Target killing: the new face of terror

As bodies pile up, there seems little end in sight

PESHAWAR: There is a new face of terror in Peshawar; and its name is target killing.

Every now and then, the public may get a glimpse of blindfolded men whose pictures are released. Authorities present a bird’s eye view of their brief ‘terrorist’ life. Despite all of this, the vicious cycle continues and body counts increase by the day.

At the end of 2015 and beginning of 2016, official statistics were doled out in newspapers and flashed on TV sets. They all talked of the considerable decrease in large-scale terror attacks and major bomb blasts. However, the new face of urban violence is target killing.

Even that is contested as some suggest extortion is even higher up the ladder. There is good reason to believe several people, who have a trust deficit with the state, have been paying demanded amounts to keep themselves safe. But are they really safe?

In recent months, the police themselves have been in the crosshairs of targeted attacks. We have seen that police officials have been gunned down by “unidentified” men in every nook and cranny of the city. However, two areas have lately come under the radar of law enforcement agencies. The first being the jurisdiction of Yakatoot police station and Khazana, on the periphery of the city, being the other.

There are numerous search operations conducted daily and reports suggest that these might even be successful in controlling criminal activities in the provincial capital.

The question that immediately springs to mind is; if matters are under control, why do such incidents continue to take place—a logical query amid the current state of affairs.

The answer can be two-pronged. Either what the public is being told about the situation is factually incorrect or there is not enough being done to control crime.

The doubts that exist in the mind of the common man are an exemplification of what needs to be done. If the problem is within the administrative policing structure, a reforms agenda has now been set and there should be no excuse after it is implemented. The legislative lacunae are also a resolved matter to quite an extent. Many other reforms and capacity building initiatives are also in the pipeline. However, are these the actual solutions to create a harmonious utopia the city and its people have been yearning for more than a decade?

I think not. For actual peace, larger policy initiatives need to be addressed. Till the time that even the faintest existence of the thought that violence and power can solve our civic issues persists, peace will remain an elusive dream.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 3^rd, 2016.