Peshawar bleeds yet again

Today, on 22nd September 2013, around 60 people were killed and over a 100 were injured when two blasts occurred near a church in the Peshawar Kohati's gate area. Many women and children, including a three year old child, also died, and most of them are in a critical condition. 

What was their fault? What possible sin did they commit? What could they possibly have done to deserve something so horrific to happen to them? They were Christians. They were not Muslims. They did not believe what the 'official Muslims' of Pakistan believe in. Their fault is that they exist. Their fault is that they were born in Pakistan, the country which does not believe in the rights of minorities, rather it believes in the right to make their life a living hell. Their fault is that they are helpless. Their fault is that they are basically not Muslims. 

Today once again, the government has failed to provide adequate security to the minorities of Pakistan. Today once again people have died due to their beliefs. Today, children and women, for whom it was just an ordinary Sunday with ordinary church meetings, have died merely because they went to church to practise their beliefs. Now, they'll be returning home without their loved ones. Many of them will be returning to empty homes. But heartbreakingly, many of them will not be returning at all. 

All this commotion, all this haphazardness, all this chaos but the government just sits and does nothing. The government fails to provide adequate security to its minorities. It also fails to prevent hate speech against the minorities, all of them including Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis and Shias. It fails to give them their basic right - the right to live. No one can declare that any minority has been given that basic right, because that would be an outright lie. All the government can do when something like this happens is to fake a sad face, look grim and condemn the attack and demand for the victims to be brought to justice. They won't take any action against any perpetrators, they won't TRY to investigate the incident. Why? Because they're just minorities. 

So I ask the government and the politicians and everyone who just gave a statement condemning the attack - What will condemning the attack do? The victims, they don't need your fake sympathies. They don't need your phony statements about condemnation. They don't need your stupid statements to the press. They need security. They need justice. They need to be assured that this will not happen again. Can you provide it? Can you promise them this won't happen again? How can you when you don't even give a damn what happens to the minorities in Pakistan anyway? As long as no one hurts you and your family, why would you even care?

We demand justice. We demand basic rights to be given to all minorities to be able to freely practise their religion, we demand them to be able to live without the fear of constantly look over their shoulder for someone who wants to kill them in the name of Islam. We want guarantee that all their rights will be safeguarded and that they will be provided security. We demand justice for each and every person who has been affected by those monstrous attacks in the name of Islam. This is not what Islam teaches. Islam is a religion of peace and love, it is not the religion of forcefulness and hatred and bloodshed. 

Today, Peshawar bleeds. Today Pakistan bleeds. You may not call them Pakistanis, you may even pass judgements that Christians have always been secretly working against Pakistan, but you know deep down that Christians are as Pakistani as they come. Today, they have lost over 60 members of their community. Just condemning an attack will not do. What good does it do to them? Will it bring their loved ones back? Will the perpetrators get what they deserve? Will the police even bother investigating? Or will they let it be, because after all, they're Christians, just another minority of Pakistan. 

Yesterday, the Kalima was removed from an Ahmadi mosque in Sialkot. Today, a massacre of Christians took place in Peshawar. What is next? Which minority is going to be targeted next? Shias? Hindus? Or back to Ahmadis? This is never going to end. This will keep on going until the extremists wipe out every minority from Pakistan and then live in the 'land of the pure'. That pure land which is now full of the blood of innocent men, women and children. The same pure land which all of these minorities helped to make. The same pure land which now has no place for anyone except the religious extremists inciting hatred against minorities and the greedy politicians, who only care about money and power. 

To the minorities, I say run. Run and do not look back. Pakistan is not the place to live right now, or anytime in the near future. Live somewhere where at least you will be treated like a human, at the very least. At least you would be able to live without the constant fear that you'll be murdered at that very spot. Run. 

To the attackers and the government, I say you can kill people and murder them in the name of Islam and you can condemn these incidents all you want, but God knows what is in your hearts. Fear the day when you will be judged in front of Him for murdering innocent people. Fear the day when He encompasses you in His Wrath. Because no wrath is greater than His. Fear that day. May some sense be knocked into you. 

So long. Till the next blast. Till the next minority attack in the name of Islam.