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Waziristan attack will increase militant violence: HRCP

LAHORE: The alleged attack by the allied forces in Afghanistan on a madrassah in North Waziristan that killed 22 people had not been fully investigated to find identities of the dead nor the reason behind the incident, said a report issued by Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s (HRCP) secretary general Iqbal Haider on Wednesday.

It said that Inter Services Public Relations’ (ISPR) statement that it was an explosion and not a missile attack was “hardly credible in the light of eyewitness accounts”.

“Similar lies have been told before,” the statement read, “following attacks in Bajaur, Balochistan and elsewhere.”

It said there were already indications that feelings of hatred and anger in the region were rising in response to the incident. The people who died must be presumed innocent until proven otherwise it said.

“Whereas we have consistently opposed all forms of militancy, HRCP reiterates that acts of violence of this kind will only lead to further attacks and a still greater loss of life. The people of Pakistan are not dispensible commodities who can be killed in such a fashion,” the statement read. “It is also saddening that the government of Pakistan has declined to provide details of the incident.”

Attempts to strike “dubious deals” with militants or to kill them would not serve any purpose, it said. “Indeed, attacks conducted in secrecy will only lend support to the militant cause by arousing a sense of outrage among citizens who have been kept in the dark regarding the so-called ‘battle against terror’.”

“In the longer run, militant violence, which has taken deep root in Pakistan – and is supported by thoughtless statements such as that recently made by the minister of religious affairs – will only grow unless holistic and wide-ranging measures are taken. These must include measures to address the acute socio-economic needs of people and to re-build the levels of tolerance that have slumped lower and lower over the last few decades,” the statement said. staff report

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