Fear and abductions

Two back-to-back incidents of abduction in the outgoing week wherein 29 labourers were taken away at gunpoint in Khuzdar and Mastung towns of Balochistan is worrisome. The workers' lives could be at peril as abductors might exterminate them as has been the case in previous such happenings. The labourers – 20 of whom were abducted on Thursday and nine more three days earlier – apparently fell victim to ethno-lingual profiling. The restive province of Balochistan has long been home to such killings where people from other provinces are targeted.

Though not much is known about the affiliation of these workers, it seems to be an episode of hate-mongering that is being orchestrated in the mountainous and barren wilds of the southwestern province as terror affiliates continue to operate there scot-free. The fact that these men were easily taken away, and the construction site belongings as well as the vehicles parked there were burnt is a serious security lapse, and is in need of being accounted for.

Spiraling incidents of terrorism in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have their roots at home and abroad. Disgruntled elements have been able to strike an alliance of convenience with foreign operators, and they are busy bleeding the restive zones to achieve their nefarious designs. The frequent netting of Indian proxies in Balochistan by security forces confirms this phenomenon.

The flip side too is bothersome – why is this terror nexus alive and kicking despite the presence of heavy contingents of law-enforcement agencies, as well as garrisons, across the province? That makes a convenient case of a gap in planning and execution of intelligence-based operations, as well as lack of support from grassroots elements.

This is where the authorities must focus and synergise their strategies with a renewed political dimension. A policy based on kinetic measures, astute intelligence sharing and across-the-board political endorsement will prove to be the death-knell for the unscrupulous elements who are faceless and operate in cahoots with the wheelers-and-dealers in the province.