Pakistan has suffered many tragedies since military ruler General Pervez Musharraf’s fateful decision to become an ally of the US in the so-called war on terror and there is nothing to suggest that our sufferings are coming to an end. Every tragedy is a story waiting to be told as scores of families have experienced pain and misery following bomb explosions, suicide bombings, air strikes, misdirected rocket and artillery attacks and US drone strikes.
One such tragedy occurred on February 15 in Gang village in Bajaur Agency’s Salarzai tehsil. The 80-year-old mother of Sahibzada Haroon Rasheed, a Jamaat-i-Islami leader and former member of the National Assembly from Bajaur, and his 20-year-old niece were killed when their house collapsed as a result of a powerful explosion triggered by the security forces while destroying the family’s hujra, or male guesthouse. The hujra was being demolished by the troops to punish the family for its alleged links with the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
The demolition of homes of militants and those suspected of supporting and harbouring them has become a standard policy of the government not only in the tribal areas but also in settled districts such as Swat. There has been no debate on this important issue and it is unclear how many houses have been destroyed to date in the NWFP and FATA and whether this is the correct approach to tackling extremism and terrorism. In fact, army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had once taken the decision to stop this practice that punished the whole family for the crime of a single member involved in militancy and damaged more houses than intended, but the demolition of homes has continued with a greater vigour than before.
http://newageislam.com/one-more-tragedy-in-bajaur/current-affairs/d/2520
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2:11 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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