sectarian | The Mob and the Multitude

In Solidarity When It Mattered

In a heartrending report in the Los Angeles Times today, Alex Rodriguez describes how Sunni bus riders managed to save the lives of Shias by refusing to identify them to the attackers:

One Sunni, college student Ghulam Mustafa, 19, confronted the militants, saying that killing Shiites was wrong. He was shot dead, the gunmen pumping seven bullets into his back, chest and head.

…

Sunni passengers were then asked to point out people they thought were Shiites. Many could have done so because they came from the same villages. Yet they refused to cooperate, which survivors say saved at least 10 people.

Full story here.

Another 45

update (March 4th, 2013): Unknown men opened fire on a funeral procession of the dead from Abbas Town. 1 killed and another 14 injured, including personnel from the para-military, Rangers.

update (March 4th, 2013): Another two explosions heard near PECHS, a well-to-do location in Karachi. Officials are claiming that it was an electrical PMT blast caused by malfunctioning electrical transformer.

update (March 4th, 2013): Police tear-gassed protesters at Teen Talwar who were demonstrating against the attack on Shia.

To the 163 dead in successive blasts in Quetta this January and February, Pakistanis now add another 45. All three attacks have targeted the Shia community, but while the sectarian organization Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) did take responsibility for the previous murders, no group has come forward to own the latest attack in a predominantly Shia neighborhood in Pakistan’s teeming metropolis, Karachi. In fact, ASWJ, widely believed to be linked to the LeJ, has reportedly condemned the attack, a move many regard as a political feint than a genuine reprobation of the violence.

Pictures of the latest attack by Dawn here and BBC here.

The Mob and the Multitude

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In Solidarity When It Mattered

Another 45