Dr. Syed Eesar Mehdi’s article, “The Violence Pakistan Refuses to Name,” published in Kashmir Observer on 10 February 2026, offers a comprehensive analysis of Pakistan’s failure to protect its Shia population. It argues that the state allows Shias to be slaughtered, provides space to those who openly preach their extermination, and treats each massacre as an isolated tragedy rather than as part of a systemic problem—thereby abdicating its responsibility. Justice is more than arresting perpetrators after the fact; true justice lies in preventing violence from becoming normalized. Until Pakistan confronts the ideological foundations of sectarian exclusion, dismantles the networks that sustain anti-Shia violence, and unequivocally affirms Shias as equal citizens and equal Muslims, the bloodshed will continue. The streets of Quetta, Parachinar, Karachi, and now Islamabad will remain sites of mourning and indictment. History will remember not only those who carried out the killings, but also the state that repeatedly chose to look away.
