Compounded tragedy
There was a spate of targeted sectarian killings in Lahore in 2013-2014. Of those killed were several professional Shias upon whose families fell the burden of pursuing the murder cases in these terrible times. The tragic news is that of the 14 murders carried out by sectarian assassins, 10 victims’ families have abandoned their quest for justice, saying that they are under threat and have no protection from the state. Hence, they say, they have decided not to pursue their cases.
The enablers
To the naysayers who are predicting doom for Pakistan’s foreign policy, given the right-wing Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi on our eastern border and the Tajik leader Abdullah Abdullah on our west, insiders say the latter is far softer on us than previously expected. This, they say, is largely due to the efforts of Pakistan’s former ambassador to Kabul who had gone out of his way to engage AA. The enablers behind the ambassador, encouraging and supporting him all the way, were Hubby himself (this dates from his reign), ably assisted by the then foreign minister. This was despite the fact that the latter was discouraged by the Invisible Soldiers Inc from meeting AA. She defied them and met AA at Kabul airport in mid-2012 and so began an equation that will prove useful for Pakistan.
Method in his madness
For those looking for a method in The Great Khan’s madness, it appears that he believes that mid-term elections will be held in the winter of 2014. It is towards this end, they say, that he is trying to whip up public discontent. We’ve also heard that the other whipper-up of discontent, Friar TuQ, is cheesed off with The Khan for stealing his thunder.