Targeted terror

The latest frenzy of target killings and violence against Punjabis in Quetta is shattering.

Just as we think we have seen the worst possible horrors, worse events unfold. The ethnic shooting in Balochistan have continued for some time; like the sectarian deaths in Karachi we have become almost accustomed to them. But the latest frenzy of violence against Punjabis in Quetta is shattering. It is a forewarning of what could lie ahead, of the kind of violence that could overtake us pitching people everywhere against each other on the basis of the language they speak, the cultural codes they adhere to or simply the domicile written out on their identity cards. The latest killings in Quetta, where passengers were pulled off a bus from Lahore, and the Punjabis among them shot, were cold-blooded and calculated. The shooting of five other Punjabis on the same day in the city was similar. In the not very distant past we have seen a similar set of events unfold. They led, in 1971, to the birth amidst blood of the independent state of Bangladesh.

There must be no repetition of such civil disorder. But sadly, things seem to be getting worse. Promises that the situation in Balochistan would be tackled have not been honoured. We have instead seen a steady worsening. Claims from ministers of Indian intervention may not be entirely without truth; but such outside manipulation is possible only when unrest already exists and there are currents of disgruntlement to play on. The ethnic frenzy breaking out in Balochistan is dangerous. The recent targeting of teachers along these lines has already led to many leaving the province. As a result the people of Balochistan are poorer. Bitterness and anger perhaps prevents them for now from seeing this. In the short-term the government must come good on the many promises that it has made so far to the people of the province, especially the prime minister's assurance that all those who had disappeared would soon return home.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2010.