Thanks for this heartfelt post. I would like to comment on the “sectarian” aspect of this tragedy. Consider the background of people killed in the Ashura blast: according to one report 15 of the 50 killed were Sunnis, two Bohra Shias, and one Christian. Anyone familiar with the ground reality in Pakistan knows that Muharram processions are widely attended by Muslims from diverse sectarian background, and at some places, even non-Muslims also participate. Thus the processions are not an exclusive tradition of Shias, contrary to how it is framed in the international news media. They are for all those who want to commemorate the noble sacrifice of the grandson of the Holy Prophet, Imam Hussain. However, the reductive representation in the international news media further distorts the image of Sunni-Shia differences in the mind of general viewers: An attack on Muharram procession is automatically seen as an attack on “Shias by Sunnis” in the news and analysis. Perhaps that was also the intention of the perpetrators of these attacks: to provoke sectarian differences and to distance the Sunnis from the Shias and Muharram processions.

There is no fight between the Sunnis and Shias in Pakistan. The ongoing wave of terrorist attacks is aimed at not only Shias but also those Sunnis who are against extremism or who do not fit into the strategic equations of the bigger players in this game. Maulana Sarfraz Ahmed Naemi who was killed in a suicide attack on June 12, 2009 is a case in point.

For more on this argument: http://insidesectarianism.blogspot.com/2010/02/talking-points-about-ashura-blast-in.html

A girl wrote a very bold blog on target killing, who fails to understand the point of target killing and what that’s supposed to achieve. And even though I don’t want to bring her in to any kind of trouble but I want all to read it.
http://yello.pk/blog/umaimabzia/target-killing-whats-point/10190