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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Mourners clash with police as toll in Karachi mosque bombing rises |
| 2004-06-01 |
| Police exchanged fire with rioting mourners Tuesday as thousands gathered for the funerals of 20 killed in an apparent suicide bombing at a crowded Shiite Muslim mosque, the latest terrorist attack in Pakistan’s largest city. About 200 angry Shiites set fire to three buses, a bank, bus company offices and shops housed in one building a few doors down from the mosque hit in Monday’s bombing. Hundreds of police fired tear gas at the crowd along a major highway in the southern city. Police and rioters exchanged gunfire in several locations, witnesses said. There was no immediate word on injuries. The unrest began after the mob started stoning police. The bombing ripped through the mosque during evening prayers on Monday, and the death toll rose to 20 Tuesday when four of the injured died of their wounds. At least 75 were injured. The attack sparked nighttime rioting by hundreds of enraged Shiite youths who burned shops, cars, a bank and a government building and blocked highways and the main rail line. A shootout between rioters and police left three people dead. On Tuesday, Shiite Muslim clerics urged mourners to show restraint during funerals for the bombing victims. "Everybody who is a Muslim should understand that some elements want (to) create unrest," said Yousaf Hussain, a Shiite leader. "They are the enemy of Pakistan and Islam, and I ask you to understand this conspiracy and show patience." |
| Posted by:TS(vice girl) |
| #16 >RB: Give me an example, then. Because I can give you lots of examples to the contrary. >ex-lib: Denial, no, I do feel that what I'm saying is true. Okay, maybe the fratboy analogy was dumb, sorry 'bout that then. Was just trying to say that there're insane fuckwits in every culture, white, black, Asian, Islam, but it doesn't mean that the race as a whole is wacked. The nuts just happen to come to the top in the Arab world, and drag the rest of the people along with them, cos they don't know any better. Sort of what .com said, but different. I mean, if you've been taught (as Christians have, don't forget) that there will be a time for you to stand up and fight against evil, and some megalomaniac comes along and deludes you into believing that this is the time--what would you do? Besides, there're "normal" Arabs out there who don't want their hometowns bombed to bits, who'd rather the fanatics just got themselves killed, already. Ah, grew up in Singapore, but we're next to Malaysia, so we've got the whole neighbour thing going. |
| Posted by: EvilStorm 2004-06-01 11:35:55 PM |
| #15 An Observation, FWIW, that matches the "facts": Where in the minority, they are as rkb describes them - their behavior is definitely the more rational of the 2 sects - more urbane, technical, open, tolerant. Perhaps the tyranny of the Sunnis, which is very real, is the main cause. Where in the majority, and that has historically been only in Iran up to now, with Iraqi Shi'a coming into their own soon, their leaders seem to be something else entirely - and, of course, this certainly encourages the thugs (at least) to step forward to be part of the power structure. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-06-01 9:41:08 PM |
| #14 Then what is the core reason for predominately Shiite Iran sponsoring so much terrorist violence? They copied the Wahabist playbook because it was working so well in gaining converts. |
| Posted by: Phil B 2004-06-01 9:32:13 PM |
| #13 Not me. Historically, the Shia have been the more cosmopolitan, tolerant and diverse of the Muslim communities, 20th-21st century Iranian mullahs notwithstanding. Then what is the core reason for predominately Shiite Iran sponsoring so much terrorist violence? I can understand how a traditionally repressed minority might have a more tolerant worldview, but Iran seems to contradict this. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-06-01 9:21:08 PM |
| #12 Pakistanis aren't Arabs. |
| Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-06-01 7:16:56 PM |
| #11 As bad as it is for the Shia in Pakistan, it may be worse in Bangladesh. On the other hand, quite a few Sunni in Iran have been repressed for the past few decades. |
| Posted by: mhw 2004-06-01 4:53:19 PM |
| #10 Not me. Historically, the Shia have been the more cosmopolitan, tolerant and diverse of the Muslim communities, 20th-21st century Iranian mullahs notwithstanding. |
| Posted by: rkb 2004-06-01 3:52:12 PM |
