A nation hostage to terrorism
The large scale killings on Thursday in Quetta, Karachi and Swat indicate that the terrorists rather than the law enforcement agencies possess the initiative. The common man thus continues to pay a terrible price in life, limb and property. With 124 dead bodies already counted, and more among the seriously injured likely to be added to the tally in the next few days, January 11 will be remembered as one of the blackest days in the country’s history. Many more who have been disabled would have to live with the trauma for the rest of their lives. Eyewitnesses tell of 50 shops and nearby houses having been badly damaged in Quetta due to the explosions. The financial loss would be unbearable for quite a few victims of the bombings.
In Quetta, two perpetrators of the carnage have taken credit for their cowardly, shameful and gruesome acts. Banned United Baloch Army claimed responsibility for the attack on the FC check post, where 12 persons including two children died, and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi for the two successive attacks in a predominantly Hazara neighbourhood where 81 lives were lost. In Karachi, the seven Pushtun labourers shot and killed in their beds have obviously been targeted by ethnic terrorists who resent the increasing presence of Pushtuns in the city. In Swat, where elements affiliated with the TTP have again started to make their presence felt through targeted attacks, are presumably behind the latest terrorist act. A section of the extremists believes that the Tablighi Jamaat is luring people away from jihad; it is likely to be involved in the attack that killed 34 people.
Sins of omission and commission on the part of both the political and non-political establishment are responsible for the deteriorating law and order situation in the country. Had those in power concentrated on reducing the ethnic tension in Karachi, the metropolis long before now would have been a haven of peace instead of constantly being engulfed in mayhem and killing. Equally glaring is the political establishment’s failure to resolve the Balochistan crisis through talks. It left the matter in the hands of the agencies, which singularly lack the competence and the will for a peaceful resolution.
The two Waziristan agencies remain the epicentre of most of the terrorist activity in the country. One has heard too often that a conclusive military operation in the area was only a matter of time. While the reports have alerted the extremists and made them desperate, the operation is nowhere in sight. There is a dire need to rise to the occasion. Continuing to delay what is urgently needed amounts to making the nation a hostage to terrorism.
