Violence in the wind

The crisp breezes of spring have blown in violence across the land. We do not know what direction they will take things in, as tensions, anxiety and anger mount everywhere. In Quetta, the ravaged Hazara community had to sit with the coffins of its deceased, seeking army protection. The Supreme Court has taken up the case, and in Quetta, protesters gathered everywhere, wondering when the violence will stop — if it ever will. The government finally seems to have woken up from its slumber, too, with a targeted operation against terrorists operating in the city although it remains to be seen whether this step will prove to be effective or not. Certainly, for now, things look bleaker all round than ever before with that strangulating grip of violence spreading like a dark shadow into other places.

In Karachi, where the environment is always restive, rallies, dharnas and marches were staged against the massacre. Political parties, religious groups and others came together for this. The result was a growth in the general sense of unease and indeed, a total disruption of daily life. Schools have been closed, so have markets and roads. Access to the airport in both Karachi and Lahore was affected.



The danger, of course, is that with so many diverse forces at work, the smallest spark could set off a bigger blaze. In this troubled landscape, conspiracy theories, too, abound adding to the uncertainty, which in so many ways holds back normal activity and means that people are reluctant to step out of homes. After all, no one knows from which direction trouble may step forward next and in what form. This is obviously not a happy state at all; nor is it an encouraging backdrop against which to approach elections. Notably, in Karachi and Quetta, but also elsewhere, we see a complete breakdown in the writ of the state. Chaos prevails and there is simply no way of saying how things are ever to be righted once more or the genie forced back into the bottle from which it has escaped, wreaking havoc as it runs riot through our land, destroying people and ripping apart the peace which is so essential to life.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 20^th, 2013.