South Asia Citizens Web

For too long the Haryana government dismissed the Murthal gang rapes as a rumour. And even now there seems to be an inexcusable laxity in the work of identifying the culprits and building a foolproof case against them, or even ensuring the security of witnesses and gang rape survivors who speak up.

Most of the violent extremist groups based in Punjab carry out violent acts outside Punjab. It is in incidents of sectarian violence or violence against minorities that one begins to feel their presence. These are basically expansionist groups that think in terms of Pan-Islamism and their leadership has more religious training and is conscious of religious revivalism than the Taliban. Their issue is not territorial but to capture state and spread Islam.

India has a shameful record of governments helping businesses acquire land by using police and administration to put pressure on citizens, and obtain the consent of village councils even in areas where there is no internal security “situation”. Imagine then the process in Chhattisgarh, which has an ongoing war to boost the mechanisms of fear and favour in which governments act as an extension of corporate will

To destroy terrorism will require a massive change of public attitudes.

Bahria Town Karachi (BTK), a sprawling, upmarket gated community being constructed off the Super Highway in the outer reaches of Pakistan’s largest city.