Balochistan’s fragile political situation is taking a very dangerous twist.
QUETTA: Balochistan’s fragile political situation is taking a very dangerous twist. The confrontation of Baloch nationalists with the paramilitary forces has shattered the life of the impoverished residents of the province. Taking advantage of political conflict, several criminal gangs have surfaced in the province and have become involved in crimes as heinous as kidnapping for ransom. The unfortunate thing is that some of these criminals have connections to people in very high places and this also explains why law-enforcement agencies seem to be helpless in arresting them.
Compared to this, the police and the Frontier Corps take a very aggressive posture in dealing with the government’s political opponents and one cannot understand this, given the general lack of law and order in the province. Surely, a better approach would be to go after criminal gangs? The central government and agencies need to rethink their policy and the way they tackle the issue of rising violence and deteriorating law and order in Balochistan.
I am a businessman based in Quetta and I can say that I, and others like myself, live in a constant state of fear and insecurity. If these criminal gangs are not dealt with, then the situation in the province, which is already quite bad, will become even worse.
Sharafudin Kakar
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2011.
