Editorial

Slaughter in Quetta

With at least 63 dead and 50 or more injured, this is in reality just another bombing

Editorial August 08, 2016

Bystanders react at the site after a bomb explosion at Civil Hospital premises in Quetta on August 8, 2016. PHOTO: AFP

There should be no surprise anywhere either inside or outside of government both provincial and federal at the carnage in Quetta’s Civil Hospital on August 8. With at least 63 dead and 50 or more injured (both figures are unlikely to be definitive), this is in reality just another bombing. Just another item in the litany of murder of innocent people whose only crime seemingly was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. No surprise because governments provincial and federal despite their trumpeting as to how many casualties they have suffered fighting terrorism — have been highly selective in the terrorists they choose to fight. It was not so long ago that a senior federal government figure was justifying the narrow bandwidth in regarding the fight against terror because of fears about ‘blowback’ if pressure on terrorist groups was increased.

There are reports of casualties across the spectrum, including at least one cameraman from DawnNews and an Aaj journalist, plus doctors and nurses present in the casualty receiving area when the bomb was detonated. It was a well-planned and coordinated attack, the hospital being hit as it received the body of the man who had been used as the bait — the leader of the Balochistan Bar Association. The terrorists had every intention of creating a mass-casualty event and they succeeded on a grand scale, shortly to be forgotten as the news agenda rolls on.

The killings were swiftly followed by the fatuous condolences of anybody who could get in front of a microphone. The prime minister is due to visit, with the chief of army staff also visiting the hospital. The prime minister spoke of the loss of “precious lives”. The manner in which the powers that be handle the aftermath of such tragedies makes clear that the lost lives were not precious at all, they were expendable, mere cannon fodder, and the prime minister nor anybody else is about to add to their value by directly and conclusively tackling those that killed them. The Quetta bombing will be history by the weekend, ancient at that.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2016.

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COMMENTS (5)

Mr Obvious | 8 years ago | Reply "governments provincial and federal despite their trumpeting as to how many casualties they have suffered fighting terrorism — have been highly selective in the terrorists they choose to fight" . Which also demonstrates a callous indifference to the innocent Afghan people who are slaughtered by terrorist who find sanctuary/support inside Pakistan. The policy of good/bad terrorist has consequences. BTW - has you asked the "good terrorist" why they set fire to your helicopter in Afghanistan and haven't returned your soldiers?

Feroz | 8 years ago | Reply As always we must strongly condemn terror acts wherever they may occur, there being no justification for violence and murder on any grounds. The number of lives lost, the number of families deprived of their bread winner, will become mere statistics if remedial action is not launched immediately. NAP was announced to the nation with much fanfare, why citizens are not demanding that it be implemented in toto immediately ? Half measures in the fight against terrorism has ensured that the problem will not disappear anytime soon. The law enforcement agencies cannot fight this battle with hands tied behind their back. As long as the ruling elites patronize different terror groups, no one knows who should be targeted and who should be let go. That the terror groups have ideological brothers representing them in the Legislature, also makes the fight an unequal one. Without a change in mindset the battle of targeting terror groups, their supporters, financiers, trainers and shelterers, cannot begin. How can a government that finances the nurseries of terrorism even claim it is a victim of terrorism ? The farce being enacted in the name of fighting terrorism must end and real battle against it must begin. Human lives should not be made so cheap.

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kamran choudhry | 8 years ago | Reply Everybody must condemn this horrific attack on hospital in Quetta. There is no justification for it. Sadly this is becoming a routine affair for us in Pakistan. How come our ISI and other intelligence agencies could not prevent such a heinous act on innocent citizens, particularly in a city with strong military presence? The root of the problem is our pet militants. We shelter, feed and keep the militants as an extension of our foreign policy and relish when they act against neighbors like India and Afghanistan.My friends, a cobra is a cobra. It cannot be kept a pet to act against neighbors. It has no morales and bites indiscriminately.

numbersnumbers | 8 years ago | Reply Well written editorial! Would ET please write about how government officials quickly blame RAW, NDS, and any other "foreign hand" entities for these terrorist acts even after TTP like groups openly take credit! We all have repeatedly heard about the ever convenient foreign hand "evidence", which has never see the light of day for the last dozen years! How about finally calling out these officials at press conferences about this imaginary evidence they have NEVER PROVIDED!

Observer | 8 years ago | Reply Such terrorist act of killing civilian is condemnable, whether in Pakistan or any part of the world. The people of the world, specially Pakistan's neighbours are anxiously waiting to see a change in the Pakistani leaderships policies of making distinction between good terrorists and bad terrorists.

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