As recent events would bear witness, asking questions – especially those about culpability – in this country is an exercise in futility. But questions are all we have for now because no answers are forthcoming. As the reaper’s shadow once again cloaks Quetta, back-to-back incidents of carnage have pushed not only the city but the issues surrounding the bloodshed into disarray.
On Tuesday, five Chechens were killed near an FC security checkpost of which there are a dime a dozen in the area. While the official narrative maintains that those killed were terrorists, one is compelled to approach that with a plenteous dose of cynicism. Because it doesn’t defy logic at all that “terrorists” carry their passports, are unarmed and display a readiness to surrender, right? But our security officials would have us believe that and take their word for it as no explosives have been offered as proof to corroborate the official account which claims that explosives were found. Furthermore, witnesses present at the scene maintain that the deceased were willing to surrender. It is true that a security situation as tumultuous as ours warrants vigilance of the highest order but it is perturbing that our security personnel are prone to trigger-happy behaviour and there is no accountability mechanism in place to determine what constitutes use or abuse of power. In the wake of this incident, litanies of ‘transparent inquiries’ abound but if the past is anything to go by, they may amount to naught.
Whereas killing these alleged terrorists at the merest trace of suspicion was a sin of commission, the security forces can be charged with one of omission as well. In this same combat-ravaged city, there was a failure to protect the lives of seven Shia people. Lakshar-e-Jhangvi has claimed responsibility of this reprehensible incident. The fact that these proselytes of hatred act with such cavalier immunity sheds light on much that afflicts our society but it is also a brutal indictment of the security machinery. Why were these home-grown terrorists not stopped like those alleged alien terrorists were? It is high time that our desensitised sensibilities not simply accept these lapses of security as a fact-of-life and hold those liable for these failures answerable. We can ill-afford this fecklessness anymore.
