Conspiracy Theory? Latest Peshawar Blast

Blaming yesterday’s blast in Qissa Khwani Bazaar in Peshawar that killed at least 24 — mostly Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) protesters rallying against electricity load-shedding and the government — on Taliban makes no sense. Of course all media in unison is repeating the “Taliban did it” lie as are Rehman Malik (“we have them on the run”), ANP (“We will defeat them whatever the cost”, said the porn-peddler Bilour; someone should ask him which hole his brave leader Asfandyar Wali is shivering in today), smart-bomb-snuff-video peddler Kiyani will bravely copy Bilour (“We will defeat them whatever the cost”), etc. and I am sure we will soon have some Taliban spokesperson claiming responsibility.

Of course it is all hogwash!

Now why would Taliban:

• target civilians whose support they need
• target a rally protesting against government and its policies vis-a-vis U.S. occupation, things the Taliban are themselves fighting against?

I completely agree with Ameer of JI who blamed Pakistan’s alliance with the US for the suicide bombing. I think he should have gone further and said it was carried out either by U.S. or the government itself.

But here one must not overlook two very important motives that the government has for carrying out this act: stop protests against load-shedding and ‘rebuild consensus’ after the latest supposed fuck-up by the Army (it was no fuck up — they had to kill and put up a big body count; they just got caught).

As 20+ load-shedding has made life unbearable for most, the protests are being held daily all over the country. The government is of course has no solution for the electricity shortfall and it knows as the temperature rises, so will the intensity of these protests. It is desperate to prevent them. It is desperate enough to do anything in its power to scare people away from protesting. Sings of the governments desperation are all over:

• We have the PM seeking out Punjab CM Shahbaz for help to ‘diffuse’ protests against load-shedding
• We have former CM claiming Shahbaz has already given shoot-to-kill orders against protesters
• We saw Shahbaz’s Punjab police violently beat up protesters in Gujranwala yesterday

So is the government desperate enough to carry out so-called ‘suicide-bombings” to try and take away people’s right to protest?

No question! I say chalk one up for State Terrorism’!

Of course our military has no qualms about killing innocents but having been caught red-handed — no pun intended — makes them act desperate. Having been exposed by the foreign press  — btw: shame on our press that kept giving us ISPR denials till Kiyani’s ‘apology — they had to do something to present the Taliban as ‘animals who kill innocents’ so that the sin of killing innocents by the army is thus justified by this grotesque morality/logic. This kind of killing — I mean a ‘suicide blast in a crowded marketplace full of innocents’ — was in fact guaranteed after the Army’s faux pas. This wasn’t the first time. Sadly, this won’t be the last!

So confirm that one for State Terrorism.

Just for Baboos: No, Webster Tarpley DOES NOT belong to JI

P.S. One official explanation is of course:

The Jamaat-e-Islami party was hit Monday when a suicide bomber apparently targeted police watching over a rally of the group. Many of the 24 dead and 45 wounded were party loyalists, while two were officers, police official Khan Abbas said Tuesday.

Question I have is: If the suicide bomber was targeting police, how come only two of them died? Wouldn’t the suicide bomber get closer to the police (than the protesters) before blowing himself up?

A Quickie: Collective Punishment In Gurguri

This little new item caught my attention:

Over 200 held for attacking Gurguri oil and gas field

Tuesday, April 20, 2010
By our correspondent

KARAK: More than 200 people were arrested here on Monday for attacking the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) installations in Gurguri a couple of days ago.

Sources said the FC personnel cordoned off the area and directed the residents to stay indoors and hand over the wanted persons who attacked the oil and gas installation, allegedly stabbed three personnel of the FC and snatched their guns.

The arrested persons included the president of the Islahi Tanzim, Nasrullah Jan, and an accused, identified as Ghulam Amin, who had allegedly injured the paramilitary force personnel.

An FIR against the latter had already been registered in the area police station, the sources said. However, the FC arrested all those who had stormed the oil and gas field and resorted to vandalism during the search operation in Gurguri.

First thing I thought was if so many people were involved in an “attack”, it must have been quite an attack; so why hadn’t I heard about it? Certainly it must have been front-page news so how could I miss it?

I went searching and finally found one — ONLY ONE — brief mention of the “attack” in ONE newspaper:

3 FC men hurt in scuffle with local man

Sunday, April 18, 2010
By Our correspondent
KARAK: A man attacked a camp of the foreign oil and gas exploring company MOL, injuring three security personnel, sources said Saturday.

The sources said that one of the members of the Gurguri Islahi Tanzeem and former councilor Ghulam Ameen visited the Gurguri gas camp on Saturday and complained to the community relations officer of the MOL that his land had been badly affected by the storage water of the camp. The sources said the CRO assured him that his loss would be compensated.

Despite assurance by the CRO, the sources said, the man tried to meet the site in-charge of the MOL but the security in-charge refused to give him permission for the meeting.

During scuffle with the security personnel, Ghulam Ameen took out the knife and allegedly stabbed three security personnel of Frontier Constabulary. The local person was arrested by the police on the spot and was locked up in the Gurguri Police Station.

Later on, other members of the Tanzeem and the officials held negotiations with the elders of the Gurguri Islahi Tanzeem. The negotiations were in progress till filing of this report.

That’s it? Note this is the “official version” and that too admits the local had a valid complaint. What transpired afterwords is anyone’s guess. That he ended up stabbing three FC men certainly was criminal and he was arrested. That should have been the end of this story. But what gives the government the right to arrest “more than 200 people” for that crime, people who by the FC’s own version had nothing to do with the “attack” (and that too now being described as “attacking the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) installations in Gurguri” — do note the plural : “installations”). Also, this passage is interesting:

FC personnel cordoned off the area and directed the residents to stay indoors and hand over the wanted persons who attacked the oil and gas installation, allegedly stabbed three personnel of the FC and snatched their guns.

Why did FC “cordon off the area and demand ‘hand over the wanted persons who attacked the oil and gas installation’ when there was only one person attacking and he was already under arrest? And if the following part is true:

the FC arrested all those who had stormed the oil and gas field and resorted to vandalism during the search operation in Gurguri.

Did another follow-up incident take place (“during search operation”)? If it is, then the responsibility squarely lies on the shoulders of FC for it shows that despite having the cculprit in custody, they went out to incite by threatening/intimidating the local population, confined them to their houses illegally (was it for a few hours?one day? two days?), and violated the sanctity of their homes by carrying out an illegal and unnecessary search operation.

Terrorism vs Militarism