Allowing sectarian militias to carry out targeted minority killings hurt's state's writ: Pak editor

Islamabad, Aug 19 (ANI): Referring to the recent killing of Shia Muslims in the country, an editorial in a Pakistani daily has said allowing sectarian militias to carry out targeted minority killings seriously injures the writ of the state.

With the official machinery always behind the curve, always reactive and never proactive, Islamabad risks opening another bloody chapter in this already repugnant narrative. Failing immediate and meaningful action, the government will have only itself to blame as Pakistan's needless, self-destructive downward spiral intensifies, the editorial in the Daily Times said.

Non-stop killing of the Shia minority has rattled the international press and even evoked condemnation from the UN Secretary General. From recurrent summary executions of the Shias in Gilgit to near daily killings of Hazara Shias in Balochistan and sporadic big-city incidents like the al-Quds Day blast in Karachi, the Shia minority comprising 15 percent of Pakistan's population ends up amongst the dispossessed of the country, it said.

According to the editorial, the state is responsible for the life and liberty of all citizens, therefore the government must address some very serious issues:

One, why then do the heads of militant outfits that claim responsibility for such acts continue to roam free? Two, why the silence from the political class, both government and opposition? Three, why is there no mention of terrorist funding? Why is the country afraid of admitting the harm done by madrassas run predominantly on petrodollars from some of our most reliable allies? Four, how many more episodes of needless deaths will it take to prompt serious and meaningful action from our security agencies? (ANI)