Bhakkar violence

Outlawed outfits, sometimes using altered names, carry on their ‘missions’, creating still more havoc.

The Bhakkar district of Punjab has become a battlefield, with a gun battle between two rival sectarian groups killing 11 people in the Kotla Jam area. The situation has led to a curfew being imposed in Bhakkar to prevent further loss of life. The shoot-out began on August 23, when six persons were killed as the two groups clashed. As the violence continued, five more had been shot dead by early the following morning. Nine belong to one group and two to the other. For a short time, the protestors had also shut down the road leading to Dera Ismail Khan, creating further chaos in the area. Arrangements are being made for the funerals of those killed and attempts are on to round up the gunmen.

There is some confusion over precisely what triggered the clash, with rumours of a dispute over property also being heard. However, it seems clear that the sectarian organisations had been engaged in a battle for some time and this flared completely out of control, engulfing the entire area. Life remains disrupted and fear prevails in Bhakkar.

The immediate cause of the violence is obviously being investigated as authorities take action to bring the situation under control. But as significant is the need to discover why groups that had been banned a long time ago were apparently able to operate and carry out the killings, engaging in the gun battle at will. This, of course, is a problem that persists across the country. Outlawed outfits, sometimes using altered names, carry on with their ‘missions’, creating still more havoc in a ravaged society. The situation in Bhakkar reflects just how grave such rivalry can be and how it can affect the lives of people. We have seen growing sectarian violence over the past two decades. It must be brought to a halt if we are to restore any kind of harmony in society and ensure everyone living within it is safe. Right now, as we have seen in Bhakkar, the rivalries based on sect can quickly boil out of control and reduce large areas to virtual mayhem.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2013.

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