- Terror is not yet over
The Improvised Explosive Device which killed three in Chaman, including JUI(F) leader Maulana Muhammad Hanif, showed that the law enforcing agencies had not brought terror to an end. It also showed that the toxic sectarianism that had afflicted the area was far from over. There was a harsh light also shone on the links of the Deobandi school of thought, for which the JUI(F) is the political platform, to sectarian terrorists. Perhaps most worrisome is that fact that the attack could set off a series of tit-for-tat killings which might provide a new focus for the sectarian violence that has afflicted the province for years.
Previous attacks on JUI(F) figures have targeted more prominent figures, like that on JUI(F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in 2014, and Senate Deputy Chairman Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri in 2017 in Mastung, have not worked, in that the main target survived (though the attack on Maulana Haideri left at least 28 dead). This one did, and that is dangerous, because it provides motivation to over-enthusiastic party workers, or even to sectaries who espouse a sudden enthusiasm for the party because it gives them an excuse to kill members of the other sect.
Apart from finding a means of containing the sectarian rivalry, the authorities must also see that it does not become any more ethnic than it already is. It may be unfortunate, but it is also true, that while Pakhtuns are mostly Deobandi, and thus likely to be anti-Shia, the Shias of the area are mostly Tajik. The ethnic dimension is exacerbated by the fact that both ethnicities are mainly to be found in those parts of Baluchistan which constituted, until the 19th century, provinces of Afghanistan (which were conquered by the Raj after its First Afghan War). Both are thus ‘imported’, though long usage and residence has indigenised both. Baluchistan is also subject to another strand of terrorism, that committed by nationalists, but sectarian violence is also going strong, and provides yet another pathway for foreign intelligence outfits to find an entry. That they have also dabbled in sectarian organisations is a foregone conclusion, but they have so far apparently focused on nationalist organisations. If attacks like the one in Chaman continue, that may change.