A MASS SCALE by US strategy & US military / intelligence intervention in AfPak.
Before your intervention & invasion, there was no rise & unchecked spread of violence, OF Sunni fundamentalism triggerred by the ascent of Christian / Zionist fundamentalism at state AND mass levels.
Normalization within Pakistani society is a process which will only slowly begin AFTER US military WITHDRAWAL from the region.
Not until then.
Not until.
I hundred pecent agree with "a savage". Befor the intervention of US forces in Afghanistan both Afghanistan and Pakistan were peaceful. These brutal forces not only killed millions of Aghanis and Pakistanis by bombardment but also their terrorist wings Black Water, CIA and FBI are continuously killing innocent citiznes in both countries by such terrorist attacks as mentioned above. These terrorist agencies kill people at different places belonging to differenct creeds and religious sects and then their Zionist Lords tell Pakistan government and the international community that Pakistanis and Aghanis are extremist. All this is part of their game and innocent citizens are suffering from their greed.
I hundred pecent agree with “a savage”. Befor the intervention of US forces in Afghanistan both Afghanistan and Pakistan were peaceful. These brutal forces not only killed millions of Aghanis and Pakistanis by bombardment but also their terrorist wings Black Water, CIA and FBI are continuously killing innocent citiznes in both countries by such terrorist attacks as mentioned above. These terrorist agencies kill people at different places belonging to differenct creeds and religious sects and then their Zionist Lords tell Pakistan government and the international community that Pakistanis and Aghanis are extremist. All this is part of their game and innocent citizens are suffering from their greed.
I too agree with a.savage and also with Abdul Jabbar. Though, I wholeheartedly support humanitarian efforts by organizations as Amnesty and HRW for battling, advocating and caring for those voiceless and helpless.
At the same time, there can be no denying the fact that the U.S. always, always has to interfere in other countries' affairs. I also cannot deny the fact that U.S. involvement has been necessary and positive at times. However, it seems the bad outweighs the good.
We Westerners love our "democracy", which even here is questionable these days. For whatever reason, we feel the need to share this "freedom" with countries who are different in government, culture, religion and traditions. I get the feeling that many countries do not want our "democracy" literally forced upon them. They don't want to 'modernize'; they want to live their lives as taught in their traditional ways.
Ultimately, the "democracy" thing is just a facade and cover for the truth of intervention by the Western countries, i.e. U.S., into Asia and Africa. It's come up before, obviously, and if I understand Abdul Jabbar correctly, this is what he means also:
It all comes down to the fact that many Asian and African countries are rich in oil, which we desperately seem to need, and many of these countries are also rich in other natural resources the Western world wants or needs. The countries in Asia and Africa have so much virgin, undiscovered riches that the greedy Western governments and big businesses will go to any lengths to acquire. Including but not limiting to killing innocent civilians should they be in the way or even just to deter from their true motives. After all, when it comes to big business in pursuit of the mighty buck and "the good of the majority", human life is expendable.
In the meantime the horrors during and after wars are too often left to NGO's and INGO's to clean up. Their activists fight for human rights and raise much of the funds to support and help those displaced, scared and too often forgotten.
Too many of us have not the slightest clue as to what it's like to live through the horrors of wars and their aftermath as in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Chechnya, Congo, Somalia, Sudan, and the list seems endless…
I think we Westerners need to do some serious rethinking before forcing our "democracy" and beliefs down some other country's throat, but then, I forgot, it's really just a sly, covert scheme in the name of big business, namely big OIL business.
I too agree with a.savage and also with Abdul Jabbar. Though, I wholeheartedly support humanitarian efforts by organizations as Amnesty and HRW for battling, advocating and caring for those voiceless and helpless.
At the same time, there can be no denying the fact that the U.S. always, always has to interfere in other countries’ affairs. I also cannot deny the fact that U.S. involvement has been necessary and positive at times. However, it seems the bad outweighs the good.
We Westerners love our “democracy”, which even here is questionable these days. For whatever reason, we feel the need to share this “freedom” with countries who are different in government, culture, religion and traditions. I get the feeling that many countries do not want our “democracy” literally forced upon them. They don’t want to ‘modernize’; they want to live their lives as taught in their traditional ways.
Ultimately, the “democracy” thing is just a facade and cover for the truth of intervention by the Western countries, i.e. U.S., into Asia and Africa. It’s come up before, obviously, and if I understand Abdul Jabbar correctly, this is what he means also:
It all comes down to the fact that many Asian and African countries are rich in oil, which we desperately seem to need, and many of these countries are also rich in other natural resources the Western world wants or needs. The countries in Asia and Africa have so much virgin, undiscovered riches that the greedy Western governments and big businesses will go to any lengths to acquire. Including but not limiting to killing innocent civilians should they be in the way or even just to deter from their true motives. After all, when it comes to big business in pursuit of the mighty buck and “the good of the majority”, human life is expendable.
In the meantime the horrors during and after wars are too often left to NGO’s and INGO’s to clean up. Their activists fight for human rights and raise much of the funds to support and help those displaced, scared and too often forgotten.
Too many of us have not the slightest clue as to what it’s like to live through the horrors of wars and their aftermath as in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Chechnya, Congo, Somalia, Sudan, and the list seems endless…
I think we Westerners need to do some serious rethinking before forcing our “democracy” and beliefs down some other country’s throat, but then, I forgot, it’s really just a sly, covert scheme in the name of big business, namely big OIL business.
Heike Winnig and other members of Amnesty International!
We all need to understand each other and share our feelings. We all have to understand that a human being living accross the borders of my country is not different from my fellow countryman. He/she is no way less a human being than I myself am.
The trouble starts when our political leaders try to tell us that our nation is superior than others. This is a fraud by which they deceive the people and create polarisation among different coutries and different cultures, and then they can go to any length to destroy the week nations!
Heike Winnig and other members of Amnesty International!
We all need to understand each other and share our feelings. We all have to understand that a human being living accross the borders of my country is not different from my fellow countryman. He/she is no way less a human being than I myself am.
The trouble starts when our political leaders try to tell us that our nation is superior than others. This is a fraud by which they deceive the people and create polarisation among different coutries and different cultures, and then they can go to any length to destroy the week nations!