| #9 Does anyone else here obtain a sense of delicious irony from the fact that the typically ultra-violent Shiites are getting a dose of their own medicine? Too bad we can't set all of the Sunni and Shiite fanatics loose in a sealed stadium and let them have at it. They deserve each other. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-06-01 3:47:18 PM |
| #8 Thanks dcreeper. And EvilStorm: are you in (gasp) denial? For crying out loud--your comparison of Islamic terrorists and Arab Moslems in general, with white American fratboys, is ludicrous. Trust me--if frat houses were shooting at each other, or even planning to, CNN would be all over it. One more example of "domestic failures in the Bush administration." More Moslems than you'd like to admit, love the "call" to fight, and fighting is a big part of their self-concepts. My suggestion is that you search the Rantburg Archives for about a week, before attempting to enroll in Rantburg University. You are seriously in need of an education. Any appropriate word will suffice: bomb, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, rape, Sudan, psychology, Taliban, Afghanistan, women, Palestine--just get started somewhere. P.S. What Asian country did you up in? Indonesia? If so, then you would have a different view of Islam than is practiced and accepted in the Middle East--a kind of Hindu, island version. They're not so bad. |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2004-06-01 2:38:38 PM |
| #7 Muslims: Why do they hate themselves? |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-06-01 2:32:00 PM |
| #6 #4.It's arrogant, stereotyping, and completely racistic. And right on the money as well! I too have known a LOT of "them", how "they" act and what "they" believe is the rule and not the exception. Remember, stereotypes are not created out of thin air. -RB |
| Posted by: Rock Bottom 2004-06-01 2:24:18 PM |
| #5 tell that to the females. arabs have been waging war against their women folk for centuries. |
| Posted by: dcreeper 2004-06-01 1:56:53 PM |
| #4 Well, that's a nice, balanced view, ex-lib. It's arrogant, stereotyping, and completely racistic. There are nutters in every culture, they just happen to be more prominent in the Muslim one, but I'm damn certain that there're white fratboys who'd gladly take guns to each other, except that CNN doesn't show those stories half as much. You've known a lot of "them"? Give me an example. I've known a lot of "them", too, because I grew up in Asia, and as far as I can tell the Moslem culture is as sane as the Christian one, for example. |
| Posted by: EvilStorm 2004-06-01 1:38:32 PM |
| #3 Yes, they do like to fight, Liberalhawk. It is an integral part of their identity. I'm sorry they're not more like you, but they're not. When they spout the crap about being Moslem "brothers," it's just talk. All of their "values' go by the wayside once they are "humiliated." And Liberal As least I have hope for you , though: "which side is playing the role of the Israelis, I ask" Keep asking, but I don't think you're gonna like what you find. No doubt we can all be happy when some of this seems "understandable." But before you get too comfy, remember, they'd attack you (you infidel) and yours, if they could ever find you--and guess what? They'd have their "understandable" reasons--the reasons of the moment. |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2004-06-01 1:13:51 PM |
| #2 I dont think "they" "like to fight". I see no evidence that Pakistani Shia like to fight. Rather whats happened is that Wahabi/deobandi extremists have been attacking the Shia, with the govt, afraid to rock the Deobandi boat, and with fundie infiltration in the army and ISI, looking in the other direction. The Shia finally got sick of this, and knocked off one of the more hateful Sunni fundie Imams. The Sunni Jihadis did the dire revenge thing, blowing up civilians in a mosque (revenge for killing an imam, blowing up 20 people in a suicide bombing - does this sound familiar? which side is playing the role of the Israelis, I ask) So the Shia are gonna riot and turn the place upside down till the security forces actually do something to protect them. Makes sense to me. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-06-01 12:57:57 PM |
| #1 What? A "conspiracy" of Moslems against other Moslems? Isn't that supposed to be impossible in an Islamic state? Moslems bombing mosques . . .? Well, well, well . . . Guess it's like I've always said. If they're not fighting us, they'll fight each other. It's just the way they are. They LIKE to fight. Makes 'em feel like "big" guys. |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2004-06-01 12:45:31 PM |