An end in sight?
The bomb blast at a football stadium and firing attacks at different places in Balochistan in the last two days which left 19 people killed, including Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani’s teenage nephew, must have shocked the Baloch population. The province, which is rife with separatist insurgency and sectarian strife, has seen a recent surge in violence.
After Saturday morning’s shooting spree in Quetta in which 11 people were killed, the enraged local people went on a rampage and burnt tyres to block the main road. The incident was the second of its kind in the city in 12 hours. Earlier, seven Shia devotees were shot dead in Quetta while they were heading to Iran to visit religious places. The banned extremist group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, has claimed responsibility for this attack with its spokesman saying that it was the revenge of the killing of a Sunni scholar a day before.
Balochistan has a troubled history. It has not only been facing multiple socioeconomic problems but is also trapped in the vicious circle of target killings, kidnappings, and mysterious disappearances. Despite the presence of Frontier Corps and other paramilitary groups, police and Levies have not been able to ensure the security of citizens against threats such as terrorism. It was in December last when Chief Minister Raisani escaped a suicide attack on his official cavalcade while he was on his way to attend the provincial assembly session.
The involvement of Balochistan Liberation Army and such other shadowy organisations in subversive activities cannot be condoned. But the fact remains that insurgency intensified after Nawab Akbar Bugti’s killing in a military action during the Musharraf era.
Is there any way out of this quagmire? Certainly. Crisis in Balochistan can be resolved provided the ruling political leadership at the federal and provincial level engages the Baloch nationalists in a dialogue and work out a comprehensive strategy aimed at restoring the confidence of the local population whose sense of alienation continues to deepen.
