The date was May 28, 2010. At least seven men, including three suicide bombers, attacked two Ahmedi worship places in Lahore’s Model Town and Garhi Shahu neighbourhoods. The attacks resulted in the deaths of over 80 worshippers. Later on, a Jamaat-i-Ahmediya Pakistan spokesman put the toll at 95. Countless others were injured. As for the attackers, cohering together the various accounts, two of them reportedly fled, two were captured, one attacker was killed during clashes while the three suicide bombers blew themselves up when police tried to enter the place of worship.

The dead have now been buried while the injured struggle to hold on.

Officials in the Lahore police instantaneously suggested a “possible Indian hand” in the attack, while media reports stated that the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan’s Punjab wing, also known as the Punjabi Taliban, had claimed responsibility for the slaughter. Later on, during interrogation, a suspect revealed that the militants were associated with the TTP. However, Interior Minister Rehman Malik stated that the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ) was involved.

A claim of responsibility has been found; it is the typical chain of events, similar to the very many previous attacks that we have come to understand as the militants’ standard modus operandi. This time, however, the question of assigning responsibility is not as simple as it seems, but instead requires a detailed investigation rather than conclusions drawn on the basis of immediate circumstantial evidence.  Following are the facts surrounding the incident, which although seemingly lie outside of it but are extremely pertinent.

Fact 1: Punjab is currently under the administration of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, also President Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N). The PML-N has been widely critiqued in recent months for failing to take a strong stance against terrorist attacks and extremist ideology.

Fact 2: The provincial administration and the police failed to foil the attacks against Ahmedi worship places. The federal interior ministry had sent two security alerts to the Punjab government (on May 13 and May 26) regarding the possibility of terrorist attacks on religious minorities. Separately, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and Ahmedi community leaders had repeatedly approached the Punjab government requesting enhanced security for the community as they were continually receiving threats of attacks. Regardless of these alerts, requests and warnings, the militants managed to stage an attack of immense magnitude. It was in this situation that Chief Minister Punjab sprang to the defence of the local police and failed to admit that there was indeed a serious security lapse that facilitated the attackers.

Fact 3: Interestingly enough, the only prominent government representative to visit the Ahmedis at one of the attacked worship places was Interior Minister Rehman Malik. While the offices of the Prime Minister and the President issued typical condemnatory statements, there were no immediate, vehement denunciations. Within Punjab, neither of the Sharif brothers visited a hospital treating the wounded or the targeted worship places. Some suggest it was not so politically viable in this case — even for the chief minister under whose watch the slaughter was carried out.

Fact 4: This weak reaction has reminded the public of Shahbaz Sharif’s recent mercy appeal to the Taliban and his declaration of PML-N's affinity with certain aspects of militant ideology.

Fact 5: Even the PML-N’s fearless conversationalist of a provincial minister, Rana Sanaullah, failed to call the attack for what it was, and continues to deny that things have begun to rot in the province of Punjab. His stance is not without a backdrop of its own: the minister was on the forefront of forging an alliance between the PML-N and the Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a fervently anti-Shia banned outfit, for the Jhang by-polls. Logically, he rejected the interior ministry’s suggestion for an operation against militants in southern Punjab. Even if one overlooks an alarmed interior ministry, minority sects and religious groups are bound to find the PML-N’s ties with SSP rather ominous and doubt the Punjab government’s commitment to fighting terrorism.

Fact 6: To ensure that people knew how far the PML-N-led Punjab government could go to preserve and nurture the party’s vote bank, it allowed the display of, and in some cases, even sponsored, banners and billboards inciting hatred against “Ahmedis, Christians and Jews”. Even after all the violence that was meted out to the already marginalised Ahmedis on May 28, the banners were not removed. But the Punjab government did have a defence: speaking to a private television channel, advisor to the Punjab Chief Minister, Zaeem Qadri, argued how the banners could not be removed for fear of “adverse reaction against the government”.

Fact 7: Coupled with this has been PML-N’s Senator Sajid Mir’s fresh call for removing all Ahmedis from key positions. The call was made soon after the massacre, during a Khatme Nabuwat conference in Sargodha. This was a clear violation of Article 27 of the 1973 Constitution, which functions as a “safeguard against discrimination in services”. Unfortunately, it went unheeded and unaddressed by the Punjab administration. The PML-N also failed to discipline the party member for his offensive speech at an all-too-sensitive time.

Given such worrying circumstances, are the calls for immediate action against militants operating from south Punjab unwarranted? The CM seems to think so, and has labelled suggestions for anti-terror operations in the region as attempts at “fanning provincialism”.  Reactions of this nature seem to be a perverse form of politicking, aimed at distracting the public from the crucial issue at hand – that of militant outfits based in Punjab. The poverty levels in south Punjab have turned the region into a fertile ground for breeding militants. But this is old news and alarm bells have been raised by political and defence analysts for over a year. Nevertheless, it seems that Shahbaz Sharif is out to guard his turf and will not be intimidated by some federal minister “speaking someone else’s mind”. On the other hand, Nawaz Sharif has finally managed to call the Ahmedis the 'brothers' of Muslims. But with all that has been said and not done, what will it take for the Punjab government to take action against militant groups that have wreaked havoc in the province with repeated attacks on civilians? Will the terrorists that have bled Punjab finally be punished? Will the PML-N make up its mind? And will politics allow it?

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