The negligent Pakistani
By S. Azam Mahmood, Dawn.com blogs, October 18, 2012

[....] I blame said messiahs like Imran Khan who say that the war against extremism is “not our war”, and I blame the educated elite who allow that mentality to flourish. That belief is a form of indirect sympathy for the Taliban, and direct ignorance towards a mindset that claims the minds of an overwhelming number of Pakistanis. The declaration that this war is not our duty is harmful beyond words. It sheds us from all responsibility of creating a monster on our territory, a monster that is fighting our people. If this is not something that we have the duty to fight, then we are being apathetic towards causes like Malala’s. Malala did not believe that this war is not ours; she fought it single-highhandedly and refused to surrender. [....]

Either way …
By Nadeem F. Paracha, Dawn.com blogs, October 18, 2012

[....] Men like Geo’s leading anchor, Hamid Mir, and insightful political commentators like Najam Sethi and Dr. Farrukh Saleem have already poked gaping holes into what Khan had to say in his defense.

Instead, I’m going to take another, much lighter, route. And I’ll do so because I think I know why in spite of facing some cutting but constructive and largely accurate criticism that Khan received at the hands of political and intellectual sleuths like Sethi and Saleem, he is most likely to hold on to his narrative that puts all the blame on US drone strikes and the US presence in Afghanistan for the intense wave of Islamist violence that has been sweeping the country for the past many years.

I do not agree with him for reasons, again, already highlighted and brilliantly articulated by Sethi and Saleem. [....]

Persecuted Hazaras flee Pakistan; some die trying
By Kathy Gannon, Associated Press, 10/18/2012 02:05:23 AM PDT

QUETTA, Pakistan—[....]

Four months had passed since the suicide bombing at the mosque in Quetta, where the violence has spawned a vibrant human smuggling business. The smugglers operate out of small, unidentified shops. Selling promises of a safe and better life in Australia, they largely capitalize on the fear and desperation of the Hazara, a largely Shiite community that is facing attacks not only here but in neighboring Afghanistan.

In Quetta, Shiite leaders say many of the attacks against Hazaras are carried out by the Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Janghvi, which they contend is backed by elements within Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI. Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftikar Chaudhry and a panel of three judges last month ordered authorities to investigate allegations that vehicles illegally imported by the ISI were used in suicide bombings targeting Shiites [....]