... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ...
-- by most accounts Pakistain's most active sectarian terrorist group -- lived a violent life and met a violent end on the outskirts of the Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....
town of Muzaffargarh on Wednesday.
Questions remain about the way the Lion of Islam leader was killed; the reported details don't quite add up, strengthening the view that he was eliminated in a staged encounter.
There is no argument that extrajudicial killings are unacceptable; eliminating suspects in such a manner creates 'deaders' and serves to further radicalise supporters of Lion of Islam groups.
There is a lesson here that absolutely has to be learned if there is a viable way forward: the feared Lion of Islam spent years behind bars but could not be convicted in court -- not necessarily because he was innocent, but because witnesses were too terrified to testify against him, while the broken justice system could not build a watertight case against him.
To achieve success in countering terrorism and militancy, the authorities must arrest, prosecute and punish Lions of Islam through legal means.
The dysfunctional justice system needs to be fixed and effective protection programmes for witnesses, prosecutors and judges dealing with terrorism cases need to be in place.
In the bigger picture, for a long time, there has been criticism (much of it justified) that the state -- particularly the Punjab administration -- has not done enough to tackle militancy.
There has even been criticism that elements within the Punjab government have hobnobbed with sectarian figures.
Hence, is Malik Ishaq's killing the first clear sign that the Punjab leadership has decided to pursue a more proactive counterterrorism policy?
It is possible, though some observers feel it is actually the military establishment that has taken the initiative.
Questions also persist about the state's intent in going after Lions of Islam across the board. For example, on the day Malik Ishaq was killed, Rafiq Mengal, a key sectarian leader in Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
, was tossed in the clink
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
in Quetta and taken into custody after he led a demonstration protesting the Lion of Islam's killing.
Why have cases not already been registered against such elements that publicly display their sympathies and support for operatives of banned outfits?
In order to uproot militancy, amongst other things the state must also prosecute the sympathisers and accomplices of Lions of Islam in political garb.
If the establishment persists with the thoroughly discredited 'good Lion of Islam, bad Lion of Islam' line of thought, the belief that it is being selective in its anti-militancy measures will persist.