Karachi bus tragedy widely condemned

ISLAMABAD: Almost all the politicians, including prime minister and federal ministers, civil society and people from other walks of life strongly condemned the firing incident on a bus in Karachi in which 45 people, including women and children, belonging to Ismaili community lost their life.
President Mamnoon Hussain strongly condemned the attack on the bus.Expressing deep grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives in the dastardly attack, the president emphasised that the nation and government were committed to eliminate militancy and terrorism from the country.
He said the terrorists have no religion and the heinous incident cannot deter the resolve of the nation. He called for apprehending and meting out exemplary punishment to the perpetrators and elements behind the gruesome incident.
The president offered his condolences to the bereaved families. He also directed the authorities concerned to ensure the best medical treatment to the injured. Immediately after the incident, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sought report into the terrorist incident in Karachi.
The prime minister strongly condemned the terrorist act and extended condolence on the loss of lives, a PM House statement said.Spiritual leader of Ismaili community Prince Karim Aga Khan condemned Karachi bus attack by terrorists, saying that it was very tragic attack on a very peaceful community.
“This attack represents a senseless act of violence against a peaceful community. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the families of those killed and wounded in the attack,” said a statement posted on the Aga Khan Development Network website.
The statement said that Ismailis are peaceful global community that live in harmony with various other ethnic and religious groups across the world.The statement added that other Ismaili leaders in Pakistan are currently involved in an emergency operation to help the survivors of the attack.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the brutal attack on the bus.He expressed sympathies with the victim’s families and asked the Sindh government to provide best medical facilities to the injured.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also strongly condemned the attack. He sympathised with the victims and urged for stern action against the terrorists.Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan expressed his deep sorrow and grief over the loss of innocent lives.
“It is heart wrenching and saddening to know innocent civilians have been killed in Karachi,” he said in a statement.Imran said, “I am stunned and grieved at most condemnable terror attack in Karachi on citizens belonging to a most peaceful community.”
He demanded an immediate investigation of the incident, adding strict action must be taken against perpetrators of this heinous act.Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain also strongly condemned the deadly attack. He expressed his deep sense of grief and sorrow on the horrific killings.
Hussain said that the firing on a bus was the worst kind of terrorism, and those who are involved in this gory incident are cold-blooded killers.“Doctors, professors, engineers, religious scholars, traders and ordinary people are being gunned down on the streets of Karachi on a daily basis. The brutal killing of people near Safoora Chowrangi has exposed the failure of the Sindh government and law-enforcing agencies in bringing peace in the city,” he said.
Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Ameer Sirajul Haq strongly condemned the incident and termed it an act of ‘barbarianism’ and ‘terrorism’. The JI, he said, condemned terrorism in its all forms and manifestations.
Talking to a news channel, he said the bus firing incident was another justification for the ongoing Karachi operation. He said the presence of terrorists and their activities spoke about the state of affairs in the metropolitan.
He said the terrorists had nothing to do with Islam as it was the religion of peace, harmony and brotherhood that never allowed anyone to take lives of others.He voiced concern over the involvement of foreign elements in terrorism activities, who wanted to dent national unity and fan sectarianism in the country.
Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani, Deputy Chairman Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Leader of the House in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq, Leader of Opposition in Senate Aitzaz Ahsan, Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, PTI Vice Chairman Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Pakistan Ulema Council chief Maulana Tahir Ashrafi, Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqa-e-Jafria chief Allama Hamid Ali Moosavi and Press Council of Pakistan Chairman Dr Rana Shamim Ahmed, also condemned the vicious bus attack.
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said the barbaric killing of members of the Ismaeli community in a bus attack in Karachi is highly condemnable, but it deserves more than mere words of censure and sympathy from the authorities, political parties and civil society.
In a statement, the HRCP said: “It is tragic beyond words that once again bands of killers have massacred Pakistan’s daughters and sons, this time from Ismaili community, and walked away without any apparent difficulty.”