Editorial

The fight must go on

Suicide blasts are reminiscent of elections in any country where anti-state elements challenge the writ of the state

Editorial July 24, 2018

Polls and suicide blasts in Pakistan are reminiscent of elections in any country where anti-state elements challenge the writ of the supreme institution of the state. Nevertheless, the motives and the agenda for causing instability might differ. For instance, over 100 politicians were killed in Mexico during the past year leading up to the elections in the wake of the country’s ongoing drug war. Similarly, in Pakistan, factions causing instability have multiple reasons for their condemnable acts. Blasts and terrorist activities not only weaken the writ of the state but also result in civilian’s loss of faith while deterring them from exercising their right to vote.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Ikramullah Gandapur is the recent name among the thousands of Pakistanis who have been knocked into nothingness by terrorists on one pretext or the other. Lately, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces have become the most unfortunate regions of Pakistan where familial lineages have lost both the young and the old to suicide blasts and acts of terrorism. Ikramullah’s brother Israrullah Gandapur too died in a suicide attack. After Bashir Bilour, the family lost his son Haroon Bilour also in a recent bomb attack at an election rally in Peshawar. The ordeal doesn’t end here, neither is it going to end after the 25^th of July. Regardless of the fact that a successful transition of power to a new government would serve as enough of a deterrent for the terrorist elements, the battle against them must continue. The solidarity of the nation and the civil-military leadership in conducting military operations against the radicalised factors have rendered results and will bear even more if carried forward with the same unity and solidarity.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2018.

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