AWP PROTEST - the massacre of Christians in Lahore & the failure of Pakistan’s national security
The massacre of Christians in Youhanabad, Lahore demonstrates the continued failures of the government and military establishment in dealing with the threat of extremist violence in Pakistan.
While tall claims were made after the Peshawar attack about a ‘paradigm shift’ in the state’s approach to militancy with the much-touted ‘National Action Plan’, extremist groups continue to operate in plain sight and strike with impunity across the country. The unending attacks on the weakest and most marginalized groups in society, like Pakistan’s besieged Christian community, demonstrate that not much has changed on the ground, while the government continues to make claims of ’progress’ in fighting militancy.
The AWP is clear that only a fundamental shift in the character of the state and crucially, its national security and foreign policies, can bring about an end to the spiral of fundamentalist and militarist violence in the country.
Join the AWP as we call for:
• A fundamental shift in the country’s national security and foreign policies, with an end to the support of ALL militant groups whether in Punjab, FATA, Afghanistan or elsewhere.
• A decisive shift in the ideological character of the state, from its exclusionary religious grounding to a secular framework that ends discrimination between religious denominations.
• Affirmative action to ensure the protection of the weakest and marginalized sections of society, including religious minorities (Christians, Shias, Hindus, Ahmedis and others), ethnic minorities and women.
• Widespread regulation and nationalization of religious seminaries and their networks involved in fostering terrorism in Pakistan and abroad.
• Comprehensive reform of the education system that roots out the ideological basis for fundamentalist violence that is embedded in the state-endorsed mainstream curriculum.
JOIN US AT THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, ISLAMABAD ON TUESDAY, 17 MARCH AT 4.30PM TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!