Last night we attended the sit-in
(known as “dharna” in Urdu) at Numaish against the violent killing in the bomb
blasts in Mastung, Baluchistan on Tuesday 21st January 2014 of
Hazara Shiite pilgrims. I belonged to a different background and had never
actually visited or participated in such sit-ins before and I was filled with
anxiousness at how the protest would actually turn out to be.
When I reached Numaish Chowrangi (with
my friend and former accountancy student Musawir and fellow Pi Studio member
Hussain Zaidi), I was overawed that how non-violent means can actually put the government
to a standstill. The protests showed that people still stand up for their
rights, with countless women; children and men were gathered in a disciplined
manner protesting against injustice.
Little girls holding placards and demanding justice for the victims of the Mastung blast
In the current attack on the
Hazara Shiites, the entire bus carrying Shia pilgrim returning from Iran was
blown away and 28 people were martyred and around 40 people were wounded. The
Hazara community has been continually targeted by terrorists in Balochistan,
thus countless innocent lives have been sadly lost. Yet, the terrorist attacks
continue unabated in Pakistan. Innocent lives are being lost on a massive scale
now.
We all must stand up and protect
our nation against this maniacal wave of terrorism whose fires have spread to
every corner of this country and have now permeated our daily lives. My heart
cries out for sanity to return back to my beloved nation, where everyone can coexist
in peace.
In the end I would like to pray
for the martyrs of the Mastung attacks and other countless attacks recently,
such as the one on our armed forces, the bomb blast in royal artillery bazaar
in Rawalpindi, the bomb blasts in Peshawar. In the end I would like to leave
all of you with the following words, over which we all should ponder:
“No one is born hating another
person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion.
People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to
love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
Nelson Mandela
For the pictures of the protest please click here.
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