Pakistan Copes With More Extremism

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REPORTING FROM KABUL

Pakistan’s fragile societal framework was again shaken yesterday as seven (7)people were killed and forty (40) homes owned by Christians were destroyed in the small town of Gojra just west of Lahore. The violence was sparked by a report that Christians desecrated pages from the Koran though the facts of this report is now suspect by authorities. As the hysteria spread throughout the community so did the violence until riot police arrived to reenforce the local authorities but not before seven members of the small Christian community were dead and forty of their homes were burned to the ground.   Though only 1.6% of Pakistan’s population are Christian other minorities such as Sikhs live in Punjab district and have faced violence from extremists groups looking to exploit any situation for their political agenda. President Asif Zardari has dispatched his Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti to Gojra for a personal assessment of the situation and no doubt to conduct immediate damage control in the region in the face of a growing presence of international press.  The violence yesterday in Gojra is not an isolated case in that region or even in that village as there has been several instances of  violence by a few radicals which has reflected on the entire community.  Following the violence sixty-five people were arrested on charges of inciting violence and destruction of property.  Despite the arrests the problem of extremism exist in Pakistan and these pockets represent a level of tolerance  which is part of Islamabad’s larger problem of a home grown insurgency which they are now attempting to cope with in the North West Frontier Province (Swat Valley).  There is a direct connection between the violence in Gojra against the Christian minority and the violence in Swat against the Muslim majority and until that connection is recognized and swiftly dealt with Pakistan will continue to be shaken by these acts of violence.