Security personnel gather as firefighters extinguish a blaze which gutted the national monument in Ziarat. PHOTO: AFP
It can be assumed that the attack was a carefully planned one, intended to send out a clear message by the insurgents who have wrecked peace in the province and have for years been locked in a struggle against the state. According to Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, the residency was attacked by five militants, who had removed the Pakistan flag and raised the BLA flag in its place. The rocket, which hit the building on the morning of June 15, also resulted in damage to nearby houses as a fierce blaze broke out. This is the first action by insurgents in the province since the new government led by Dr Abdul Malik Baloch took charge. Chief Minister Baloch, a highly respected politician, has said he will do all that he can to resolve the conflict in Balochistan. It is now clear his task will not be an easy one. Quite obviously, militants have no intention of ending their campaign or changing their tactics.
Together with the central government, the provincial set-up will need to think through all the dimensions of the Balochistan issue. We all know it is a complex one, with many issues tied into it. The strategy required to sort it out will not be easy to devise. But this is something we will simply have to do if we are to solve a problem that, in so many ways, threatens the very foundations of the state. If these are to be saved from further damage, decisive action is needed quickly — so that we can restore peace in Balochistan, a province that currently stands poised at the very edge of a steep precipice, from which it could tumble at any time.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 16th, 2013.
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COMMENTS (10)
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@Linchpin: hello mr,grant us our freedom nd u shall have peace.army kill our innocent baloch brothers,nd van v reteliate,v r militant,savage,barberious. if ur father or brother is killed or God forbid ur women r raped by government people in the name of saving pakistan,wil u stil love this country? i m sure u wil b more crazy after their blood nd jinnah`s monuments then v r.
To be very fair, Jinah doesn't exist in current Pakistan anyway.
BTW - Jinnah's house in Mumbai, India is safe and is not vandalised...- yes the same Jinnah who we Indians accuse of breaking India...
Please allow me to repeat my earlier comment which I wrote in another thread. Hypocrisy – thy name is Pakistan. MA Jinnah was through and through a secular person and owner of surpassing intelligence. He was eloquent in his espousal of the secular principle in his speech of 11 August 1947 to the Pakistan Constituent Assembly. Jinnah did not live long. His successors took nine years in making a constitution and then they proclaimed an Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which was negation of everything that Jinnah stood for. Over the years and decades Pakistan government has given shabby treatment to its non-Muslim minorities and even to its non-Sunni Muslims. This was also negation of what Jinnah stood for. Pakistan treated East Bengal badly and eventually provoked a movement for secession. Even ZA Bhutto was unable to take an enlightened view of matters. Baluchistan has been clamouring for better accommodation. But Pakistan’s central leadership and their henchmen in the province handled the situation with a heavy hand and provoked further opposition by the people of Baluchistan who are now “seeking an independent homeland”. This is not how Jinnah would have dealt with the question. And now when BLA has destroyed the Ziarat Residency used for a time by Quaid-i-Azam, it is being remembered as “a national heritage site”. If this is not hypocrisy, then what is? Pakistan should accommodate the regional cultures of the various parts of the country. Therein lies the good of Pakistan. If this is done, no external power can do anything. V. C. Bhutani, Edinburgh, 16 Jun 2013, 1621 GMT
No doubt it is a sad incident and should be rebuilt as a national monument. Quaid has left lots of things not just this structure. His three basic principles Unity, Faith and Discipline combined with democracy and equality for all should be our guiding principles. However, we have lost Quaid's Pakistan long ago and it all started when an army dictator stole the election against his sister and moved the capital further away from E. Pakistan.
It is a very clear message by establishment to government of Dr. Malik, that you are not acceptable to us. I am afraid more to come in near future.
The BLA have no use for peace. They will loose a lot of money plus they are probably not qualified to earn a living and contribute to society .....they thrive on eating from the hand of others and destroying the world around them.
Nobody cared when Rahman Baba's masouleum was bombed and voices were silent against the razing of the Bamyan Buddha; this incident is just a natural state of progression for those intent on erasing local history connected to the subcontinent.
Indeed it is sad to see a monument go up in flames. But the real history of Quaid's ziarat stay was more of confinement of him in that far flung area. Quaid was imprisoned there against his wishes, rather than sending him to UK or treated in a hospital in Karachi he was sent to gallows. Hoping that true story will be told when the renovations happen - probably that was the message by those who destroyed it. False imagery of Quaid was portrayed as if he was a happy camper. Even today it is impossible for anyone to get to Ziarat and imagine in 1950's. Army controlled imagery is still the norm as was evident when the corp commander inaugurated the refurbished building recently.
Message of a man or his deeds and vision live on forever. Is there anything really left of the Quaid's message in the Purana or Naya Pakistan??? Jinnah was the best constitutional lawyer in India, an honest and hardworking man, a true nationalist and creator of a nation by his vision and his intellect. He stood alone against all odds in the creation of Pakistan. Compare our current lot of charlatans and the answer stares at you: JInnah is dead and so is his message.