Despite the performance of the last coalition government, each and every Pakistan need to appreciate and acknowledge the courage, steadfastness and bravery of ANP, MQM, PPP, Shia and women candidates who have refused to bow down to Taliban. They are standing for democracy. The are risking it for us, for Pakistan. So, keep calm and vote anti Taliban!

On the other hand, I hope PTI realises the political mistake they are making. Jamaat-e-Islami needs no introduction but as a reminder to the readers: AlQaeda No. 2 Khalid Sheikh Muhammad was captured from Naazim of JI’s house in Rawalpindi. 2 more listed AlQaeda terrorist were also found from JI residences in Pakistan. JI held funeral prayers of Osama Bin Laden all across Pakistan. Nazim JI Mirpur was killed in a drone attack in NW with other terrorists and Qazi led his funeral prayer in Mirpur. Samia Qazi calls Taliban killers her brothers. When Govt asked religious leaders and parties to issue statements condemning suicide blasts, JI refused to do so. Munawar Hasan in his famous interview with Shahzeb Khanzada from which he ran away mid way, said that TTP is also doing Jihad and its okay to blast away Pak Govt and people if need be. The same Munawar Hassan rejected Women Protection Bill and claims if a raped woman should remain silent and sent to jail if she fails to provide 4 witnesses. PTI can definitely do better without the baggage of fascist Jamaat-e-Islami and I hope good sense will prevail in PTI.

She was threatened several times by land mafias, they even wanted to occupy her office. She continued to bravely work for the poor of the Karachi slums in a chaotic city. She changed the lives of several thousand poor of Orangi by setting up sanitation facility, water connections, severage setup, building or advising on house construction and dealing with issues related to land occupation. Her actual contribution lies in the fact that she educated the local communities to solve their issues for themselves even with little or no intervention of the Government. She as an expert provided technical advice (e.g. what angle of inclination is necessary for a sewerage pipe) and encouraged the locals to build it for themselves. This self sustained, DIY method with locals funding collectively for their projects changed the lives of thousands in a city fighting for resources and land.

With clear evidence of Sipah Sahaba ASWJ militants torching Christian houses and killing them in Gojra massacre of 2009 and Lahore Joseph Colony incident of 2013, why PMLN does not give powers and orders to the Police to take preventive measures? Why PMLN relies on suspending and demoting Police officials when the failure is of administration? The only answer one can think of is PMLN’s alliance with Sipah Sahaba ASWJ. A report published in DAWN 2 June 2012 complained that PMLN is reluctant to take action on Sipah Sahaba ASWJ and LeJ militants operating in Punjab despite strong evidence available at hand. The PMLN has sold off minority blood for a few seats, for the votes of ultra-right militants. Unfortunately other parties like PPP and MQM have also been found showing closeness to Sipah Sahaba ASWJ. PPP’s Qamar Kaira in one talk show defended talks and getting support from Sipah Sahaba defending them saying “are they not Pakistani?” Well, they may but so are TTP, so were the killers of Benazir Bhutto. Would you want them in the Parliament too? The MQM also visited the Sipah Sahaba’s Karachi office. Pakistan’s mainstream political parties need to realize that Sipah Sahaba ASWJ is the name of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, TTP and Jaish-e-Muhammad . They are feeding the militants which will eventually come back at them.

A session was held in British House of Commons on 25th February 2012 where Hazara and Shia Genocide was discussed with Lord Eric Avebury. The session was called by Parliamentary Committee of Human Rights which is chaired by Lord Eric Averbury himself. The session lasted for nearly 2 hours and was attended by members and leaders of Shia community, Hazara Shia community, Sunni community, legal community and representatives from some political parties, journalists and human rights activists.

I was invited to speak on a special talkshow on Hidayat TV focused on Shia Genocide in Pakistan hosted by Tehsin Haider. Hidayat TV is a Birmingham based satellite TV channel. Others who spoke on the show include Raza Rumi, Ali Abbas Zaidi and Haider Zaman Qureshi of PPP. The recording of the program can be watched below and I highly recommend to circulate this to English speaking audience specially the overseas Pakistanis as this can serve as a good tool for campaigning on Shia Genocide, considering there is little on the issue in English talk shows.

Nida Yasir and ARY Digital might have been able to have raised their TRPs and viewership for a very short period of time but they are not realizing what the are promoting. This is very anti-thesis to the lifestyle Nida Yasir and ARY’s management has subscribed to – the modern urban luxurious lifestyle. Giving free license on air to such dangerous mullahs to spill their hatred against women will come down to haunt these women who are promoting them now for money.

For decades Shia Muslims have been killed in Pakistan and the issue has either been pushed under the carpet or obfuscated using blanket terms such as ‘sectarian violence’. Both the print and the electronic media have on purpose hidden the Shia identity of the victims. The victims are often reported as mere ‘afraad’ [persons] randomly killed, not targeted for their faith.

Most Pakistanis have been silent on the issue, not uttering a word as if speaking for the Shia will make them a Shia. However, they do have time and energy to protest for Palestinians, Burmese or Syrians. The civil society and activists on social media, or otherwise, hesitate to use the word Shia – apparently they condemn the bloodshed but are shy of using the word Shia, like the mainstream media. This does not help. This is rather part of the problem.

The Shia of Pakistan exemplify resilience and a peaceful non-violent struggle for defense of their rights. The year 2012 saw country wide peaceful protests by Shia community spread across cities, towns and villages. Similar protests were held across the world spread from Australia to the EU and as far as American and Canada. Hundreds of people have protested peacefully in Washington, NYC, Toronto, Vancouver, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Canada, London, Kargil in Indian Kashmir, Lucknow and elsewhere. In Pakistan, over a 100,000 Shia protested for 8 days at Parliament House Islamabad in April 2012 and a same number protested for 39 hours in Karachi. Similar protests were held in cities and towns of all provinces of Pakistan.

According to CIA statistics, BBC reports and other reliable estimates, Shia make up 20% of Pakistan’s population. Assuming a 200 million population of Pakistan, that makes 40 million Shia in Pakistan. Unfortunately, Pakistani Shia community has been persecuted for far too long. The first major incident of violence against Shia was recorded in 1963 when 118 Shia were butchered in Therih (Sindh) in a single day. Similarly in 1988, nearly 800 Shia were killed in a single day in Kurram Agency as General Musharraf led the operation under directions from …